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Arrow Pattern Suffolk latch thru cusp


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13 hours ago, Steamboat said:

Very nice work on the Suffolk latch! I eventually hope to make some Norfolk latches and other hardware items to replace some missing pieces in our Federal Period cape.

Steamboat

Thanks..  Norfolk latches offer a hole different approach to latch making as the process turned to hand made automation vs hand made.. 

If you have a lot to make, making the cutting dies will speed up the process as will making a spring swage for the handles.. 

 

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14 hours ago, VaughnT said:

We need to see more of this.  

Okay, A few more.. 

 

 

 

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Thanks for the photos and suggestions.

I'm not sure how many Norfolk latches I need to make...maybe about six or seven. The escutcheon plates on mine are simpler than the ones in your photos...basically rectangles with semi-circles punched out of each corner. They have shallow countersinks for the screws and staked-in hinge plates for the swivel lift. The hand grasps look very much like the ones in your photos, although proportionally not quite as bulbous in the center. Most of the lifts have a saucered thumb press and curved ends, but a few have straight ends. Mot of the mounting screws have blunt ends, no taper, and have thin, hand-cut slots, and the heads and threads vary just slightly in diameter and pitch between screws. All of the bars are plain except a few that have a button grasp, and all have escutcheon plates. The staples vary, some with and some without escutcheons. The catches also vary, some braced and some not. There are also a few latches with a somewhat different escutcheon design, but otherwise similar. One door had a Norfolk latch with a cast-iron escutcheon, but that could have been added later, and of course, a few of the abovementioned parts may be later replacements. I'd send a photo or two, but I'm not at that location at present.

The house needs a number of other hardware items as well. For example, it will need a fair amount of fireplace hardware. There are currently four working fireplaces, and the kitchen fireplace and associated beehive oven remain to be reconstructed. I have a few original pieces of hardware, such as a crane, a couple of andirons, and pieces of a trammel, but there's a lot left to reproduce. The list goes on...

What kind of finish treatment are you giving the latches? Beeswax, perhaps?

Steamboat

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4 hours ago, Steamboat said:

Thanks for the photos and suggestions.

I'm not sure how many Norfolk latches I need to make...maybe about six or seven. The escutcheon plates on mine are simpler than the ones in your photos...basically rectangles with semi-circles punched out of each corner. They have shallow countersinks for the screws and staked-in hinge plates for the swivel lift. The hand grasps look very much like the ones in your photos, although proportionally not quite as bulbous in the center. Most of the lifts have a saucered thumb press and curved ends, but a few have straight ends. Mot of the mounting screws have blunt ends, no taper, and have thin, hand-cut slots, and the heads and threads vary just slightly in diameter and pitch between screws. All of the bars are plain except a few that have a button grasp, and all have escutcheon plates. The staples vary, some with and some without escutcheons. The catches also vary, some braced and some not. There are also a few latches with a somewhat different escutcheon design, but otherwise similar. One door had a Norfolk latch with a cast-iron escutcheon, but that could have been added later, and of course, a few of the abovementioned parts may be later replacements. I'd send a photo or two, but I'm not at that location at present.

The house needs a number of other hardware items as well. For example, it will need a fair amount of fireplace hardware. There are currently four working fireplaces, and the kitchen fireplace and associated beehive oven remain to be reconstructed. I have a few original pieces of hardware, such as a crane, a couple of andirons, and pieces of a trammel, but there's a lot left to reproduce. The list goes on...

What kind of finish treatment are you giving the latches? Beeswax, perhaps?

Steamboat

These latches were all cut by hand..Once I made one, I used this to mark out and cut the next one.. If I were making 6 or more I'd spend the time making the dies as it would be a huge time savings.. (Less time more money per hour) I made spring swages for the handle shapes (which were requested by the purchaser)...  I turned 2 different center sections on the lathe and let the customer choose..  I still have the 2 handle sections stashed.. also the upset boss where the rivet plate goes.. 

 

The screws must have been hand cut.. I love hand cut screws don't get to see many these days..  I almost bought a hand screw threader 30+ years ago but the price went to high at 40.00.. Wish I had bought it and just starved for the next week.. 

 

Not sure if you know or even care but the straight ones were earlier and the curved handles later on interior door hardware..   The straight thumbers on latches were so, dresses wouldn't get caught as the women folk walked through the door..  As time went on the handles took on a more curved shape eventually turning into cast iron copies of hand forged items.. 

 

anyhow, sounds like you have lots of variety and time frames as they were upgraded/installed.. I'd love to hear if there are old nail holes under the latches there or where these were new doors when they installed the latches.. 

 

Colonial hardware was my Niche for years.. So if you run into problems pm me..  Love to see how your work comes out.. 

 

The coating was a linseed oil. bee's wax mix applied hot.. 

 

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Thanks for the extra info. It seems to correlate quite well with what I've found out so far about the house and hardware. I might be going up to the house tomorrow or the next day. I'll try to remember to take a photo or two of some hardware. Also, thanks for the offer for help. When I get to that point I may take you up on it.

One of the big blacksmithing projects for the house should be the hardware and accessories for the kitchen fireplace with its beehive oven, which needs to be totally reconstructed, since it had fallen down before we got the house, and the previous owner had apparently sold off the bricks, so I'm keeping my eye out for a pretty good size pile of matching old-pattern bricks. We've repaired the other four fireplaces using authentic (well, slightly modified perhaps) lime-putty mortar and matching bricks, with some help from a couple of the top fireplace restoration people in New England. I learned a lot by working alongside them as time permitted and picking their brains with tons of questions. There's still a huge amount of interior work left to be done, although most of the foundation, exterior, and structural work is behind us.

Steamboat

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21 hours ago, Steamboat said:

Thanks for the extra info. It seems to correlate quite well with what I've found out so far about the house and hardware. I might be going up to the house tomorrow or the next day. I'll try to remember to take a photo or two of some hardware. Also, thanks for the offer for help. When I get to that point I may take you up on it.

One of the big blacksmithing projects for the house should be the hardware and accessories for the kitchen fireplace with its beehive oven, which needs to be totally reconstructed, since it had fallen down before we got the house, and the previous owner had apparently sold off the bricks, so I'm keeping my eye out for a pretty good size pile of matching old-pattern bricks. We've repaired the other four fireplaces using authentic (well, slightly modified perhaps) lime-putty mortar and matching bricks, with some help from a couple of the top fireplace restoration people in New England. I learned a lot by working alongside them as time permitted and picking their brains with tons of questions. There's still a huge amount of interior work left to be done, although most of the foundation, exterior, and structural work is behind us.

Steamboat

That is wonderful.. If I can be of help let me know.. 

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