From the centre point on the meeting rail, project a plumb line to the top and bottom staff beads. Set out a horizontal line below the meeting rail to the left and right hand staff beads.
It may be necessary to wedge the lower sash in position to prevent the meeting rail from moving while the measurements are being taken.
The horizontal measurements, A, B, G and H should be from the plumb line to the inside face of the left and right hand staff beads.
The vertical measurements, C, D, E and F should be from the horizontal line to the inside face of the top and bottom staff beads.
You may also need the distance from the plum line to the centre of the left glazing bar, I, and to the centre of the right glazing bar, J.
The distances from the horizontal line to the centre of the top hole of the left hand middle hinge, LH, and to the centre of the top hole of the right hand middle hinge, RH, are also required. The holes on any internal bi-folding hinges will be aligned with the top holes of the middle hinges.
From these measurements, glass panels will be manufactured to suit the size and shape of your window. When fitted, there will be a gap of a few millimetres around each panel. It is important that you set out the plumb line and horizontal line as accurately as possible and all your measurements should be to the nearest millimetre.
A self levelling Cross Line laser level may be used provided that the thickness of its projected lines is sufficiently fine for precision work. Your level should be calibrated from time to time against a reference horizontal. You should also check that the lines form a perfect right angle by pointing the level at a plain surface and setting out a point along the horizontal line 800 mm from the centre and another point along the vertical line 600 mm from the centre. The distance between the two points should be 1000 mm exactly. Please also observe all relevant safety precautions when using a laser. It may be necessary to blackout your windows while using laser equipment to avoid any risk to the public.
If a laser is used, it should be set up so that its axis is at right angles to the window. If it is not possible to make the projected vertical line coincide exactly with the centre point on the meeting rail, the deviation should be measured and applied as a correction when marking the top and bottom staff beads. The plumb line as set out should pass through the centre point on the meeting rail.
The measurements, A to J, LH and RH, in millimetres, are input to the Glass Shutters program which generates scripts for running in Dassault Systèmes DraftSightTM which produces the drawings for computer aided manufacture. The scripts produce flipped images suitable for projecting onto the coated side of the glass.
When you run the program, a script file will be stored in:
Documents\Glass Shutters\scr\and an audit file will be stored in:
Documents\Glass Shutters\audit\To run the script in DraftSightTM, use Manage/Run Script. This will generate the drawing and store it in DWG format in:
Documents\Glass Shutters\dwg\If you require the drawing in a different format, use File/Save As. You may wish to set the DraftSightTM default "Save As" type to your preferred format.
To run the Glass Shutters program click on the button below to download and install the desktop shortcut.
This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of
the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the
License, or (at your option) any later version. The source code is located in:
<Program Files location>\Donald G Gray\Glass Shutters\src\
Copyright © 2017 - 2019 Donald G Gray