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.

Have a Merry Christmas from all here at Martin Pierce.

The orchid spray in the banner is a unique design that will be covered in detail next year along with a new orchid piece. If you are looking for orchid knob inspiration we have an orchid knob and orchid pull in our collection of plant theme cabinet hardware.

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.

Wine Cabinets – Hardware Discussed

For serious wine collectors keeping those liquid gems at a temperature and humidity  where they live happily until consumed is a crucial factor both in the design and construction of a wine closet and in  choosing suitable door hardware.

LEFT: Doors with tubular latch cabinet center divide RIGHT: Fixed handles cabinet doors flush no divide

Wine kept for future consumption needs to be in a cool dark cabinet that is kept to a temperature of 45-65 degrees with a controlled humidity of about 70%. It is also important to keep wine free from vibration as this will disturb the sediment in the bottle as well as setting off a chemical reaction that decreases the wines acids thereby dulling the wines flavor. While minor vibration may be easier to control, in California the vibrations are often seismic!

Do the specific requirements for wine storage limit the customers choice of door handle?

The simple answer is no, choosing the right type of handle for a wine cabinet door should be no more taxing than selecting a handle for any interior door. The same factors need to be considered and questions answered;

Door handing

Functioning latching handles versus fixed

Width of door stile

Door Handing

Looking at the door from the outside, doors that hinge on the left are left-handed and those that hinge on the right are right-handed and this holds true for double doors. Some wine closets are made with a pivot hinge that attaches to the top and bottom of the door with a pin rod, see photo below.

Whatever the hinge type it needs to be strong enough to ensure that the door(s) when closed, tightly fit into the cabinet frame to help maintain a constant temperature. Wine cabinets and wine racks are often made to pitch backwards  which helps prevent the wine from touching the cork and also gives a gentle gravity tug that helps the doors to firmly close.

 Functioning or non-operative levers/pull

This brings up the question of cabinet construction and the presence of a center divide. A center divide is a wood divide that runs from the top to the bottom of the cabinet frame. A center divide of at least 1 1/2”is critical for double doors if they are required to latch with a tubular latch. A tubular latch is activated by the lever which throws the latch tongue into the strike on the side of the divide. Cabinets can be made with  a hydraulic hinge closure which creates a tight hermetic seal that does not require a latching operational handle. If  the double doors are flush without a divide then magnetic latches attached to the top and bottom of the doors and cabinet frame are a good option. Roller latches are another option but the roller ball and strike tend to wear out and the roller springs tend to loose their tensile strength so will need to be adjusted periodically. The plan view in the above diagram shows how the tubular latch and magnetic differ.

Stile Width and Backset

Our standard backplates are 3” wide and require a net stile width of 5” for a 2 3/8” backset. For smaller stiles our multi-point backplates are 2 1/8” or 2 ¼” wide and require a 3 ½” net stile. The width is referred to as net to denote the free flat surface of the door frame without any door molding or astragal.

Photos courtesy of Susan Diamond Location Residence of Susan Diamond and Andrew Fletcher

Hedgerow Multi-point Sets Used as Fixed Handles

 I wrote this piece in response to a consumer whose tenacity and diligence proved indispensable in the correct ordering of our vine door handles. Ordering door handles should not require a degree in engineering and should not be an arduous task so my advise is to check and double check the door specs supplied and don’t hesitate to ask the hardware manufacturer for help in ordering the right type of handle and latch.

Beetles in the fictional world of Martin Pierce

A lesser-known area of Martin Pierce’s work is the fictional world occupied by insect and humanoid bronze creatures. To better show these sculptures we are adding new pages to our site and will be creating a new collection page and eventually a payment portal.

Since childhood Martin has been  fascinated by  insects and birds and not just by their obvious beauty but by their ingenuity and dexterity. Wasps, butterflies, moths, and swallows are represented in our company’s door hardware and cabinet hardware collections. However, the scale of  door hardware as well as the functional limitations relegate these forms to incidental turn pieces, thumb latches or cabinet pieces. 

As Martin’s art work is not subject to the same restraints he is using this new freedom to re-imagine both the scale of humans to insects as well as their functional and social relationships.

In December 2021 Martin sourced a deceased aqua blue horned rhinoceros dung beetle from a New Mexico  entomologist. Known affectionately to friends  as Phanaeus Pilatei this particular insect is beautifully colored and powerfully built. The powerful front plate and horn is used as a soil digger that is as proportionately powerful as a bob-cat shovel or bulldozer blade.  Alas, the beauty and mechanical dexterity of Phanaeus is rarely appreciated due to his diminutive size. In Martin’s sculptures and paintings he hopes to shine a light on these undervalued scarabs by portraying then as larger than life and by developing a story that he hopes will be captivating.

True size of Dung beetle 3/4”L x 1/2”H New Model for Dung Sculpture 10”L x 6”H Other Beetle Sculptures

What is the difference between a cabinet pull and an appliance pull

A common question is whether you can or should use a cabinet pull as an appliance pull. The question has 2 components  one is  aesthetic and the other technical-mechanical.

Larger Morphic Pull has a lip overhang that is easy to grip with whole hand for heavier doors and drawers

 Mounting posts - distance between centers – screws

A typical pull be it for a cabinet or appliance door will be attached by 2 screws that thread into either a mounting posts or  recessed holes on the back of the pull. The hardware manufacturer determines the location and distance between the posts, the size of the pre-drilled holes and the type of screw or bolt used to attach the pull. These factors together with the heft of the pull largely determine whether a smaller cabinet pull will work satisfactorily as an appliance pull. The mounting posts on our cabinet pulls are generally placed a little below the top and bottom of  the casting and are part of the casting. Their size is scaled proportionately to the size of the piece but at a minimum needs to be large enough to accommodate an 8-32 screw.  To work as an appliance pull for a large refrigerator or sub-zero door the posts will need to accommodate a more substantial 10-24 or even ¼-20 screw. As we make a wax replica before casting we can  customize the post making it larger or by making the area for the tapped hole larger. The thickness, thread count per inch and length as well as the base material all impact the strength of the screw. The thickness of the screw or the outside dimension of the threaded shaft is the first number given and is expressed either as a size or as a fraction. Smaller thinner screws are typically given a number and those greater than ¼” are usually expressed as a fraction 5/16”. The second number for a machine screw is usually the threads per inch followed by the length. For wood screws the thread is not called out and only the thickness and length are given.

The base metal of a screw will impact it’s strength and while brass screws are more decorative, unless they have a wide diameter will not be as strong as a stainless steel screw. Stainless steel has a greater tensile strength, is harder and the thread is not as prone to being stripped when under pressure.

10/24 x 3” #10 size screw diameter of threaded area is 3/16”, there are 24 threads per inch and the screw is 3” long. The style of screw is Slotted SLTD with a round head and it is a machine screw.

6 x 5/8 is a # 6 screw diameter 9/64” as it is a wood screw no thread count is given for this 5/8” long screw that has a Philips Oval Head style.

1/4-20 x4” the screw diameter is being shown as a fraction not a number code. This is a 1/4” threaded screw with 20 threads per inch it is 4” long and is a machine screw with a slotted head. The base metal is 18-8SS stainless steel which is equivalent to 304 stainless steel.

Note the heft of the ends of this pull they are in solid bronze and approx. 1 1/2”D x 1 1/4”H ideal for heavy gauge bolts

Aesthetics and Costs

Assuming the cabinet pull meets the technical demands above whether to use it as an appliance pull largely depends on taste and budget. Stainless steel and bronze are premium expensive metals and their prices continue to rise. Clearly an appliance pull will require a lot more metal to make and a lot more time to finish.

Cabinet Hardware For

Wishing Everyone A Happy and Healthy 2022

For the curious, the 2022 font was created from the Willow Collection of cabinet hardware. While these pieces can be colorfully finished using hot patinas, more vivid blue and green tones can be applied through powder coating. For more information please contact us.

Creative Color Enhancement of Willow Sprigs Part of the Willow Collection of Cabinet Hardware

The small willow round cabinet knob below was cropped and colored in Photoshop. We offer a blue green and pea green hot patina both available as custom patinas

A HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOU ALL.

If you are guessing how we created the banner then look no further than to our Willow sprig cabinet pulls. These are available as left or right pulls and are scaled for use as appliance pulls or cabinet door pulls. While typically finished in a light or dark patina they can be custom finished with a hot patina with blue or verdigris tones. If you are looking for more autumnal tones then we offer a red brown patina. In the above banner I have created a more dramatic statement in Photoshop.

Palm Desert Loving All Animals Annual Event

We are pleased to share details of the annual  Spay-ghetti & No Balls event taking place this Saturday November 13th in Palm Desert and sponsored by Loving All Animals. The non-profit’s mission is to maximize the success of programs within the Coachella Valley dedicated to finding homes for homeless pets. Pet Companion Magazine have kindly donated one of our Siamese cat door coat hooks to the silent auction at this event. For more details about this event or for donations to this wonderful group please visit lovingallanimals.org or call 760-834-7000.

Brief Profile of the Siamese Cat:

The Siamese cat is thought to originate from Thailand formerly known as Siam*. The modern Siamese has, through selective breeding, become less rounded than it’s predecessor and is noted for it’s pointed large ears, long narrow neck and almost triangular shaped head with almond shaped eyes. The breed is short haired, and lacking an undercoat, its silky hair clings tightly to it’s body thereby accentuating it’s svelte musculature. The face has distinctive markings or points around the nose and eyes that develop as the kittens mature with colors ranging from grey to grey-brown to light grey and blue grey in tone.

The Siamese cat in our cat accessory collection is cast in silicon bronze, an alloy that is light brown in tone and which we accentuate with a dark brown patina to simulate the distinctive face point area. Siamese cats are by temperament social, playful and very vocal companions and they enjoy prominence amongst cat owners being one of the top 5 cats amongst US cat owners.

*Interesting information about this cat breed can be found at wikipedia

Bronze or Stainless Steel Closet Door Pulls - making the right choice

We are always very grateful when clients share photos of our work installed in their homes  as we get to glimpse there use in real life. It can be a daunting task when choosing both the right style and the right alloy for a cabinet or closet door and the internet only helps if the user is savvy when searching the web and has a clear of what they like.

As a small company with limited advertising dollars we rely on the skill and tenacity of  consumers when searching for our products on the web. A recent search brought our work to the attention of a couple in the San Francisco area who were remodeling their master bathroom and bedroom.  

Original photograph courtesy of client

Both rooms were remodeled with contemporary clean lined cabinetry that would work equally well with the Ergo and Morphic styles. The client’s bathroom cabinets were made in teak a warmly colored and figured hard wood that worked well with the brown golden tones of the lightly patinaed bronze they chose as the finish for the Morphic cabinet handles. 

 A two- tone luster was selected for the Ergo stainless steel handles with polished and satin areas a finish that complimented the simple and neutral grey tones of the closet doors.  

Original photograph courtesy of client

Making a door handle black - patination versus powder coating

Alloys like steel and bronze can be colored by immersion in a chemical patina such as the M20 chemical from Birchwood which is suitable for bronze or by baking on a layer of pigment powder to the surface of the handle. Neither method is superior to the other, but both have different benefits.

316 Stainless steel is better suited to powder coating as this type of steel is hard, dense and corrosion resistant making it difficult for chemicals to penetrate or to form a chemical bond with. Our Morphic and Ergo collections are typically cast in 316 stainless steel an alloy that lends itself to contemporary door handle designs.
Copper is the primary metal in bronze, and it will readily react and oxidize when exposed to acidic chemicals to form a new micro thin layer. The color that develops through this conversion of copper will depend on the chemicals used and the colors can range from blue greens to red browns to black.  To create black, we use M20 a product made by Birchwood Technologies and one that contains selenious acid which is the component that oxidizes the copper turning it brown or black depending on the number of applications and length of each treatment. As the depth of color can be built up over several immersions it is method well suited to a patina where you want a range of color and a more organic appearance. As the patina is micro-thin several layers can be built up and then sanded back to reveal a range of color. If a uniform effect is wanted then the handle can be immersed in a bath of this solution several times to develop an even color of the required darkness.

By comparison powder coating works well on 316 stainless steel as the pigmented layer is baked on to the surface of the piece and no penetration of the surface occurs. Powder coating offers a wider and more controllable range of color and luster with a wide range of standard colors and custom mixes available from companies like Prismatic who offer a choice of over 6,000 colors. https://www.prismaticpowders.com

Grand Entry Doors - Using Cremone Bolts to Secure Tall Doors

The Heroic Hedgerow door grip as is clear from its name is a substantial piece whose size, detail and beauty make it a perfect choice for large scaled single or double entry doors. For security, we recommend a mortise lock and use the American made Accurate mortise lock, an industry leader known for their superior locks. The lock is incorporated using an unobtrusive rose and a keyed mortise deadbolt whose size does not detract from the dramatic tree grips.

Large double doors can be made even more secure with a rod bolt that when engaged locks the door into the header and threshold. These types of bolt are often referred to as Cremone bolts or Espagnolettes and they have been used for centuries. The less mechanized form of this bolt is available for our Willow collection. We are currently developing a mechanized and long form of this bolt for both the Willow and Hedgerow collections.

Our motivation to extend the Cremone bolt collection stems from the limitations of the multi-point lock which is the modern-day equivalent to the Espagnolettes. Multi-point locks are designed to be concealed within the door stile and usually function with an exterior lever. Door levers are necessarily small in scale as they need to be easy to grip and depress by even the smallest of hands. The escutcheon needs to be proportional to the lever and the result is a handle set that is overshadowed by the door. Some multi-point locks use a knob to activate the lock but again the scale of this is inappropriate for larger doors. While certain manufacturers appear to offer a multi-point grip.

Customizing A Lizard Door Handle for A Glass Pane Door

The lizard heroic handles as is clear from their name are large sculptures and they are the signature pieces to this collection of door handles and cabinet pulls. The handle and escutcheon are welded together to make one entity but are cast in 2 halves. When the original pattern was carved we had to consider how the bronze would flow within the molds and made the decision to carve the body as one piece but carve the lizards toes as part of the stone plate. Had we decided to leave the toes as part of the lizard they would have been too fragile to support and would have been prone to distortion when made in wax or when invested with bronze.

The butterfly thumb latch when depressed opens the mortise latch

Forward position of the right lizard enables the head of the lizard to be grabbed with your right hand freeing the left hand to operate a thumb latch when used with of an operative mortise latch and butterfly thumb piece.

When asked if we could make either lizard narrower so that the handle could snuggly fit around the glass panes of an existing door my first reaction was no but I came to re-think my position when given the specifics dimensions of the door. Both the left and right lizards measure 5 ½” at their widest points but the narrower areas range from 2 ½” to 3 ¾” which gave us the possibility of modifying the back-plate and positioning the lizard to fit between the door panes. Since the toes of the lizard are part of the plate, we had to avoid these when slimming the plate during the wax stage. The right lizard overlaps the top edge of the plate so that it can be used in conjunction with a butterfly thumb latch when being used as part of an operative mortise set. The forward position of the right lizard and the position of the toes would have made it difficult to customize for this client’s door.

Left: Original Lizard Center: Orange area where wax to be cut Right: Modified Concept

Concept drawing showing position of modified left lizard

Hoodoos of Bryce Canyon an Illustration of Nature's Design Influence - part 2

Hoodoos of Bryce Canyon an illustration of the design influence of Nature – part 2

Following on from last weeks post our journey continued from the Grand Canyon in Arizona through Zion and ended with the surreal landscapes of Bryce Canyon. Over the years we had glimpsed on-line photos of the Hoodoos, but these did not prepare us for the spectacle of Bryce Canyon. It is an other-world experience mysterious and magical and like none we have ever encountered. The word Hoodoo derives from the word voodoo and denotes something that is ill-fated or will bring bad luck which would be the case if one were foolish enough to climb one of these fragile dangerous spires.

photo by Martin Pierce

These fairy chimneys develop over millions of years as the softer inner core of sandstone and mud are eroded by water that freezes and expands creating cracks and holes that are precariously held together by the harder layers of sandstone and limestone*. Bryce Canyon experiences many cycles of extreme heat and cold, moisture and aridity and these dramatic variations cause the softer stone to erode and dissolve leaving behind a collection of fragile spires. The process is ongoing, and these precarious rocks continue to collapse and fall and rumor has it can be heard doing so after dusk has set.

Photo by Martin Pierce

Our on-line and fleeting view of  hoodoos did not directly inspire the but there holy skeletal shapes certainly remind us of the hoodoos of Bryce canyon.

Source of geology notes :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoodoo_(geology)

Lizard Door Handles Insired by Nature Pragmatically Adapted

The lizard we see most often in the Hollywood Hills is the California Alligator lizard, so named for its long snout and back patterning which is similar to the American alligator found in the southern states.
The similarities continue as both species have long tails and short legs and enjoy a carnivorous diet. The smaller of these 2 reptiles’ preys on much smaller creatures eating a wide variety of invertebrates but also to my surprise feeding on small birds and bird eggs.
There are several varieties of the California Alligator lizard and the ones we see in Los Angeles are distinguished by their pale iris color and by their grey scaly skin. While lizards have a 10 to 15 year life span and live here throughout the year, they tend to me more noticeable in the warm summer months when we spend more time outside and these days we are all spending a lot more time outside. The larger than life lizards in our collection of door hardware were loosely modeled on the Alligator lizard as can be seen in their long tails and pointed snout. However, as with all our nature inspired hardware designs considerable artistic license was used to modify the shape and size of both the lizard’s legs and scales to make the door handle pleasing to hold and easy to grip.

To create the lizard handles Martin’s first step was to sketch from memory his impressions of the Alligator lizard. Using this he drew a second lizard to form a pair of right and left facing door handles.

Dragonflies renew the life cycle

Almost a year has passed since we shared the photographs, we took of mating dragonflies filmed over the air space above our small pond and not surprisingly we are seeing the same event now. This time we were more prepared and were able to take a short video showing a female dropping down into the pond to deposit her eggs from her ovipositor. While we were not quick enough to video the 2 mating, we will be making this our goal for next year.

We were also able to photograph the blue dasher dragonfly who hopefully will be making an egg deposit to our pond. Both the red/orange flame skimmer and little blue dragonfly have the same 3 stage life cycle from egg to aquatic larva (nymph) and then to colorful adult. The flame skimmer has a longer life span living for up to 1 to three years as compared to the blue dasher’s maximum life span of 6 months. However, both species spend the larger part of their lives submerged in water as developing larva and it is here in their less attractive state that they grow on a diet of other insect larvae and some small fish. It is perhaps for this reason that the idea of fish-eating dragonflies developed since this behavior is common in the non-adult flame skimmer nymph.

We have mosquitofish in our pond who together with flame skimmers eat mosquito larva. The mosquitofish also eat dragonfly , so it seems only fair that they in turn are eaten by the dragonfly nymphs.

The dragonfly shown below from our collection of insect cabinet pulls was loosely based on the shape of the slimmer blue dasher but we have often used the muted brown red coloring of the female flame skimmer when coloring the pull using a hot pigmented oxide.

HAPPY 4TH JULY

HAPPY 4TH JULY

A recent art piece inspired this flighty moth motif flag. If you look closely you will see that the stars have morphed into bronze butterflies.

View our other art works.

Bronze handles a warm alternative for yachts and beach homes

We have previously discussed why 316 stainless steel is the preferred steel for marine environments, but bronze is an equally well-suited alloy and one that offers warmer tones.

I frequently am asked what alloy is rust resistant and will not change color. Stainless steel as its name underscores is the obvious answer as while silicon bronze is equally rust-resistant it will change over time as it’s “living” patina evolves.

 In 316 stainless steel the alloy’s color and durability are secured by its passive layer of chromium oxide which does not change the color of the metal and which does not change much over time as the chromium content enables the film to self- heal and re-create the oxide. A similar protective layer or layers develop on the surface of bronze through oxidation but the film continues to develop and new layers with different chemical components and different colors develop over time. This continuous changing oxidation occurs naturally and the thicker the patina the more the lower layers off copper are protected.  This oxidation should not be confused with rust which is a corrosive oxidation made when iron and oxygen combine to form iron oxide. Rust eats away at the upper surface and as this flakes off the lower layers of iron are exposed to oxygen and the process repeats itself with successive layers of iron degrading into flaky rust.

Left: living patina on Hedgerow Bronze Lever after 8 years Right: Polished bronze with light patina and sealed

Bronze is an alloy formed with copper which is the main metal and one that is rust resistant.

Our handles are cast in silicon bronze and the silicon element strengthens the copper and enhances its corrosion resistance. Silicon bronze is a particularly good at resisting the corrosive effects of sodium chloride or seawater.

Silicon bronze will oxidize in different ways and produce different colored oxides depending on the composition of the air and water in the environment. The more acidic the air the more accelerated the oxidation process will be but as we can see from historical buildings and ancient artefacts this patination process should not be mistaken as metal corrosion or decay but seen as a successive build-up of layers of patina.

Vine Cabinet Pull the Patinas were Created By Applying Liquid Sulfides and Oxides to Hot Bronze

The air is made up of nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide and depending on your location varying levels of sulfur, ammonium and phosphorous, the latter being by-products and pollutants associated with high density farming and industrial manufacturing. When these combine with water or each other they produce oxides and sulfides that produce different patinas on the bronze surface

We replicate these environmental patinas with our light and dark brown finishes and blue green and red patinas by immersing our castings in chemical solutions of ammonium and sulfur for black and redder tones and cupric sulfate and acetic acid for blue green tones. We then seal the patina either with a coat of oil, wax, lacquer or with a more durable enamel layer which is baked onto the patina. The sealants slow the rate of future patination to varying degrees.

Insect Art and The Gilding Process

Martin Pierce is currently creating 18 gilded panels which will be used as decorative door panels for the front door of his home. Similar framed panels will be available for sale thereafter and we hope to announce those details soon.

Martin is currently at the gilding stage of the process which is what we show in this post. The raised panels are all beetles and the 5 distinct shapes are all from the gymnetis family of beetle. The beetles were chosen for their different body and wing shapes as well as color and will be applied to the door to create an artistic pattern.

The gilding process is used by Martin to create a bright iridescent surface which roughly simulates the iridescence that in beetles is created by the cell structure of their exoskeletons and the way it reflects light. Color will subsequently be added through translucent pigmented glazes.

Gilding brush used to pick-up with gold leaf Brush used to position leaf over wondersize

Once a smooth surface has been created by applying and then sanding a layer of casein (see earlier post) the panel is then painted with a layer of semi-clear wondersize which acts like glue to fix the leaf in place. As a practical matter Martin paints the entire panel and water spots most of the outer area  before he begins gilding, this way he does not have to paint around small legs and antennae and the water spots that fall on the insect body can be easily removed with a cloth.

Martin’s fondness of beetles and insects can be seen in his cabinet pulls.

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Seasonal Colors for Door Hardware

While the seasons may appear elusive in this sun- shine state, the slight chill in the air reminds us that autumn has arrived and with it our sense of color naturally drifts to the rich colors of autumn.

Visitors to the wine country in Paso Robles will now be able to see the wide variety of reds, yellows and brown that color the vines of their favorite varietal.
For the less fortunate we hope that our custom hot patinas when applied to our plant pulls will provide a reminder of what this season brings.

For our vine cabinet pull we used green, red and brown dye oxides applied as liquid patinas to create a gradation of colors to the hot surface of our bronze pull. To ensure that the pigmented liquid adhered to the surface we sand blasted the casting prior to heating. As the patina is translucent the golden hues of the bronze still shine through.
The dye-oxides we use are available through SculptNouveau who also offer a full range of sealants suitable for most metals.With our pear and oak leaf cabinet pulls we omitted the pea green dye oxide.

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In our earlier career as furniture makers we used a similar technique when creating our japanned vine leaves. The iridescent quality of the leaves was achieved by applying gold leaf to the motif before adding successive layers of translucent color.

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