Louvered wall system

seannash

Hi,
I'm looking to install a slatted internal wall like this in my house


https://revolved.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Casa-di-Marco-Roberta-Scandinavian-Living-Room-Rome-by-Maurizio-Giovannoni-Architetto-2018-01-26-16-42-41.jpg


I want the slats to act like louvers so if I want to close the wall I can just move one slat and it'll move them all (Similar to a shutter blind)


Ive seen system like this one but it seems its only for boards that are 6 inches wide
https://flexfence.com/flexfence-louver-system/


Has anyone seen a system that would allow me to use boards around 4 inches wide. I was thinking of simply using dowels to enable them to move in the frame but I'm not sure if that would work over the life of the wall.
Has anyone any suggestions?

Calahonda52

Am interested in this idea!
So you want it vertical?
I have not though1 this through yet but it seems to me that a rod or bar fixed across each vertical board might act as the lever to move them all.
I have not done the math yet so it may not work
maybe light pieces of chain, like off a rosary beads

GinSoaked

So the obvious problem is if the timber warps will it mess the whole thing up?

Metal dowel pegs top and bottom fine but warp problem so why not brace the middle with a bar that will open and close the louver and is hinged to every upright timber. Trouble is that is a lot of work. However if it is the answer then you could have more than one brace with hinges on it.

seannash

GinSoaked wrote: »

So the obvious problem is if the timber warps will it mess the whole thing up?

Metal dowel pegs top and bottom fine but warp problem so why not brace the middle with a bar that will open and close the louver and is hinged to every upright timber. Trouble is that is a lot of work. However if it is the answer then you could have more than one brace with hinges on it.

I had thought about the bar across the middle to close it alright. I havent reseached how it would attach to each individual piece of tinber to allow movement.
Im guessing similar to tuese types of shutter

https://static.hillarys.co.uk/asset/media/28281/user-meadow_cottage-date-posted-080120-channel-instagram.jpg?width=330&height=330&mode=crop&cb=20202401113202&mcb=5f884e47a7424cfe86340315ccaafed0

seannash

Calahonda52 wrote: »

Am interested in this idea!
So you want it vertical?
I have not though1 this through yet but it seems to me that a rod or bar fixed across each vertical board might act as the lever to move them all.
I have not done the math yet so it may not work
maybe light pieces of chain, like off a rosary beads

Yep, vertical is what id want. I dont have the luxury of experimentation so i was hoping for a pre fab system similar to the one in the link.

GinSoaked

Imagine all your timbers stood up like dominos (waiting to fall) then place your "brace" along the face so it touches all of them on one side. Now where the brace touches the upright surface mount a small hinge. At one end you will need a bit sticking out to take the last hinge.

seannash

GinSoaked wrote: »

Imagine all your timbers stood up like dominos (waiting to fall) then place your "brace" along the face so it touches all of them on one side. Now where the brace touches the upright surface mount a small hinge. At one end you will need a bit sticking out to take the last hinge.

Would that not prohibit them from closing onto each other. Ill have the back of the timbers rabbited to all the other timber next to it to sit into it and have a shadow gap (if that makes sense)

GinSoaked

seannash wrote: »

Would that not prohibit them from closing onto each other. Ill have the back of the timbers rabbited to all the other timber next to it to sit into it and have a shadow gap (if that makes sense)

No because you are surface mounting the hinges so with the louvers closed they won't get in the way but your bracing/moving timber will be sitting proud a hinge thickness off the louvers.

Imagine it closed up first with the louvers side by side (if you want that) then it might make more sense how the hinge acts as it opens up.

GinSoaked

Question: is closed going to leave the louvers overlapping or lined up edge to edge? Overlapping seems easier and edge to edge is bound to leave some gaps and need more tolerance built in for any movement in the timber.

seannash

GinSoaked wrote: »

Question: is closed going to leave the louvers overlapping or lined up edge to edge? Overlapping seems easier and edge to edge is bound to leave some gaps and need more tolerance built in for any movement in the timber.

Overlapping I think. I also need to sit down and sketch it up to see whats what

seannash

I think metal dowels could be the way to go in terms of movement. The bar to close will be a bit trickier

GinSoaked

This may sound a bit crude but its one idea to work on.

Firstly I'm thinking of dowel hinges going it at one side of the end of the timber and not in the middle, but middle might be just as good, may a small model with 3 short louvers would show up any obvious design issues.

If you predrilled the ends of your louvers to take the thread of a M6 x 80mm coach bolt then the meaty part of the bolt just under the head would provide the hinge in a slightly over size hole in the header and footer. You could even add washers however the heads on the coach bolts would mean you'd need another facing timber to cover them up.

Alternatively you could have 2 or 3 battens running across the area you are covering and then hinge every louvre to the battens - I'm liking that idea now I come to think of it. The louvers would close over the hinge. With 3 battens your louvers can't really warp and you could contrive a rope or chain closure. Down side is a lot of exposed hinges. Expanding on that you could use the horrible lift off barrel screw hinge that you wouldn't see much of but you'd need a decently deep batten to screw them to. They would be easy to set up a jig for.

the_pen_turner

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwY2MN5VD8E&feature=em-uploademail

john just uploaded a video doing something very similar to what you want.
havnt watched it yet
its a build video and john can be a bit direct and rough in the way he speaks somtimes.

seannash

the_pen_turner wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwY2MN5VD8E&feature=em-uploademail

john just uploaded a video doing something very similar to what you want.
havnt watched it yet
its a build video and john can be a bit direct and rough in the way he speaks somtimes.

Wow, thats way more elaborate than id hoped to be 😄
Very interesting though

whowantstwoknow

the_pen_turner wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwY2MN5VD8E&feature=em-uploademail

john just uploaded a video doing something very similar to what you want.
havnt watched it yet
its a build video and john can be a bit direct and rough in the way he speaks somtimes.

The man is a cowboy.... Just doesn't have the right tools for the job

:-)

the_pen_turner

whowantstwoknow wrote: »

The man is a cowboy.... Just doesn't have the right tools for the job

:-)

im on the fence about him. i think he is half genius and have cowboy as you put it.
i wish he would buy some decent machines and invest his time in building stuff to improve them and build jigs etc. most people are never going to build their own bandsaw or tablesaw, why would they, you can buy a good second hand one for 500-1000 in most cases.