Ed Steinkirchner Posted August 24, 2014 Share Posted August 24, 2014 this latch was forged as a replacement for the outside of my parents general store, because the delivery truck guy broke the old cast iron one off with his hand cart! it was forged from a 7'' cutoff of 3/8'' x 1 1/4'' mild steel, the cusps were forged then the handle bent before the whole was filed smooth and the center accent cleaned up and punched with the roman numerals for the year.(i didn't have 1/4 inch number stamps only letters) the thumb piece was forged from a 2.5'' piece of 3/8' square scrap (found it on the shop floor! ) the "ears" that the thumb piece pivots on, have two 1/8'' tenons on each that fit into holes drilled close to the slot and riveted into deep countersinks this is somewhat of an odd latch in that the inside is a basic brass knob and deadbolt but the outside requires a stub about 1.5'' long to project into it and press a latch member which moves the bolt. i wish i had a pic of the back so you could see it but i kind of had to rush and finish it so the door could be used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSW Posted August 24, 2014 Share Posted August 24, 2014 Nice. Last week I had someone asking if I could forge up some latches to match a few in their old house. I'm hoping they get back to me with an original I can use as a guide. Only thing I'm not happy with on yours is the nut and bolt on the latch connection. It seems a bit "clunky" and I'd be concerned someone might get caught on the exposed threads. Did it have to be threaded for removal, or would a rivet have worked? I'm not trying to be critical, just curious if there was a "better" way with this. Thicker ears perhaps threaded vs a nut if the piece needs to be removable for example. I do really like the round in the center of the handle. I looked at that for quite a bit as to how you did it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Steinkirchner Posted August 24, 2014 Author Share Posted August 24, 2014 oh! I forgot to mention that, the bolt was later replaced, as you said, by threading one ear and tapping threads on just the end of the new pivot pin as for the center round, that was just a bit of careful work with a fine file, it was fairly simple really because it was at the top of a convex surface and here's a pic of the side profile that i forgot to add initially Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaughnT Posted August 24, 2014 Share Posted August 24, 2014 That's some very beautiful work. The center detail really makes the whole thing pop! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arkie Posted August 24, 2014 Share Posted August 24, 2014 Nice work! Great that you were able to help them out with the replacement. Should last a lot longer than cast iron. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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