NOVEL DOOR HARDWARE

[PIVOTAL]

This is my first post. I'm a Canberra Australia architect with a door hardware obsession. I'm sometimes commisioned to design solutions to interesting problems. This push lock floor bolt was fitted into a 25 x 25 stainless steel pull handle for a mall type frameless glass shop entry. Just some rough drawings and a friendly clock maker neighbour made it all work. From idea to product without a prototype.

 

[e hilton]

So the 2 round parts on the left go through a hole in the glass, this device is on the inside of the shop, and you push the top button to engage the bolt? Nice. How much did the clockmaker build, vs modify an existing piece of hardware?

 

[PIVOTAL]

Thanks for the thoughtful comment. The keyed plunger on the top of the lock goes on the outside of door (for a very small shop). You unlock the floor bolt, open the door and lock it into a floor ferrule in the 90° open position. If you teeter on very high heels in a very short skirt you will know the advantages compared with a lock in the bottom rail of the door. The clock maker next door turned down a fairly standard Australian 12 pin 'Bi-Lock' plunger lock to its minimum wall thickness, made the top SS boss and made the threaded parts for he floor bolt.

 

[Sifu]

A true obsession with hardware should meet www.idighardware.com.

 

[PIVOTAL]

Over 40 years ago in Australia a new hinge design was produced by 'McCallum' Hinges in Sydney. It's known as the A104. It's now made by several manufacturers. The A104 is an aluminium hinge for aluminium doors. The A104 is a: fixed pin, inter-fold, fast-fix, no mortice hinge. The brilliance is the speed of installation. The door is wedged into the door opening with a 3mm (1/8") gap. The inter-fold hinge leaves are slipped between the stile and the jamb and the hinge is face fixed into the aluminium (4x screws). The door is then opened 90° and the additional 7x screws are secured. Done. Regardless of what is specified most builders use the A104

The aluminium hinges are fitted with Nylon shouldered bushes. The 6mm SS pin is secured into the end caps with a pressed interference fit. In Australia they are almost universal for all shopfront glazing. An updated elegant tidy design is also available (the A130).

 

[PIVOTAL]

EXPERIMENT OR DIE - Some US architects were in involved with Australia's new Parliament House in Canberra. From 1984-88 as architect No. 664 (Doors & Hardware) I was introduced to US10B Oil Rubbed Bronze, a fairly unusual finish in Australia. I tried to love it, honest. The OZ interpretation of US10B went from dull brass to black - in time. I thought I would muck around with the nasty patination chemicals for a mottled finish just for fun. It involved 'Ebanol', a linished brass knob buried in damp pearl barley with

an acrylic spray can finish.

 

[e hilton]

That does not look like the oil rubbed bronze i am familiar with. The mottling is wrong, it should be a dark brass color where the dark brown finish is naturally worn off by hands. What you have there looks like an attempt to create an instant finish.
The hinge … i like it. But i question that the screws are aluminum, i would think they would be stainless steel.

 

[Paul Sweet]

Interesting and unusual tortoiseshell finish.

 

[e hilton]

Interesting and unusual tortoiseshell finish.

That’s a better description than ORB.

 

[PIVOTAL]

That’s a better description than ORB.

The Parliament House furniture was US10B or ORB finish. The pull handle below has been in a hardware box for 35 years and has gone a bit spotty. My beautiful knob, now best described as 'tortoiseshell' (thank you Paul Sweet) was an experiment to produce a mottled effect to hide spotty bits. For me the result was a nice surprise. The pull handle design formed part of a suite of parts to blend with the project lever handle (Olivari Agata lever) It was for

about 200 external aluminium doors.

 

[PIVOTAL]

The existing OZ Parliament House door furniture thing is out of control. Hopefully this will be the last relevant image of that project. The real aim was to address the constant requests during that project for what is commonly called a 'secret door' to conceal pipes, wires & other services without a visible door frame or architrave trim.

 

[PIVOTAL]

The existing OZ Parliament House door furniture thing is out of control. Hopefully this will be the last relevant image of that project. The real aim was to address the constant requests during that project for what is commonly called a 'secret door' to conceal pipes, wires & other services without a visible door frame or architrave trim.

 

[PIVOTAL]

Where are North America's hardware enthusiasts hiding? Is it just me with a shoebox full of still developing silly hardware design ideas.

 

[PIVOTAL]

Oops - The last post was in Australian English. 'Bald Eagle Door Holder'

 

[PIVOTAL]

I'm too old for this stuff. I tried to post a video link without success however the facebook link is below and

that may work. The parrot was cut out of PE kitchen cutting boards.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=772797320482030

 

[e hilton]

Oops - The last post was in Australian English. 'Bald Eagle Door Holder'

What … the yellow plumed parrot is the national bird of Down Under?

 

[PIVOTAL]

What … the yellow plumed parrot is the national bird of Down Under?

E. The Sulphur Crested Cockatoo is just one of our many noisy parrots. The real national bird is the Kookaburra. What a laugh, we have an Emu on our coat of arms.

 

[e hilton]

What a laugh, we have an Emu on our coat of arms.

I’m sure there’s logic somewhere to explain that.

 

[PIVOTAL]

Since the mid 1980's I had been asked about 'secret doors', usually for closets containing pipes tubes and wires in commercial buildings. I thought about it for many years before working out very simple building details and designing equally simple pivot sets to provide the function. The 'secret doors' requested were just flush doors without a visible door frame and joinery trim and without protruding hinge knuckles. For about 15 years I made the stock of pivots that I needed to specify in my Canberra domestic garage. Competitors in China eventually caught up with me and I abandoned manufacture of the aluminium pivots. I have often wondered why the cost savings did not make the concept take off. I'm keen to hear what other door and hardware folk think. I sent many emails to serious hardware manufacturers and 'Stanley' were alone in sending a polite reply. Where did I go wrong.

 

[PIVOTAL]

Since the mid 1980's I had been asked about 'secret doors', usually for closets containing pipes tubes and wires in commercial buildings. I thought about it for many years before working out very simple building details and designing equally simple pivot sets to provide the function. The 'secret doors' requested were just flush doors without a visible door frame and joinery trim and without protruding hinge knuckles. For about 15 years I made the stock of pivots that I needed to specify in my Canberra domestic garage. Competitors in China eventually caught up with me and I abandoned manufacture of the aluminium pivots. I have often wondered why the cost savings did not make the concept take off. I'm keen to hear what other door and hardware folk think. I sent many emails to serious hardware manufacturers and 'Stanley' were alone in sending a polite reply. Where did I go wrong.

 

[PIVOTAL]

I joined this forum to learn stuff from others. I seem to be talking to myself and 'E'. I'm not learning as much as I anticipated. I suspect this very promising part of the Code Forum is just me & him. I think I should take my bat and ball and go home. Any suggestions?

 

[Paul Sweet]

Here in the States Soss hinges have typically been used for secret panels.

Frontpage - SOSS Door Hardware

www.soss.com

 

[PIVOTAL]

Paul, Thanks for the comment. I think, without diving into the Soss catalogue, you will need 3x Soss No. 216 hinges for about USD $100.00 total, however they do need time and care and a sound timber door frame to secure them into the jamb. I had a go at making engineered Nylon pivot hinges some years ago and the price for a pair of the pivots would be about USD $15.00 for a set of 2x plus postage from Australia. I suspect for secret doors in the USA you wlll get a better deal with 'Ezy Jamb' frame & hinges (another great Australian product design). For the record the image below has a 'pretend' paint roller which is an old drawing tube covered in towelling and painted green.