How do you make wood "Air Grilles"?

[miey]

Hello, I pulled out an old gas furnace in my hallway, which is tiled, and I'm left with a small section, footprint, were the tile went around the base of the furnace. It's about 6"x 12". I have no replacement tile to repair this so I was thinking I could just make a fake floor air grille to cover it up. So, all I need now is to find out how to construct one of these. Any and all help appreciated. Mike

[Joe Wilding]

There was a series of Wood magazines from a year or two ago that showed how to redo a complete rom in an Arts & Crafts style. I remember that they specifically showed how to make air grilles, but I don't exactly recall how they did it. You might research this to see if you can get a hold of the back issues.

Joe in Denver my woodworking shop:

[Steve]

I've seen 'em at Home Depot in various sizes.

--Steve

miey wrote:

[Unisaw A-100]

Take a wide piece and put a witness mark across the face then rip it into 1/2" strips. Take every other strip and cross cut it at 2", 5", 7" and 10" (lengths made up to make the point/use whatever you like) and save the short lengths. Take it all and re-glue for width using the witness mark/aligning the grain. Plane, sand and finish to suit.

Or,

Rout grooves but be warned, tear out is inevitable. You can rout the face half way through and flip it and rout the other half from th back. This way there should be enough meat on the face to prevent tear out and who cares what the back looks like.

UA100

[Dave W]

I think this is a place where steel is better than wood. High heels get caught in these things. Additionally, the pressure of a small heel on one strake is way too much for safety. For that matter, consider your heaviest friend carrying one end of the piano stepping on one or two strakes. The wood tends to get VERY dry from the heat and is therefore weaker. In the event of a grill breaking, broken bones, sprains and recriminations are possible. Steel grill work can be purchased at the junkyard in various dimensions. Painted to a suitable color it will outlast the wood version

10/1. Dave

[Duane Bozarth]

While I might recommend against wooden grilles for large areas in center of a floor, virtually all are near walls that don't get foot traffic. Think you're over-reacting a little here...

IMO, YMMV, $0.02, etc.... :)

[Lew Hodgett]

RE: Subject

Take a look at Fred Bingham's book, Practical Yacht Joinery", he explains it in detail including photos.

You make several teak grates for a boat.

Even using a sled and a dado as Fred does, they are a PITA to build.

Very satisfying but still a PITA.

HTH

Lew

[J. Clarke]

Just a comment here, but if this is an area that's going to have traffic then make a dummy grille with a strong solid backing or somebody's going to put their foot through it.

One apartment I lived in some _moron_ designed with a heating and air conditioner register in the floor inside the back door. Lost one GF who could have passed for a supermodel the third time she put a heel in that damned register. Then one day I put a combat boot through it and the next day I started looking for another apartment.

[Phil at small (vs at large)]

On old TS trick for angled holes in a wood grille

1. Make an angled fence for your TS miter gauge & make it long enough to support the wood blank all the way across from corner to corner
2. Set up your dado to whetever width you want the openings & raise it to just over half the thickness of your wood ( maybe 1/32")
3. Lay & clamp the wood strips between the fence & your blade
4. Mark your fence with the number of passes it will take to cut dados all the way across your board from corner to corner
5. Cut dados on one side
6. flip the board & cut dados on the other side. (also rotate it 90 degrees) You should have your grille. It will take some experimenting to get the angle of the holes you want. If you don't mind square holes, you could just use the fence & cut one side, flip, & turn 90 degrees, cut the other side, move the fence & etc. Let me know how it works for you

[Tom Watson]

At this point, the only one who knows that the space in question is related to the furnace is you.

I would get outside of that box quickly and develop a feature that would best fit into the room.

A pediment for a full size mount of a grizzly bear might be one solution.

Then again, a shoe buffer might fit well into that space.

All kidding aside - try to think about it as others will meet it - it might make your choices simpler.

Thomas J. Watson - WoodDorker

tjwatson1ATcomcastDOTnet (real email)

(webpage)

[Richard Cline]

I am not offering a solution but just asking a few questions that might be helpful.

1 How thick can you make the grille? 2 Why do you want it made of wood? 3 Is there a solid floor below the grille? Is it a dirt trap? 4 Why do you want a grille? Is it only because that was there before? 5 Have you tried to get a tile that is a replacement? 6 There may be other decorations more interewsting than a grille.

Dick

[WillR]

This month's Canadian Woodworking magazine has an article on how to make these grills. It just arrived today.