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

What determines the direction of a door handle

For many the question of a door handles direction is seen as a question of door handing and not a question that has much to do with design and possibly whimsy.  While it is true that the handing of a door lever is determined by the location of the doors hinges this need not always apply to door pulls or door grips. The answer is further complicated when the designer, in our case, Martin Pierce has a keen sense of what is correct from a natural perspective. This recently came up in a conversation with James Cunningham a photographer who we recently worked with to enhance the background of our Morphic Scroll door pull. The scroll pull is clearly a vertical pull but the curved grip can just as easily face outwards or inwards. Martin designed the piece for the Baha Mar project in collaboration with Mike Hong the projects architect. The   concept drawings have always shown the piece with the curve pointing outwards but this is not how James Cunningham saw it.

Very tall Door Handles

There are some door pulls where it is up to the artistry of the designer or consumer to determine the best direction for a piece.

Then there are the practical aspects to consider - when a door stile is narrow while the width of the grip may fit the space it may be wiser to have the grip face away from the door jamb as this will reduce the risk of grazed knuckles that would occur if the grip direction were reversed.

Yacht Door Handles in Polished Steel

The fluid design of the  Morphic door handle is increasingly being specified for yachts and oceanic projects in a  highly polished finish. The mirror like finish compliments these watery locations and as it is cast in stainless steel it has excellent rust resistant properties. The physical durability of stainless steel also makes it ideal for high traffic public areas which are the norm in the hospitality industry. We have recently completed 12 sets of our Serpentine handle for a new yacht designed by SMC a  London based group that leads the field in maritime design.

Tall Door Handle

Working closely with the projects specifiers, DEKO Ocean of  Denmark, we made necessary modifications to ensure that the handles would work for the projects 3” deep aluminum fire doors.

Coincidentally the Morphic style chosen for SMC’s project is one that owes its inspiration to marine life forms and in particular to the lace like appearance of  coral and to the tentacles of squid and octopi. Despite its oceanic origins  we named this piece “Serpentine” to more immediately convey its shape and to set it apart from other pieces in the series.

The Serpentine handle measures 31”H by 4”W ( 812mm x 100mm) and is suitable for most wood, glass and stone doors. The handle is mounted over a small concealed mounting bracket that is attached to the door. Once the bracket is firmly in place the Serpentine handle then clips over the bracket where it is held in place by Allen screws on either side of the handles tips.

Ergonomic Hardware Adapted to Individual Needs

While there is a reasonable amount of door hardware that meets the legal requirements of the ADA it is often challenging to find artistic door handles that satisfy both the artistic and physical needs of any one client and their designer.

The Ergo collection derives its name from the adjective “ergonomic” being a design that is optimized for easy use in the workplace and when it was created, Martin Pierce developed a left and right knob and lever design with suitable cut outs and indentations that could be easily gripped by a left handed or right handed person. The style has evolved over time with modifications being made to slim down the lever for more universal comfort.

Though the Ergo series is ergonomic, not all pieces are ADA suitable. As we grow older our physical needs and challenges multiply but not in a homogeneous way so a generic approach to making hardware ADA compliant is no guarantee that the adapted hardware will work for all. Enter a skilled and sensitive designer versatile in specifying custom door hardware like Lambrino Christoff of Barton G Design. With Lambrino’ s input we recently re-designed our Ergo epic cabinet pull by scooping out the back to make a hollow that could easily be gripped using ones index and middle finger. See the image below showing the evolution of this piece, the middle picture shows the custom piece and the top and bottom pictures show the first and most recent cabinet pull in this collection.

Modern Cabinet Knobs and Pulls

For other designers we have modified our Ergo cabinet pull making the mounting posts taller thereby creating more space between the cabinet face and underside of the pull that can be gripped by several fingers together.

Unique Door Handles in Steel - A New Spin on Hedgerow

We have been focusing on re-vamping our website and in doing so have been developing new pieces, new videos and new finishes for some of our signature pieces. The Hedgerow door pull is perhaps our most well known and iconic piece that represents our love of trees and natural forms. As you may know the new Hedgerow illuminated tree is an ongoing work that is expected to be completed by years end but since that is months away we thought it was time to revisit the Hedgerow collection and so are now casting select pieces in steel. The cooler tones of stainless steel play well in a modern setting and work for both residential and commercial projects. While this Hedgerow tree is not part of our collection of luminaires it can be lit by directional accent lights to create a dramatic statement.

Tree Door Handle A Signature Piece in the Hedgerow Collection

The 3 dimensional nature of this piece and the detailed sculptural tree canopy are very difficult to capture in a flat 2 dimensional photo so we will be releasing a short video soon which will more adequately capture the depth and scale of this steel tree.

By casting select Hedgerow pieces in steel, a rust resistant medium, we hope that these nature inspired pieces may take root in coastal locations!

The Hedgerow tree and 5 other signature pieces are also making their way to our new banner gallery that can be viewed on our website.

All of our work is made here in Los Angeles using the lost wax method of casting and each piece is finished by hand to create a truly unique piece.

Contemporary LED Wall Sconce for Hotels

The advent of small LED’s that require low gauge wires and the efficiency of these low voltage bright lights has made it possible for us to tailor our door handle designs to fit the custom light market.  The Morphic cylindrical door pull is the first piece that we have adapted from being a door handle to a wall sconce. It’s very close cousin the 16” door handle has been re-tooled so that it now functions as a discreet but intriguing wall sconce.

When is a handle a wall sconce?

Iluminated Door Handles

The simple answer is when it is hanging on a wall or along a corridor to create patterns of light that will add mood or atmosphere to a room or corridor. The Morphic sconce is available through design professionals and offered either in a brushed stainless steel or in an oil rubbed bronze. This UL listed luminaire at present is offered with a single color LED small spot and can be ordered with a red, blue, green or white light. Who knows maybe a boutique hotel will use the different colors to help their guests remember which floor their room is on, this certainly would take the stress out of finding your room after a long day trudging the halls of a Vegas trade show.

Soon we will be offering this piece with a color changing spot and then our designer clientele can really have fun pairing the mood of each floor or room function with the color of the LED. I can see it will not be long before soft amber shades come to be associated with the bar lounge with pale aqua tones create a soothing welcome to the sauna.

Since boutique hotels need to periodically freshen their appearance we hope our color changing luminaires can provide a cost effective option.

HD Expo 2013, Martin Pierce Hardware naming contest and you

We will be making our third annual trip to sunny Las Vegas again this year to attend and exhibit at the HD Expo 2013 and while there we will be debuting a few new items;  but we need your help.

One of the items we are excited to debut is our new Ergo Extended Door Handle.  Our original Ergo large door handle was named the "Heroic".   Funny story...when we first came to America many, many years ago we noticed that large door handles always seemed to be called "heroic" so we thought that maybe it was some American tradition or funny use of the word.  Fast forward to the design of our Ergo collection and, in order to fit in,  we named it Heroic.  We have since learned that the word means the same thing in America as it does in England but we liked the sense of noble scale it portrayed and kept the name.  "Ergo" is short for ergonomic and this aptly describes the collection.  It is important in the design of this collection that the hardware pieces fit comfortably in the hand so, therefore, most of the pieces have both left and right handed versions.  Perfect for use in a private residence as well as public spaces that might include health care facilities, retirement communities or spas and hotels.

What we need now is for our readers and followers to put on their creative thinking cap and come up with a suitable name for the new, larger version of the Ergo door handle in lieu of the descriptive but rather boring "extended door handle".  Weighing in at a hefty 10 pounds and measuring an impressive 35 1/4" of solid stainless steel, this dramatic piece can be used as back to back handles on glass doors or anywhere you are looking to make a definite design statement.

The winning entry will be chosen by us and the lucky winner will receive both a left and right mushroom drawer pull from our  custom hardware Flora collection.  These lifelike yet whimsical pulls can be used to update an existing piece of furniture, cabinet door etc.  The only restriction to the new name is that it must contain the word "Ergo" and all entries must be received by us either in the comments section of this blog post or on our facebook page before midnight on March 1, 2013.  We look forward to reading all of your wonderful suggestions.