Paso Robles Tree Inspiration

We recently escaped the urban scene of Los Angeles and took a brief camping trip into the rolling hills of Paso Robles. As many know, this area is a frequent haunt for Martin Pierce  and was the inspiration for his collection of wine cellar door handles and vine cabinet pulls.
For this visit we decided to camp and pitched our tent in the undeveloped acreage of  absentee friends who wisely were escaping the heat. The experience was challenging with  temperatures ranging from 101 degrees during the day to an almost bearable 80° at night. When the heat proved too much we drove to Cambria where the marine fog engulfed the coastline creating a chilly 70° temperature. The fog plays a critical role in the surrounding foliage bringing moisture to the trees and grasses of Paso Robles 30 miles in land.
Lichen on the local live oak trees plays a key role in this ecosystem providing food, shelter and nesting materials to deer, mice, squirrels and other mammals. Lichens are not, as I mistakenly thought, a type of plant but rather a remarkable organism made of algae and fungus that obtain all their nutrients from the air rather than soil. The fungal aspect of this organism provides a structure for the algae and the algae provides food for the fungus. Like plants, lichens use the sun through a process of photosynthesis to convert the food to energy in return giving back valuable oxygen. Lichen also removes pollutants in the air by trapping larger particles and absorbing smaller particles of nitrogen and sulfur.

Our mornings often began with the sounds of Nuttall woodpeckers tapping tree trunks to find grubs as well as suitable larders for acorns harvested from the live oaks. A more generic woodpecker was the model for our woodpecker door knocker that also functions as a door pull.

Playful Positioning of A Woodpecker Door Knocker

The bark of the live oaks has a beautiful texture and their inspiration is clear to see in the backplates and escutcheons of the lizard collection of door handles.

Playful Positioning of A Lizard Entry Lever

Brushed Stainless Steel Door Handles

A recent order prompted a return to the light box to see if we could photograph the luster of brushed rather than polished stainless steel. The lightbox had to be reconstructed to fit the 35” length of the Ergo Epic handle and even then, it was a very tight fit. The Ergo grip was photographed on a golden satin fabric using a Canon ESO Rebel with diffuse light created from overhead rows of LED light cells. The walls of the box are covered in a reflective foil to focus the light on the object and the floor and back wall are usually covered with a black or white backdrop.

How to Brush Stainless Steel

1.     Angle grinder with a blade attachment is used to cut off any gates left from the  casting stage.

2.     Angle grinder using a very coarse grit disk that removes any major surface imperfection. This sometimes will reveal a small crater or void caused by an air bubble that occurred during casting which will need to be filled with steel weld before going further.

3.     A handheld burnisher with an 80 grit sanding drum is next applied to begin buffing and refining the surface.

4.     A second burnisher machine is used with a dual grit scotch-brite sandpaper drum with successively finer grit drums.

5.     The final burnishing is done by hand with scotch-brite pads.

6.     Lastly the piece is passivated.

 Passivation

 316 Stainless steel is known for its rust resistance so what is oxidation and why is passivation necessary? 316 stainless steel is an alloy comprised of iron, chromium, nickel, molybdenum, and carbon. Chromium reacts to oxygen in the air and this oxidation process creates a protective layer on the surface of the stainless steel that acts as a barrier to corrosive forces like salt air. It is the iron component in metal that rusts and while 316 develops a protective coat, during the burnishing process contaminants can attach to the surface. Hence the final stage is to passivate the piece by immersing it  in a bath of citric acid solution which strips any iron contaminants from the surface and bonds with the iron elements to neutralize them and prevent future corrosion.

Bird inspired door handles

Even a modest garden can provide an abundance of stimulus for the patient artist. An avid bird watcher knows that patience and stillness are the main requirements for successfully observing and photographing these garden gems. But even stillness may not be enough to take a snapshot  of nesting Bewick wrens who are on their guard for anything suspicious. To take this shot, Martin Pierce had to hold his iPhone to the side of his head and avert his eyes from the subject.

Photograph by Martin Pierce

A long 400mm lens is also useful and allowed Martin to capture this from a safe distance.

Photograph by Martin Pierce

The bird house was made by Martin 10 years ago, but this is the first time Bewick wrens have turned it into a nest. Possibly the dilapidated nature of the box and debris of leaves and spiders’ webs were exactly the type of décor needed to make a less conspicuous  home. As Bewick wrens typically mate for life and return to the same nesting ground Martin is hoping to see the generations that may follow.

While observing and photographing birds is undoubtedly a rewarding past time, they are for Martin an endless source of inspiration.

When I looked back at some of Martin’s old sketch books it came as no surprise to find these quick sketches.

Living in the Hollywood Hills we  often see red tail hawks who prey on rodents and lizards which are abundant. The image below shows a red tail hawk carrying a squirrel in its talons and being pestered by a crow.

Date of Original Sketch 1990’s

Here crows are shown in flight and again mobbing  a red tail hawk.

Date of Original sketch 1990’s

 Bulbuls that are not native to California can now be seen on a regular basis in Hollywood and Martin’s patience paid off recently when he was able to catch this shot.

Photograph by Martin Pierce

While I have not seen any recent additions to his current sketch book he has divulged that a bird may soon make it to his drawing board as a model for a new Netsuke door knob. That said, the blue jay may also be a contender albeit the scale will have to be significantly reduced from the current large door pull.

Art in Nature

The Art in Nature

Were we trying to trace the origins of many of the plants and trees at Huntington Gardens? There were times when our trip to Japan felt like a comparison with the beauty closer to home. 

 We visited Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara and Kanazawa destinations all linked by the respect for nature evident in the countless public gardens regardless of the density of the local population. Case in point being the Shinjuku Gyoen Garden and east gardens that flanked the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, a megalopolis of 37 million inhabitants. 

Japan is correctly regarded as the home of the Cherry tree, hardly surprising for a country that has over 600 varieties of Cherry Tree and that celebrates the blooming in April with “Hanami”  a word that translates to the viewing of Cherry blossom, a custom that the Japanese generously share with many US and European visitors.

 All 4 locations had wonderful examples of the most prolific Yoshiro Cherry tree revered for its smaller pale flowers and of the Kanzan Cherry with dark pink flowers and a tree that we also see in Los Angeles.

Shinjuku Gyoen Garden Tokyo

Yoshiro Cherry Tree Asakusa Area Tokyo

The artistry of the public gardens is made possible by the skill and aesthetic that arborists and gardeners bring to their daily tasks. These artisans have a sensibility that follows the natural inclination of the trees and plants they tend. The gardens that result are organic, balanced and beautiful and do not appear contrived or formal.

Grounds at Todai-ji in Nara

Finer Details

The Buddhist temples from those at Asakusa, Tokyo to Todai-ji in Nara were grand in scale and vividly decorated with lacquer and gold leaf. At the entrance a large bowl of water with wooden ladles was used by many to cleanse their hands and minds before entering. Todai-ji in Nara is one of the largest wooden structures in the world measuring 50 square meters and fittingly is home to one of the largest Buddha statues. The Buddha at Todai-ji is also remarkable from a casting and carving perspective and could only be created by the toil of many skilled carvers and metal workers a feat that took decades to accomplish.

Todai-ji Temple Buddha in bronze

 In Kanazawa we visited a home once occupied by a very high-ranking Samurai. The rank of this Samurai was visible in the artisans he was able to employ to carve freezes and detailed nail head covers the latter being firstly carved in  either wood or clay and then cast in bronze. These small details are very typical of what can be seen widely in the Netsuke art in Japanese antiques from clothing and bag toggles to bottle stoppers to belt buckles. For those who appreciate Netsuke more of these wonderful pieces can be seen in Virginia Atchley’s book “The Virginia Atchley collection of miniature arts”

Dragon nail head covers in bronze

We offer a collection of Netsuke door knobs and while they are not as old they too are cast in bronze and feature a dragon.

The home we visited was 200 years old, its predecessors’ structures having being raised to the ground by aggressor Samurai clans. By contrast the garden within was 400 years old and home to the largest Koi fish we have ever seen.

In Japanese culture koi fish ascend from water to become dragons. It’s water based origin helps explain why Japanese dragons do not breathe fire but fire-killing watery vapor an extremely useful talent in a country that historically built its structures in wood.

Fish Door Pulls

Art of fine bronze casting

When a pristine door handle is viewed it may be difficult to grasp just how much time and skill is devoted to cleaning and fine tuning the details of the casting before it is patinaed. This process takes hours and sometimes days and some of the steps are shown below.

In the lost wax method of casting wax replicas are “gated” and wax runners or rods are attached to the wax patterns at various points so that the molten bronze can flow through these connections and pass through the gates and  fill the cavity of the shelled piece. Once cast, the runners that connect the individual castings are cut and the bronze can be recycled but a small gate end is left, and this is removed using a cut-off wheel on a hand held grinder.

The casting may contain tiny silica fragments  that were left after the wax piece was shelled that need to be removed. A handheld metal burnisher with a flap wheel made of scotch brite and sand paper is used to remove shell fragments as well as scratches, blemishes and bubbles buried beneath the surface of the casting. When bronze is poured tiny pockets of air underneath the surface are  sometimes created and are only seen once the casting is buffed when they show themselves as tiny dimples or voids. To fill the void a silicon bronze rod is melted with a TIG welder and drops of melted rod fill these voids.

Below left a grinder with coarse grade cut-off wheel. Below right a handheld burnisher with a medium coarse wheel flap and a green very coarse wheel flap.

While the burnisher is an extremely effective tool it takes a fine dremel to get into the veins and undercuts of a casting. The image here shows the tip of the dremel burr as it removes residual white shell from the leaf vein. A  dremel is an invaluable tool for fine detail and a good one will come with several burrs, rasps and files. The dremel bits are made from tungsten carbide steel and fit into the dremel socket which when rotating at a high speed can cut and grind silicon bronze and even 316 stainless steel.

A fixed buffing machine with coarse and fine scotch brite disks is used to clean remaining marks or scratches. The casting is pushed into the path of the rotating disk which removes a small amount of the surface. A consistent and even pressure needs to be applied with the buffing disk to avoid unwanted grooves and directional marks.

New Orchid Handle

The Orchid collection of cabinet and vanity pulls has a new member, the hanging orchid door pull. The piece is a hybrid orchid and loosely based on the large full leaves of the lepantes orchid and the lush flowers of the cymbidium family. Many cymbidium members have large protruding labellum (lip) balanced by full side and top sepals. While all orchids are arguably beautiful the  cymbidium’s balance and fullness give it an undeniable elegance and the sturdy leaves of the lepantes when cast in bronze or stainless steel make for a perfect flower mount as well as back-plate. The back-plate curves outwards to support the flowers and the tapered and flat ends each have a threaded post for easy screwing from the back of the door. The posts have a 15” center to center and the overall length is 16”. We chose to finish the supporting leaf in dark antique oil and to make the flowers and center leaf ridge a lighter finish and have now created a hybrid finish code DLA to describe this appearance.

Other members of this collection were inspired by the Venus Slipper and Moth orchid  with sizes ranging from small 2'“W orchid knobs to 8”W orchid stem pulls. The image below shows the larger pieces in a brushed bronze with light antique finish with the small knob in a brushed nickel finish.

The small knob and leaf from the hanging orchid can be used to create a custom spray for vanities as wide 6’.

Artistic Barn Door Hardware

Sliding doors or barn doors are the perfect blank canvas for dramatic hardware. When the wall opening permits, double doors make a large statement that can be artfully used to separate rooms. Case in point is a recent order for double doors that separated the dining room from the living room by making an artistic reptilian statement.

The iguana door handle is 17”high  7” wide and 3”deep and the scale makes a substantial statement. The piece was designed to be used as a pair for double sliding doors with each  iguana facing the opposite direction to it’s partner. The stylized design has a spiky decorative ridge that extends over the nose and then wraps around the eyes and trails down the front legs.

 The original design was very much influenced by Polynesian art and is not based on any particular type of iguana but does reflect a certain stance or attitude that Martin imagines when he thinks about iguanas. The iguana handle is a relative of the other handles and cabinet pulls that make up the lizard collection of door hardware.  For cabinet sliding doors the iguanas can be mounted so they entwine head to toe with their partner, a positioning that could be problematic on room doors where the tail and feet could catch on clothing.

Barn doors are more easily installed than traditional hinged doors requiring only a simple bracket to be attached to the top of the door and to a wheel that travels along a track screwed to the wall above the door. They also use a simple garden gate or hook style of latch that can be surface mounted as opposed to the tubular latch used on a hinged door that requires the door to be pre-drilled at time of manufacture.

UV Impact on Colored Patinas On Bronze

Arguably, from a door handle perspective, Florida can be one of the most demanding climates. The state is a peninsula surrounded by sea water and its latitude yields many days of sunshine and not surprisingly is home to many of our clients.

UV Impact on Bronze

When we hot patina a door or cabinet pull we heat the bronze with a torch and apply successive coats of pigment suspended in water to the metal surface which absorbs the pigment left after the water  evaporates. The patina absorbs UV and this leads to a chemical change that breakdowns the bonds between the pigment molecules making the color appear less vibrant. The lizard levers below will fade over time with UV exposure so what are the options?

Photo of lizards at patina stage before sealant applied. Photo courtesy of the photographer Maria Ramirez-Adams.

 How to lessen UV impact

Clear polyurethane resin and polyester offer 2 different ways of sealing and protecting the color.

Polyurethane acts as a UV blocker and as a resistant physical barrier that shields the color beneath. It blocks the UV by absorbing, deflecting and scattering the UV away from the metal surface thereby slowing chemical changes in the patina.

Clear polyurethane resin also creates a physical barrier that shields the layers beneath from UV and also from salt and environmental contaminants that can degrade the patina. The resin is typically sprayed onto the surface and air dried rather than baked.

 Polyester versus powder coat

Polyester is also an excellent sealant for protecting metal from UV and salt and environmental degradants. The practical difference lies in how they are applied and cured.  Polyester is applied as a powder using an electrostatic process. The piece to be coated is attached to a copper frame or rod which negativley charges it. The applicator, which is like a spray gun is positively charged and when fired the gun sprays powder onto the surface of the object. In simple terms think of physics 101 when a magnet is used to attract iron filings. The powder bonds to the surface of the object. To make the bond more permanent the coated object is baked  to a temperature of 350 to 400 degrees for at 10+ minutes. With polyurethane the finish cures over a longer period often taking 5 to 7 days to complete. The Geckos shown here were both hot patinaed with a green pigmented solution but the top gecko was first dipped in a cold dark solution and then both were coated with polyester and baked. Polyester makes the pieces a little plastic in appearance but it does offer a resilient seal that will last for years.

Innovating Door Hardware

The Morphic collection of door pulls lends itself to a variety of home designs partly because we cast in 2 mediums, bronze and stainless steel and partly because the fluid organic design pairs well with contemporary or traditional door styles and door mediums. So, whether your door is wood, steel or glass, minimalist or classical, Morphic can be integrated into the design statement.

End details

Unlike many of our collections, the series has 4 possible tips and we are planning a fourth which I am loosely calling desconstrucionist.
The  ends currently are standard heroic tip (left) and its larger relative (third from left), the symmetrical cylinder (second from left) and the scroll ends  (right). Each end is designed to contrast with the cell-like center and is easily accentuated by finishing in a different sheen or by powder coating with a contrasting color.

Planned Customization during wax creation.

The organic cellular design can be playfully adapted by cutting, splicing, and distorting the wax cell segments to create a unique piece. This is a new direction that we are experimenting with and has the potential to create one-of-a-kind pieces. For those who work in Photoshop this is similar to using the polygonal lasso tool to select an area on a piece and manipulating the shape using the transform function to create a warped edge. Using Photoshop to design  the new shape is relatively easy but replicating the piece first in wax and then in bronze or steel requires expertise in both casting and welding.

 Brazing

In a subsequent post we will discuss mixing the alloys of steel and bronze to create a hybrid pull.

Entry Garden Gate Designs

Entry Gate statement 

An entry gate does not have to be large to make a statement as the photo below shows. Equally, if the budget restricts, the locking mechanism can be simpler.

The gate featured here was custom made in solid walnut with walnut veneer recessed panels.

 The top panels to the left and right of the gate measured 12” x 18” x ¼” and were cast in solid bronze and decorated with a small frog from our animal collection of cabinet pulls. While frogs were used on these panels, many pieces from our cabinet hardware collection would work equally well.

 Gate Entry Hardware

The entry way handle set is from our collection of wine cellar door handles and the large vine grip was part of an entry thumb latch set. While a mortise thumb latch to lever lock was used here, a simpler tubular lock could be substituted.

This would need to be called out at the time the set is ordered as the tubular latch has only one port for the thumb latch and lever unlike a mortise with 2 ports that are spaced apart to create a more comfortable distance between the stem grip and thumb piece. To create a similar spacing for a tubular latch we would position the grip lower during machining. The thumb piece in this configuration would be off center and would be a custom design that is currently in development and will be available at no additional cost.

Off- center thumb piece being developed for tubular deadbolt configuration with lever on inside

 Gate construction

Walnut with exposure to sun becomes lighter and golden and like bronze develops it’s own living patina. The solid sections were roughly chiseled to give a more hewn rustic appearance. The structure and design of the wooden gate are not daunting and in the hands of a good gate maker or wood worker would be easy to recreate and not unduly expensive. Choosing the best sealant to finish the wood and maintaining it on annual basis is critical as exposure to rain, humidity and sun will cause the wood to shrink, crack and deteriorate over time.

Classic Entry Door Handles

Thumb latch handle sets are often used in  traditional styles of door hardware to make a  grand entry statement. The thumb piece on the front side of the door is usually one small decorative detail on a much larger back-plate. The Hedgerow, Grapevine and Willow collections all contain a thumb-latch entry set and we have designed to be an integral part of each set.

We also use the same mechanism on the Lizard entryway set where a less traditional butterfly is the thumb piece.

Understanding the function of the thumb piece

The thumb piece is used to activate the door latch that keeps the door closed. Our thumb latch sets have been designed for use with mortise locks which house the latch and deadbolt mechanism within a solid 6”H x 3”D x ½”W metal case installed inside the body of the door. The thumb piece has a seesaw motion so pressing down on the exposed thumb end pushes up the end that sits within the mortise box underneath the toggle area. When pushed up by the thumb piece the toggle plate pivots backwards which triggers a hammer plate backwards thereby releasing the latch and spring which kept the latch extended and the door closed. The hammer and spring, when released allow the latch to return into the body of the mortise thereby allowing the door to be pulled open.

Oil Rubbed Bronze

We are revisiting ways we show our collection of Willow entry door knobs and interior handle sets. The trend is moving from old darker traditional finishes to lighter oil rubbed finishes.

The Willow collection, while inspired by swirling willow leaves and tendrils, still reflected the classical lines of older European architecture that Martin and I knew in England. Indeed, Martin’s training as a wood carver required him to carve more formal flowers and  leaves as relief carvings and this education served him well when carving the very detailed facets of the Willow collection.

 By moving away from dark oiled bronze to a lighter patina the detail of the piece is now able to shine through. We hope you will like this new direction but should you still be looking for a more Baroque or Victorian finish we are continuing to offer this collection in darker tones.

The photos here show  the before and after appearance of the passageway, privacy and entry knobs and lever sets.

To create the light and dark patinas we follow the same process of finely buffing away  imperfections visible on the surface of bronze and then immersing the piece into a premixed oxide. The oxide creates a fine dark film as it adheres to the surface but it is immersed twice to create an even and strong bond. The oxidized bronze is then re-buffed or sanded thereby removing the dark patina to expose the bright champagne tone of the silicon bronze.  The difference between these 2 finishes reflects how much and what areas of the oxidized film are removed by buffing.

The degree to which the surface is sanded and polished also impacts the level of contrast this is done prior to the casting being oxidized. In the darker piece the willow leaves were polished to a higher luster than the back plate which was left as a satin finish and which when oxidized creates a greater contrast. By comparison the lighter piece was more evenly polished to a satin finish and the effect is a more universal tone.

Choosing New Hardware For an Old Door

Clients typically order our work because they appreciate it’s unusual and unique quality. Occasionally customers turn to us for help finding door hardware that will work with an existing door’s bore and screw holes. I recently received an inquiry from a customer who had repainted her entry door and now was searching for a  handle set that would compliment her entry and  either conceal or make use of the existing holes. What she discovered is that most hardware manufacturers have set dimensional choices with no leeway for customization.

Doors are generally made with preset drilled holes, typically one for the keyed cylinder and one for the lever or knob. The distance between these 2 bore holes is referred to as the “center to center”. When retrofitting a door with a new entry set these existing holes can be difficult to fill and conceal if the door is natural or stained wood. Some doors may have more holes to deal with as would be the case with the Hedgerow entry thumb latch set shown here which requires 4 holes to be drilled.

The Hedgerow set however has a large backplate and at 20” in height and 3” in width would cover most pre-existing door holes. Our backplates are machined after they are cast giving us the ability to customize the center to center to work with existing bore holes. The additional holes that this set requires for the mounting posts will be drilled into the door when our handle set is installed.

We also have the flexibility of changing the location of the mounting posts as we cast these separately and later weld them onto the back of the plate.

Orchid Door Handle

Last year I had the pleasure of working with Kellie Beaubelle a designer in Orinda, CA who was  looking for unusual hardware, what followed was a highly imaginative collaboration of design talents.

The project began with a finite plan for one entry  handle set, but once installed, the scope was expanded to include all the exterior doors that were fabricated by the door maker with Anderson multi-point locks. To accommodate the multi-point mechanism, we created a new turn piece design that has been added to our Hedgerow and Willow multi-point sets and which we will be expanding  to our other multi-points collections.

The project did not end with the entry doors as once the creative genie was out of the bottle Kellie wanted to see what artistic pieces could be added to the master and guest bedrooms. In a previous post we have documented how the Venus slipper orchid was redesigned by Martin Pierce to create a grand scale door pull which for Kellie’s project has been used for 3 large vanity drawers.

Once the concept was approved, we worked with Kellie’s vanity plan to create a mock-up idea showing how the orchid would look on the cabinet drawers. The pattern development and mold creation have been documented in 2 previous posts but now we can share photos of the piece cast in bronze and also nickel plated in a satin finish.

Plan drawing courtesy Kellie Beaubelle

Orchid handles added by Martin Pierce

The Venus slipper orchid has a pronounced stamen and labellum that project out from the body of the flower and in the casting, it is these points that are gripped to pull open the door or drawer.

Patina Artistry

In the course of the working week as I pass through the small studio here at Martin Pierce, I am often captivated by the workmanship of our patina artists. The assembly of like pieces that I see are images I wanted to capture as they are both very beautiful and can be captured in our small photo light box.

We started photographing our work as a way of keeping a diary of the different projects and new developments and with the help of a professional photographer learned some of the basic techniques of how best to shoot our work. Our photographs are taken with a Canon EOS Rebel T3 with a zoom lens inside a 5-sided white light box using  rows of small LED lights for an evenly dispersed downward light beam. The light box is housed inside a small dark room with almost no natural light. For stability the camera is placed on a small tripod. The camera is not state of the art and an equally good photograph could be created using a mobile device but what is critical is the light box and even distribution of light.

The willow friends shown above are being prepared for a new home in northern California and they are part of the handles we are making for 11 pairs of double doors that will be locked with an Anderson multi-point system. The Hedgerow and Willow collections were specified for the doors and the cabinet pull selections have been from the orchid and beetle and willow collections. In subsequent posts I will detail how we created 2 custom turn pieces to work with the Anderson lock.

New orchid design for dramatic entry door takes shape

Our Orchid cabinet knobs and pulls are popular pieces and often used as accent statements in kitchens and bathrooms. I suspect the appeal lies in their realism although the designs are not a literal portrayal of any particular orchid. The closest type of orchid is possibly the Paphiopedilum (Venus Slipper) or the Phalaenopsis (Moth) but with over 20,000 species and hybrids there may well be and exact match that left it’s imprint on Martin Pierce’s retina.

 Orchid Cabinet Knobs and Stems

The orchid knob has a 3/4” stem post that allows the flower head to be easily gripped and pulled. The same clearance for fingers is given to the orchid spray by the curved stem that connects the 2 orchid flowers.

New Orchid for grand statement

The new orchid is scaled to make a dramatic door statement and like our Willow heroic pull we see it being placed in the center of the door and not on the door stile. The end result will be cast in solid bronze and measure 6” x 6” x 1 ¼” and it may lend itself to being either nickel plated or artistically patinaed with differing hot green, red or yellow oxides. Unlike the smaller cabinet pulls there will not be a stem post mounting as the orchid perimeter petals will be flush with the door face. As the orchid is loosely based on the Venus slipper orchid it has a large stamen and labellum and together these will serve as the gripping point for the thumb and index fingers.

 Martin as readers will know begins a new piece with a front and side view drawn free hand on paper and this becomes the guide used to roughly cut the patterns in high density foam. The drawing details are then copied on to the rough patterns and then carved to create a three-dimensional piece. The new orchid will be cast in 3 pieces which will be welded together to create a single knob.

Exterior Door Handles – Lock Types & Door Preparation

Unravelling the words used to describe simple door handles.

I recently spoke to a modest but tenacious person who had decided to purchase a door handle set for her new wine cellar. She had spent the previous week grappling with the odd terminology of door handing ,lock backset and door stile and was now ready to place her order.

Exterior doors are made secure by locks that vary in price, strength, and degree of difficulty when being installed. Our handles can be configured for a wide range of locks so choosing the type of lock should not be a barrier to buying whatever style of handle you like. Word of advise, make sure that any lock that is installed on location is done by either a qualified lock smith or competent contractor.

3 Types of door locks not including electric and digital  locks

Keyed Cylinder – a simple way to lock the door with minimal door preparation. A 2” hole will typically be cut into the door by the door manufacturer. You will need to understand the term backset which is the distance from the side or edge of the door to the center of the cut hole and can be anywhere from 2 3/8” to 5”. The distance will largely depend on the width of your door stile, which is  the flat area of the vertical door frame  and typically 2 3/8” or 2 ¾”. The cylinder on the outside of the door is activated by your key which when turned throws a  metal tongue into the door jam. The key throws the lock usually when it is turned clockwise and retracts it when turned anti-clockwise. On the inside of the door the turn piece performs the same function of throwing and retracting the tongue. This type of lock also has a double keyed cylinder option and a key is used to activate either cylinder.

Mortise Lock - Arguably the strongest type of lock this requires a lot of door preparation ideally performed by the door manufacturer. Here a very sturdy good gauge of  steel is used by the lock manufacturer to create a box that houses the intricate locking mechanism and from which a large heavy duty latch and bolt are released. We use the Accurate mortise lock box that is approximately 6”H x 3 ½”W x 7/8”D.

The mortise lock and keyed cylinder locks both release a metal tongue approximately 1” into the door jam for a single door or the non-operating door in the case of a double door.

Multi-point - This type of lock also provides a high level of security achieved in part because the mechanism throws 3 bolts, one into the top the door jamb one into the door sill and the third into the center of the door jamb or other door if this is a double door. Like the mortise the mechanisms are housed in a central metal box. The top and bottom bolts are typically ½” flat rods that pass through a pre-cut channel that runs the length of the door. As this type of lock requires extensive door preparation the doors are usually sold with the lock already installed.

The multi-point lock box and escutcheon that cover it are usually narrow and I am guessing this is because they are used on French doors aka patio doors designed with glass pane(s) for maximum light. Whatever the historical reason, like most hardware makers, we offer a narrow back-plate to suit this type of lock for most of our door handle collections.

Fish Door Handle A New Design

In a previous post we described the initial stages of our new carp fish handle. The design, as is customary, began with 2 detailed drawings showing the face and profile of the new pull. The drawing was swiftly followed by a 3-dimensional pattern sculpted by Martin Pierce in high density foam. Once the pattern was complete, we assessed how best to gate the piece to ensure that molten bronze would flow easily and fill all parts of the “shelled” fish. In this context shell refers to the investment method of casting and describes how wax replicas of the pattern are encased in a strong silicon slurry that when auto-claved leaves a void that is filled with molten metal ( see  Anatomy of a bronze door handle)

The fish castings can be used as either left or right facing door pulls as the direction is determined by the mounting posts that are machined and welded to either side of the piece. They can also be used as back-to-back door pulls on glass doors making them perfect for fish themed restaurants.

The first castings were in bronze and have now been patinaed by immersion into selenious acid a chemical that oxidizes the bronze turning it black (see Making a door handle black)

Once immersed the castings when dry were strategically burnished to re-expose the raised areas leaving dark the scaled recessed sections. Using different chemicals, the same mottled pattern could be achieved in blue or green or in almost any color range through powder coating.

For ocean front properties where salt water has a corrosive impact the fish handle can be ordered in 316 marine grade steel.

Bonsai and other small trees in nature and art

As international travel is still an arduous undertaking we decided to take a virtual tour to Asia and visited the Chinese and Japanese gardens at the Huntington gardens. Other gardens include the Shakespeare, Australian and Subtropical which provide virtual  tours of exotic places and different eras.

The Chinese garden is now complete and offers visitors a15 acre garden that combines architecture with water ways, rock sculptures, plants and a tea room. Modeled on the gardens of Suzhou near Shanghai, the Huntington’s Liu Fang Yuan is a tranquil beautiful space to sit and contemplate nature. The garden was built using materials and craftsmen from China to create an authentic landscape. Calligraphy and nature scenes have been expertly hand carved into the namu wood paneling of the pavilions using traditional chisels, gouges and planes. The tile pathways are equally meticulous and pieces are individually placed in intricate squares using traditional and symmetrical designs. By adhering to old skills and traditional designs the Huntington have succeeded in creating a small taste of China which feels real and not faux.

In both the Chinese and Japanese gardens there are wonderful bonsai trees to view including a miniature pine forest, elm trees and a California juniper that is 500 years old.  

The first bonsai trees were nurtured in China and later introduced to Japan in the 13th century by travelling Buddhist monks. If you do visit these gardens don’t be shy but strike up a conversation with one of the docents, as we did, when we spoke to Bob Maronde who gave us invaluable details of the development of the Chinese gardens to their present grandeur.

While Martin and I really appreciate the skills of arborists who can successfully grow bonsai trees as we lack their talent we content ourselves with other smaller trees, cast in bronze and suitable for both indoor and outdoor use.

Flexibility a key component to door hardware design

The first edition of any piece that we make is rarely the final version, rather it evolves as new versions are developed to enhance the piece for  stylistic or practical reasons. At our design atelier there are many examples of this evolutionary process.

 Evolution of Grapevine -

The original Grapevine entry lever set is a popular handle set and still available in its original design but for home owners who have a narrow door stile of 4” a new version with a 3 ½” wide back-plate was developed.A new pattern was carved to make the leaf edges on the back plate smaller and more contained without compromising the original design.

Morphic Cylinders - a case study in progress

 The Morphic cylindrical door pull is currently specified as a 16”,26”or  32” long pull with a 2” diameter. We choose these lengths to offer a suitable range of grips for doors varying in height from a standard 80” to a large 96”+. For each size an original pattern of non-repeating lace was designed and carved resulting in 3 unique pieces. When a designer wanted to specify a different length, this could only be achieved by adding length to the non-lace ends.

 The new version in development retains the organic design but certain sections have been changed to create a repeat pattern which will enable customers to special order the Morphic pull in lengths ranging from 18” to a possible 60”length.

Post Oak Hotel

It was critical that the new pull retain the fluidity and natural appearance of the original pattern so considerable care was taken to create irregular repeat lines that do not truncate the design.