A New Angle on Cabinet Hardware

We are adding new pieces to our Morphic collection of cabinet pulls and will soon be launching new pages on our website to include these new additions. However, the Covid-19 challenge and the resulting home- work environment has hampered our progress so we will be releasing a preview of these new pieces as they are cast and photographed.

Morphic Corner Cabinet Pull

The new Morphic corner pull was designed as a 90° angled piece  that can be positioned at the top or bottom of upper or lower cabinet doors. The pull was designed to be non-directional and the 90° angle means that it will work on left or right-handed doors to form an easy to hold ergonomic pull. Math savvy readers should not confuse the handing of a door with the angle of the pull which is always a 90° right angle regardless of the way it is positioned on a door. Apparently, even if the pull is positioned at a 9:00 clock position and therefore left facing it is still a right angle! Thankfully doors have an easy to understand logic, if the hinges are on the left as you face the outside of the door then it is a left-handed door and vice versa.

 Process

The piece began as a sketch and from there it materialized as a three-dimensional pattern. The pattern was used to create a one-part rubber mold and   melted wax was poured into it  to create wax facsimiles. From here the waxes were shelled, fired and finally invested with molten metal. When cast in stainless steel we will be offering this in a brushed durable and easy to clean 316 stainless steel. We will also be making it available as a bronze casting for those seeking a warmer look for their kitchen cabinetry.

Happy Halloweeen

A very Happy Halloween to all of you from the bats, frogs and other creatures here at Martin Pierce Hardware.

Early Designs for A New Entry Door Pull

In May of this year we began to extend our orchid collection of cabinet pulls to include corner pieces and taller vertically positioned pulls and these can be seen in an earlier post. These earlier pieces work well as cabinet pulls and for interior doors but for an entry door we felt their scale was too petite and so began designs for a new door pull that would be substantial enough both physically and aesthetically for larger and heavier entry doors.

We wanted to continue the orchid collection using the same type of orchid bud but designed 2 leaf components for strength and also for style. The leaves are a departure from our other orchid designs and their fleshy appearance and channeled surfaces will provide a finishing point on the door face.

Carved in basswood, Martin sculpted a total of 5 orchid parts as patterns for his latex molds. The flower bud was carved in 2 parts, one part for the petals and one for the stamen. The petals and stamens will be cast separately and only later will they attached when the bronze castings are eventually welded together as a sculptural orchid handle.

The images shown here are scans of drawings from Martin’s sketch book which he keeps on hand at home to jot down ideas as they develop. By drawing a front and profile view Martin is able to plan how to deconstruct the design so that each section can be finely carved and so that each pattern can be easily molded with well positioned gates. The location of the gates will be critical if the wax is to flow easily without bubbles creating small voids.

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)

How to accent a minimalist Shaker armoire

Our cabinet pull collection evolved from our days as furniture makers. The first pieces were one of a kind and were 2 hand sculpted sycamore leaves carved in walnut that were used to open the pocket doors of a custom cabinet. The piece was commissioned by neighbors who became close friends and the piece was a collaborative effort with wood choices and Japanning details reflecting the ideas of 4 people. All by way of saying we enjoy working with creative people and are invariably pleased by what our clients create.

photo courtesy of Susan Cyphers

Susan Cyphers was in the process of remodeling her bathroom and had commissioned an Amish cabinet maker in her Chagrin Falls, Ohio neighborhood to make a Shaker style armoire. The armoire was custom made to house Susan’s linens and towels and in true Shaker style was minimalist in style and devoid of any ornamentation. A brief google search revealed that the Shaker philosophy was based on the principles of simplicity, humility and honesty and this was reflected in their choice of local woods and their avoidance of wood veneers or anything less than true. In keeping with Amish tradition, the cabinet was constructed with hand-made mortise and tenon joints rather than joints made by power table saws that are held together with dowels and screws. The result was a very well made beautifully proportioned cabinet with clean lines but one that really needed a decorative finale.

photo courtesy of Susan Cyphers

Susan was initially drawn to the frog cabinet pulls that are quite animated but was looking for a more eclectic grouping and selected the geckos for the upper doors and the moth and butterfly for the drawers below. The choice was inspired, and Martin and I love the way the geckos have been positioned one facing up the other down. The scale and center positioning of the drawer pulls also works well and the result is stunning piece that Susan’s imagination helped to create.

Creative Ideas For A Sunroom - How to Make Cabinet Pulls Work for French Doors

A tropical plant and bee enthusiast reached out to me recently to see if we had any ideas for handles for her sunroom doors. The customer was on a limited budget and did not need or want operating door handles and had been looking at our “dummy” Netsuke bee and frog knobs. While both would have worked for her pair of French doors, she really wanted to use a plant motif as a bridge between her more formal living room and the more rustic casual sunroom it looked onto.

While cabinet pulls are by their function scaled for smaller doors and drawers some of our Hedgerow, Willow and Orchid designs are grander in scale and can work equally well as door pulls. The Hedgerow pull is a very stylized tree design vertical in direction and available as a left or right pull

Scale of Trees Allows them to work equally well as door or cabinet pulls

The orchid pull as has been detailed in other posts is a piece that is highly adaptive and can be used as a vertical or horizontal pull with a left or right sweep and as a custom order is available as either a left or right 90 degree pull that  is mounted to both door the stile and rail.

These pieces could have worked well as door pulls but the client had a  fondness for her large fern plant and shared an image she had of this very majestic fern tree. My curiosity was piqued and following a Google search I discovered that this tropical fern tree with its emerald green ferns and beautiful curled fronds was a native of New South Wales and Queensland.  Inspired by what I found I reviewed our fern cabinet pulls and by making some minor adjustments to the frond ends and by configuring them as pairs suggested that they could be as either vertical or horizontal door pulls as depicted here.

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.

Making A Custom Cabinet Pull from Wax to Bronze

Following on from last week’s post I will be showing how we tackle the task of changing the direction of an orchid cabinet pull from left to right. Down-stream we will be making a new mold that will allow us to create a right facing orchid stem directly from the mold with each wax section emerging from the mold as a component for a right facing pull. Until demand warrants the time and cost of making a permanent mold we will need to re-work the stem and flower sections at the wax stage to create a new right pull. This process will be repeated for each pull ordered and as we have 8 pulls to make with each pull requiring 3 wax sections, we will be investing a considerable amount of time modelling by hand all 24 wax sections. The waxes will then be shelled with silica and eventually will be melted out in an autoclave and fired to create a hollow shell which will be invested with molten bronze. The wax that is burnt out is the reason this casting method is often referred to as “lost wax” casting. Rather than making wax replicas one could map the original left pattern to create a file for a right pull and then print each section or possibly the complete piece as a 3D print. To create the print, successive layers of photo-reactive resin are built up and allowed to solidify, a process that would also take hours. Given the extremely detailed nature of the pull the 3D print would still require some cleaning up before it could be shelled, making it a less viable method of production.

View fullsize

See Orchid and other Plant Pulls

View fullsize

Left to Right: Flower 2 parts, Assembled in wax, Front View, Profile View

In Photoshop it is easy using the edit function to flip an image horizontally so that it is shown as the mirror opposite and so change a left directional piece to a right in directional one. However, in the real 3D world this would not work and in the case of the orchid stem rotating the pull right would result in the 2 flower heads facing down making for an upside- down pull. To achieve a right facing pull the curve of the sprig as well as the flower heads and buds need to be cut and re-positioned.

Orchid Components - left facing buds and flowers re-positioned and shaped to become right facing

Candlesticks our new designs take shape

These taxing times, as many have commented, provide a respite from intense commerce and we are using this time to develop new pieces. The focus on shopping on line has become central to many businesses and we are adapting to this new reality by gradually and tentatively planning which pieces are suitable for e-commerce. Door handles are not the easiest product to sell on line as a dialogue first needs to occur so that the customer understands door terminology e.g. handing, back-set, so that the handle set can be configured to the customer’s door specifications.
So, we have begun our e-commerce field work with candlesticks which in the coming months you will be able to order on line. Our first candlestick is based on the Echeveria Lola succulent that we planted in our drought tolerant garden in August of 2015. While practical needs have influenced our artistic interpretation, the sculptures still capture the geometric and pointed shape of the leaves that define this garden plant.

View fullsize

When this succulent reaches maturity she launches a flower on the end of a long shoot that attracts many bees, hover flies and small insects. We plan to incorporate these small insects into our new candlesticks as decorative features on the stems and leaves and have been sketching ideas for possible bugs whose scale and shape are fitting. One central addition is a frog which is slightly smaller in size than our existing frog cabinet pull and which we are planning to patina with the red and black markings that distinguish the South American poisonous tree frog.

The new pieces will be available in varying sizes with different stem lengths making it possible to cluster several together to form a center piece or position as individual candlesticks.

Black Crested Red Whiskered Bulbul

With more time to walk we are able to see more Bulbuls in the Hollywood hills and have managed to photograph several.
We first encountered this petite bird with colorful markings in the 1990’s at the Huntington gardens and felt quite privileged to site this bird that we have always associated with Asia and tropical environments. What we hadn’t realized was that the Bulbul was a common resident of the park in the 1970’s and 80’s and was on the A list as a non-indigenous species and destined for eradication. Thankfully sufficient public and birder opposition resulted in the suspension of this policy and now we enjoy this cheery musical creature in our own neighborhood.

I had a great deal of fun reading about the bird’s diet and habitat on Wikipedia and as a result know this passerine bird to be a fugivore. For those unfamiliar with these terms they simply mean that this is a bird that likes to perch and lives on a fruit diet. As a frugivore it makes sense that the Bulbul now thrives in Florida and southern California where fruit is abundant.
While the Bulbul is named for its small red-whiskers the males back crest and red abdominal feathers are much easier to spot as can be seen here. Like all passerines the Bulbul has three toes that point forward and one pointing back which makes perching an easy task.
If you are looking for a less flighty bird and one that you would like to use as a cabinet pull then consider the swallow pull or if you are searching for a wall statement check out our bronze jay bird.

To read more about the Bulbul’s near eradication please the article by Mary Barker


For those seeking to improve their ornithological knowledge or looking for words for Scrabble Wikipedia is great resource.

Custom Appliance Pull

We have now completed the custom Willow Appliance pull as can be seen from the photos here.
The custom pull was created by joining the right and left Willow cabinet handles to create the desired length of 17”. The length of the pull and shape of the sprig were perfectly suited to create this new item without our needing to substantially redesign the sprig and without the need to create a new pattern or mold. As discussed in an earlier post (Jan 16,2020) the new pull was created by melding and tooling 2 wax sprigs to create a single piece that was then shelled with several coats of a silica slurry before being fired to create a rigid shell.We cast these pieces in silicon bronze and then finished them in 3 different ways. The first photo below shows the effect achieved by finely buffing the bronze with successive grits of sanding compound. The deep undercuts created by the willow leaves create a shadow that adds subtle depth to the finished piece.

For a more dramatic pewter look we finished one piece using a full strength black oxide and gently removed a little of the solution around the edges of the leaves to create a very soft bronze glow, you will need to zoom into the second photo to understand what I mean.
For maximum contrast we finished the third piece with bold contrasting bands of black oxide that we removed in adjacent areas to create a striated piece.

How to add some fun to your kitchen remodel

How to add some fun to your kitchen remodel

To provide a better understanding of our small insect and reptile cabinet pulls we will over the next few months be photographing these little creatures form different perspectives. The hope is that this will help homeowners plan how and where to use these pieces and have a little fun in the process. We have typically photographed these pieces straight on and not surprisingly this is how they have been used on cabinet door and door fronts.

Cabinet pulls are typically thought of as being directional pieces but in nature tree frogs which our sculptures are based on are not directionally restrained.
The first image shows the profile, rear and aerial view of the left and right frog sculptures.

The second image shows how these 2 frog sculptures could be arranged in a leap-frog formation going up and down the cabinet door and drawer fronts. Given the whimsical nature of these pieces we feel you can indulge your sense of fun when tackling the more serious task of a kitchen remodel.

The frog pulls shown here were cast in solid bronze and finished with a light antique patina which we strategically removed to create highlights which accentuate the very 3-dimensional nature of these pieces. All our cabinet pulls are sculpted as three-dimensional art pieces and each facet is refined to create a piece that is attractive from all sides.

Artistic kitchen ideas,Frog pulls,Pulls for kitchen cabinetry,Whimsical door pulls,animal cabinet pulls

Nature inspired cabinet pulls

The yellowjacket wasp was the model for our open and closed wing wasp cabinet pull and was originally designed for the Ascot Highboy a furniture piece made by our sister company Martin Pierce Furnishings. In keeping with the yellowjacket we finished these pieces with a yellow oxide which we burnished along the wing veins to expose the golden bronze beneath.

The Ascot tallboy was a limited edition of 100 which was closed at number 78 in 2013. The piece was made using quartered English brown oak, selected for its rich brown amber hues and for it’s dark “leoparding” a term that refers to the darker spotted figuring. The open and closed wing wasps were patinated to compliment this distinctive wood.

Several years ago, on a road trip to Idaho, we stayed at Lake Pend Oreille and came across the bald-faced hornet which is a relative of the yellowjacket but being much larger it is referred to as a hornet. The black and white markings of this insect are why it is referred to as bald-faced rather like the way we refer to the “bald” eagle.

Our memory of the hornet’s markings influenced a recent order that called for a simpler black oxide patina. By restricting the black patina to the head and thorax and by burnishing the wings we were able to create a dramatic statement using a simple patina on a small piece.

The wasps are cast in solid silicon bronze and are part of our insect and animal collection of cabinet knobs.

The latest addition to our wine cellar hardware collection

Cabinet Pulls for smaller spaces – latest addition to the Grapevine Collection

Our holistic approach to door hardware is one of the reasons we like to design complete collections that allow the consumer to continue a theme from entry door, to interior door to cabinet pulls and bathroom accessories. It also means that we are constantly adapting designs to give the designer a more complete range of hardware to chose from.

Our collection of wine cellar door handles led us to design a vine leaf cabinet pull which at 6"W x 3"H x 1 1/2"D works well as a drawer or cabinet door pull. However, for smaller confined spaces we saw a need for a smaller piece and have just added a new complimentary vine loop pull. The loop pull measures 2 ¼”W x 1 1/4”Hx x and projects 1 ½”x making it easy to grip. The pattern for this petite piece was carved by hand from a block of blue wax which is typically used by jewelry artists to sculpt ring patterns. A simple rubber mold was made and then used to create red wax replicas which went through the casting process from shelling to pouring to chasing and were finally finished with a light antique oil rubbed patina.

We mounted the larger vine leaf and the new loop pulls on cabinet drawers that were made using a cherry wood for the frame and myrtle burl cross hatched with wenge for the panels.

Wine cellar cabinet hardware

These images below show the fine hand- carved details of the wax pattern. For smaller pieces blue wax is a good sculpting option and you can achieve quick results with good eye hand coordination.

Colorful Cabinet Knobs and Pulls

As we come to the end of Spring in the Hollywood Hills, I wanted to capture the stunning and intense richness of the flora that flourishes in my neighborhood. The resulting photos show just how diverse and abundant the plant life is in my hood. My hope is that these images will sustain me as the drabber hot days of summer role in.

My appetite for color was no doubt influenced by a recent order from Nob Hill Hardware for scarab cabinet pulls finished with a hot maroon patina, a reference not to the intensity of the color but to the method of application. Most of our door handles are typically finished with an oil rubbed light or dark cold patina but our cabinet pulls are frequently ordered in red, green and yellow patinas. The bronze pull is heated with a blow torch and different pigmented oxides are applied with a brush to the surface of the bronze, a task that is easy to describe but difficult to perform and one that requires a very steady hand.

Jasmine and red bougainvillea are entwined in this floral bouquet.

These Yellow flowers have the same spongy texture as the succulents that they crown.

We offer 2 sizes of scarab pull, the one pictured here is 1 ¾” wide x 2 ¾” high and the larger piece is 2 ½” wide x 3 ¼” high. Both are cast in solid bronze and are hefty weighing .75 and 1.5 lbs. respectively.

Painted Lady Butterflies and Their Influence on Door Hardware Designs

Painted Lady Butterflies and their influence on Hardware Designs

Like so many in Los Angeles we have been stunned and are “gob-smacked” at the multitude of Painted Lady Butterflies that we have seen this week. These small pretty insects are everywhere but only once has my iphone been to hand to snap a couple of shots.

While the monarch butterfly is sadly in rapid decline, for this year at least, the Painted Lady population is booming with billions passing through on their way north from the Mojave Desert. The exceptional rains that have put a temporary hold on California’s drought have given rise to an abundance of nectar as food for these migrating beauties. The short life cycle of a butterfly consists of 4 stages from egg, to caterpillar to pupae and then to butterfly and for the Painted Ladies lasts about 4 to 5 weeks.

I was surprised to discover that these small beauties can travel at speeds of 25 miles an hour and cover as much as 100 miles per day but this explains how they are able to make their trek from the Mojave to Northern California in their short lives.

We have been inspired by butterflies as well as bees, wasps and moths in our collection of insect cabinet pulls. We also have incorporated a butterfly as the thumb-latch for our entry way lizard handle set.

The Painted Lady captured here drinking from Clematis demonstrates this butterflies preference for purple clustered flowers, a fact observed by Katelyn Boisvert in her paper presented at the Young Naturalist Awards.

Wine Cellar Door Hardware

We are expanding our collection of wine cellar door hardware and have just designed a small cabinet pull that will function more as a cabinet knob.

The design was sketched by hand at full scale and from both the plan and front views.

The vine knob at 2 ½”W, 1 1/2” was designed for cabinet drawers and as a complimentary piece to the larger 6 ½” vine pull.

The small scale of this piece enabled Martin Pierce to carve it from a block of blue wax manufactured by Ferris® being a wax designed for use with high speed machines as well as steel carving chisels.

The outline of the knob was drawn with a felt tip pen onto the face of the block of wax which was then cut out on a band-saw. The individual leaf segments and fine leaf outline were cut using a slow moving scroll saw. Martin then carved the fine veins and shaped the leaf contours using 3 types of chisel and an improvised hand scraper made from a band-saw blade.

Many of Martin’s chisels were acquired when he was an apprentice wood carver and they were made by legendary William Marples & Sons in Sheffield, England. The chisels were forged from the finest Sheffield steel and they maintain their sharpness even when cutting dense hardwood.

For the carving enthusiasts and hobbyists amongst you can read more about the superlative chisels that were made by William Marples by visiting http://www.williammarplesandsons.com

Rio Grande is a good source for the blue carving wax

More to life than door handles

The rains have turned the area we live in into a beautiful landscape full of trees in blossom and nesting birds in what is still a dense but thriving urban environment.

With the recent 3-day weekends we have been able to walk for hours in the Hollywood hills and were able to capture some lovely and surprising views.

What is always startling is how quickly the grasses spring to life and turn the hills into a verdant intensely green landscape. While the Hollywood sign is a familiar view it is great to see it through a curtain of green leaves.

The bottle bush trees are a familiar sight but when in full foliage they take on the character of a weeping willow with their fine dropping branches. In the Willow sprig pull these flowing tendrils are captured in molten bronze. The handles are available as either right or left cabinet pulls but, in the photo, we accentuated their weight by superimposing these 2 handles.

Mule deer also reside in these hills and we saw whole families of them grazing happily on the lush vegetation.

We spotted a pair of ravens preening each other whilst perched on a bare sycamore branch.

Several of the photos were taken from the vantage point of the Hollywood reservoir which is also a great place for bird spotting as it is frequented by herons, egrets and the occasional osprey.

Plants That Never Fade

Having hunkered indoors to avoid the torrential rain we were finally able to take a refreshing walk in the Hollywood Hills and discovered some trees and bushes that are already blooming including pink camellias and golden mimosas.

Living in this exceedingly temperate climate we also have plants that can bloom at any time of year as their reproductive cycle occasions. A spectacular example can be seen in the desmettiana green and yellow agave that we planted back in May 2016 when we turned our garden from being a sad lawn to a water tolerant stunning landscape. Just under 3 years later the desmettiana cuttings have grown to am impressive 12’ in height and have thrown up sculptural asparagus spears that have just blossomed into fleshy yellow flowers. What is beyond my comprehension is how this agave giant has grown to such height and girth with minimal water and no added nourishment. The spears began to shoot up before we had seen the recent rains showing us these plants true mettle.

Desmettia Giants in a drought tolerant garden

The pollen is hidden deep inside the flower at the base of its stamens making it accessible to only the most tenacious bees and hummingbirds, the latter being suitably equipped with long beaks and even longer tongues.

Daisy Cabinet Pulls With An Amber Patina One of Several In Our Plant Collection

Modern cabinet pulls and nickel plating

Nickel is a hard corrosion resistant metal and it is one of the components in 316 stainless steel that we use in many of our door handle and cabinet pull castings. Nickel is also used to plate metal and a thin layer is deposited onto the surface through the electro-plating process. The nickel layer can be used to protect the base metal from corrosion and wear but it can also be used to create a decorative finish. We offer nickel plating as a custom finish and recently plated our Hedgerow branch pulls over a bronze base to achieve a more rustic look.

Hedgerow Branch Pull Center Standard Size

In an earlier post we detailed how we modified the Hedgerow branch pull to accommodate a bank of kitchen cabinets where space was tight and traffic was high. As there were only a handful of pieces it would not have been cost effective to make a new pattern and mold so we modified each of the 9 cabinet pulls when they were still in the wax stage by sculpting each piece. The two wax mounting posts were cut and repositioned and the ends of the tree canopy were cut and re-sculpted making each pull shorter and self-returning.

Mounting posts were re-positioned and ends shortened in the wax stage

Once cast, the pulls were buffed, cleaned and plated. Nickel plating is versatile and can be used over polished or matt surfaces and can be finished in a range of light to dark patinas. In this instance we were matching the new pieces to ones that were installed 18 months ago but as we had a sample Boyles Snyder were able to make a perfect match.