I'm looking for a source for small roller blinds- I need something in the 12-14 inch range. So far the smallest I've been able to find is 25 inches. Anyone?

Thanks!

Phil

I think you can get them cut down at places like Lowes, Home Depot, etc. If not, try a shop that deals with window treatments...I'm pretty sure they'll do it. Might be expensive though.

Get pull down blinds that fit in car windows. I used to be able to get wooden blinds cut down to 12" but that was as short as was possible because of the spring and mechanism.

Richard

Thanks, but it sounds like you mean "blinds" as in "venetian blind" style- what I need is a shade on a spring roller, such as is used for a flash appearance. Any sources for small ones? Thanks!

Phil

Listen to Richard. The roller shades that go in car windows have a spring that is about 6" long (although they lengthen somewhat during the tension wind). The tube they come in is usually about 14" - 16" in length, but very easy to shorten.

That takes care of the WIDTH of the roller tube. The main thing of concern now is the retraction length of the shade you'll need. What are you planning to make?

~michael

This is for a sliding box on an illusion, and will cover the open space once the box is in the "slid" position (much like a zig zag). The shade will need to be somewhere around the 16"-18" range (length that retracts).

Ok, understood. For all I knew, it could have been for a much smaller device, like a livestock production.

For an illusion, it may push the limit for the range on a car roller shade, but they are cheap enough to test. You'd have to replace the shade with your own fabric of the proper length, as the shade included may not be quite long enough, even to get a good test. Those springs will only coil up so far before locking up (or eventually breaking).

I made the blinds for my Zig Zag with standard window shade rollers. They have a MUCH longer retraction range. The spring mechanism is only attached to one end of the tube. The other end is a dead, free spinner, something like the tail stock of a lathe. You can cut the roller tube short at that non-business tail end, just making sure the tail hub will fit again when done.

It is necessary to size these for windows, so also possible to size for your needs. The only requirement is to make sure the spring length is not too long to fit within the shortened tube.

I'm not sure what all is available these days, but metal, wood and cardboard tubes (rods) were all common at one time. I've had experience with all of them. Most of the springs now are self-contained, only needing to fit firmly within the tube. The older style had to have one end of the spring pinned into place somewhere along the tube, aside from the head end.

Although nothing has been mentioned here, you'll also need to remove any locking pivots.

Good advice from Michael above. I recently did this with the cheap rollers from wal-mart. I was able to cut the u-size 25" down to 10". be gentle cutting the tube so the ends slide back together. total cost about 4 dollars each.

The key to putting new fabric on the rollers is to put at least one full wrap around the tube extra than the needed length. That puts the strain of the fabric on the fabric not the point of glueing to the tube.

If you hem the fabric, be careful of the hem as it can throw the winding up due to the thickness. You can also make the blind using vinyl.

Richard

I used Spandex for the fabric on my Zig Zag rollers. No hem needed, and self-adjusting tension.

The edges do not fray? You don't need to seal them somehow?

Fray check from a fabric store.
Ray

At the mini-blind store.... sorry couldn't help myself

Not yet mentioned, but also a viable solution, is to make your own roller blind from tubing stock (plastic plumbing pipe, metal tube, etc.) and bungee. Build it on the same principle as the original invisible thread reels - essentially a Spanish Windlass with elastic rope.

TW

It was not a problem for me. Perhaps Spandex frays along one direction but notthe other. If the fraying sides were the attachment points, there would be not problem. I either got lucky by the type of fabric, or the direction I applied it.

I just got a di-mini-fish from the 60's by warren stephens.the rollerblind was left in the big fish position for yrs.this has caused puckers to form.removing the blind and pressing it w.weights smooths it out but the puckers return quickly.is there a way to remove these permanently?

What's the blind made from Howard?
Ray.