Hardwood shutters by Kirtz start at our factory as raw lumber. We typically buy direct from the best lumber mills across the country, with a great deal of our lumber coming from the Northern US.
A load of lumber for Kirtz Shutter, before sorting
Lumber goes through the following process to become parts for your plantation shutters.
All lumber is tested upon arrival for proper dryness. Using lumber that has been wet, or is not properly kiln dried could result in warping. Obviously, this would be bad news for a shutter, so each load is tested immediately upon arrival to be sure that it meets the criteria for furniture quality use.
After unloading, lumber is sorted and it is determined what component part each board will be used to make. Next, the lumber is fed through our Weinig molder and shaped into the different parts needed to make your shutter order. As lumber is shaped into parts, each part is quality checked to see that it does not vary from our standard, which are +/- 5000 of an inch, a more exacting measure than industry standard, which is +/- 10,000 of an inch.
lumber being milled into components for plantation shutters
Verifying the milled parts meet quality standards for Kirtz Shutters
Since we use so many different types of woods in our shutters, the milling department must constantly calibrate the machine to handle the varying density of each wood. Although this is a time consuming process it is the only we can maintain the rigid quality standards of a Kirtz Shutter.
After the louvers are molded they are run through a specially designed sander. The belt of the sander is contoured so that it follows the shape of our elliptical louvers. As the louver passes through the oscillating belt provides a random orbital sanding, the industries highest standard. The louvers are now ready for the assembly line.
Sander designed for elliptical shaped louvers for custom shutters
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You mill your own wood? That’s cool. I didn’t know that. How long have you been doing that? Do you ship out to fabricators?
We have milling our own components for many years now. Most all our components are for in-house use, although if you have a specific need for a job in your market, give us a call and we will see what we can do. Are you guys still getting your components from Mexico via Houston??
Are you talking about All American Components? I don’t think they buy from Mexico. At least that’s not what they tell me
I’m buying primarily out of California, with a little Houston sprinkled in here and there.
Stephen Wade
Not sure what the name of the company was, I just thought I remembered Doug telling me a few years ago that his components came from Houston, and that his supplier brought in massive containers of wood from somewhere outside the US (I thought it was Mexico). I apologize if I got that wrong.
Do you bring in your components primed or do you guys do that yourselves??