Blinds, Shades and Shutters - Cutting 2' faux blinds down

I'm trying to buy stocked size blinds and custom cut them down myself to save a few bucks. What is recommendation on the best way to cut these style of blinds down. I need to take around .5 inch off each end to get correct size. I was going to try a high number toothed finish style blade in a table saw. I also saw a site that showed pictures using a mitre saw. I'm worried abou the splintering. Figured i would give one of these a try before bucking up for custom order sizes.

Thanks
Bob

Hi Bob

If you are referring to the blinds i think you are then the manufacturer does not recommend the trimming of the width.

With our faux-leather-venetian-blinds the material is sewn together at the end of each slat meaning that if they were cut , this would expose the wood inside.

However if this is something you feel you could live with , then youre right to think that a fine toothed hacksaw is all you would need to do the job.

Jeff

Blinds that were not made to be cut down to size usually do not allow clearance for the cord mechanism once you take off anything, even a half inch.. Most of the time you find your box bracket will overlap the cut out for your cord..

Make sure this will not be the case for whatever blind you purchase.

Most blinds that are made to be cut down will allow some width to be taken off without effecting your mechanics of the shade.. I would also assume that anyone selling a shade that allows for clearance is also willing and able to cut down these shades..

if you still need to cut it down yourself i recomend you find the finest tooth blade you can get..

Mark the metal head rail where it will need to be cut and remove and end caps or inserts that will need to beattached later.. Place a barrier (cardboard or wood to protect the slats) between the slats and the head rail and cut the metal rail with a hack saw.. This may also include trimming a bar that runs inside the head rail..

Go through each slat and place a piece of tape over where your cut will be, do this on the top and bottom of each slat.. Be careful not to let any tape hang over the ends of any slats since we will be using these edges to butt up against a flat surface as you would a deck of cards..

once each of your future cuts is protected by tape, draw the shade cord up tight.. hold one end of the slats against a flat table.. Once they are all flush use more tape to tightly wrap all the slats at the top to hold them all in place.. once this is done turn the shade over and repeat the process on the other side..

Now you should be left with a tightly wrapped block you can take to the saw after you move that head rail out of the way.. you will have some room to spare and be able to move the rail to the left or right.. go ahead and do so, then use more tape to wrap around the whole shade to keep the rail stay to 1 side.

depending on the length of your shade, you may not be able to fit this under the blade of a 12'' "chop box" and may need to do it on a table saw..

the rest is pretty self explanatory

edit*

Let me also say that after you spend 40 - 60 dollars on this single shade you will come home and spend the entire work day cutting down this shade.. what you will have certainly will do the job but will never look as good as a single custom sized hunter douglas or graber or another brand name you can get for 40 bucks more.. If you only have 1 window and not in a hurry and have that extra 40 bucks to spend you may want to consider getting a few prices from the big box stores windows covering department..

I hate to give such advise that seems to contradict the DIY spirit but If appearance really matters you may want to go this route

also.. Lowes always has faux 2'' woods they cut on site for cheap, you may want to check them out