Hollywood - Citrus in the Hills

2023 and 2024 have been remarkable years for the tree life and the innate beauty of the Hollywood Hills. Tourists on sightseeing buses arrive daily in Hollywood looking for a chance photo opportunity of a celebrity or at least a selfie against the backdrop of the Hollywood sign.  What they are missing are the far more abundant opportunities to collect the lemons, oranges and grapefruits currently abundant and often stacked in piles on lawns with signs shouting “free”. Historians have documented how Los Angeles was once full of citrus groves and while most have given way to development many still thrive in Hollywood.

Meyer Lemons Ready to Pick

The El Niño  rains from last year have fueled these  local citrus trees and have  also quenched the dry hills turning them into a Hawaiian paradise.

The clarity of the air makes vistas brighter and horizons seem further. From Mulholland Dr you can see the cargo vessels on the Pacific ocean off the shores of Malibu. The freshness of the air and the expanded views are not romantic illusions  but are  grounded in the scientific  process of coagulation which describes the coming together of particles that are suspended in rain and pulled down to the soil, leaving a clean lens to view the scenery.

Unsuspecting Magnolia unaware of it’s lethal neighbor

The local Hollywood trees are also the beneficiaries of El Niño with their magnificent leaves and stunning though sometimes sinister flowers. I spied this interesting couple outside a neighbor’s home where the toxic Brugmansia shares the soil with a benign saucer magnolia tree. The Brugmansia tree, commonly and perversely named Angel Trumpet is toxic and indeed potentially lethal from its flowers to its roots.

Less lethal and thankfully more prolific are the  Cotulla lineariloba flowers which translated mean big yellow moon which seems odd given the small ½” diameter flower head.

The vitality of the plants around me has obviously brought out my playful streak as captured in the native daisies shown here.

Patina Artistry

In the course of the working week as I pass through the small studio here at Martin Pierce, I am often captivated by the workmanship of our patina artists. The assembly of like pieces that I see are images I wanted to capture as they are both very beautiful and can be captured in our small photo light box.

We started photographing our work as a way of keeping a diary of the different projects and new developments and with the help of a professional photographer learned some of the basic techniques of how best to shoot our work. Our photographs are taken with a Canon EOS Rebel T3 with a zoom lens inside a 5-sided white light box using  rows of small LED lights for an evenly dispersed downward light beam. The light box is housed inside a small dark room with almost no natural light. For stability the camera is placed on a small tripod. The camera is not state of the art and an equally good photograph could be created using a mobile device but what is critical is the light box and even distribution of light.

The willow friends shown above are being prepared for a new home in northern California and they are part of the handles we are making for 11 pairs of double doors that will be locked with an Anderson multi-point system. The Hedgerow and Willow collections were specified for the doors and the cabinet pull selections have been from the orchid and beetle and willow collections. In subsequent posts I will detail how we created 2 custom turn pieces to work with the Anderson lock.

Detailed Door Hardware

Occasionally we have the pleasure of working with a design company that shares the same detail-oriented focus and commitment to exceptional door hardware as we do. Over the last year we have had the pleasure of working  with Chiara de Rege and her all female team to develop custom pieces for her discerning clients. Based in New York, the company’s clientele spans both coasts with design services for residential and corporate clients.

 Our collaboration with Chiara de Rege  on an Upper East Side residence resulted in the creation of a unique collection of door push plates and door levers. The traditional  Willow series was whimsically re-invented and enhanced with flying creatures from our animal  collection of cabinet knobs. The resulting door push plates and interior door handles were selected from several initial designs that paired smaller insect, bird and frog pulls with the Willow back plates.

The design team were renovating a residence using the existing doors that had astragals and panel mullions  that reduced the workable free area of the door and limited the backset depth of the latch.  With these considerations in mind, we focused on the Willow and Hedgerow exterior backplates, both being narrow and having smooth areas that could be enhanced by the addition of a small creature .

Some of the designs considered are shown below. Once the design genie was released, we had a lot of fun experimenting with different cabinet knobs and with insects flying in different direction. While our preference and that of Chiara’s design team was on flying insects, leaves and flowers could work equally well for those who have an insect phobia.

Wasp Dragonfly Swallow Daisy Moth Frogs

New orchid design for dramatic entry door takes shape

Our Orchid cabinet knobs and pulls are popular pieces and often used as accent statements in kitchens and bathrooms. I suspect the appeal lies in their realism although the designs are not a literal portrayal of any particular orchid. The closest type of orchid is possibly the Paphiopedilum (Venus Slipper) or the Phalaenopsis (Moth) but with over 20,000 species and hybrids there may well be and exact match that left it’s imprint on Martin Pierce’s retina.

 Orchid Cabinet Knobs and Stems

The orchid knob has a 3/4” stem post that allows the flower head to be easily gripped and pulled. The same clearance for fingers is given to the orchid spray by the curved stem that connects the 2 orchid flowers.

New Orchid for grand statement

The new orchid is scaled to make a dramatic door statement and like our Willow heroic pull we see it being placed in the center of the door and not on the door stile. The end result will be cast in solid bronze and measure 6” x 6” x 1 ¼” and it may lend itself to being either nickel plated or artistically patinaed with differing hot green, red or yellow oxides. Unlike the smaller cabinet pulls there will not be a stem post mounting as the orchid perimeter petals will be flush with the door face. As the orchid is loosely based on the Venus slipper orchid it has a large stamen and labellum and together these will serve as the gripping point for the thumb and index fingers.

 Martin as readers will know begins a new piece with a front and side view drawn free hand on paper and this becomes the guide used to roughly cut the patterns in high density foam. The drawing details are then copied on to the rough patterns and then carved to create a three-dimensional piece. The new orchid will be cast in 3 pieces which will be welded together to create a single knob.

Custom door hardware - an index of posts on the process

Over the years of writing my blog I have often described the process from designing to casting door hardware using the lost wax method but have not until now felt it necessary to index  these posts.

The posts are broken down into 5 areas that describe the process from inception to end product. If you have limited reading time there is one piece that covers most of the stages that was was posted on June 21st 2017.

For details on the different stages please read on.

STAGE 1 - Design

These posts follow the creative process from the initial sketch to more detailed drawings that show the piece from different perspectives. They explain how the technical aspects of lost wax casting as well as the functional requirements of door hardware impact the design and result in modifications to the original concept.

https://www.martinpierce.com/blog/dragon-and-netsuke-door-knobs

https://www.martinpierce.com/blog/custom-designed-door-hardware-some-common-misunderstandings

https://www.martinpierce.com/blog/early-designs-for-a-new-entry-door-pull

https://www.martinpierce.com/blog/candlesticks-new-designs

https://www.martinpierce.com/blog/new-morphic-door-pull-one-size-does-not-fit-all

Stage 1 - detailed drawing from 2 perspectives Stage 2 - rough carving of pattern later refined

STAGE 2 – Pattern making

Lost wax casting requires an  original pattern or sculpture to be created. We create our patterns by sculpting  in a hard wood, blue wax or high-density foam. Our method is reductive and rarely makes use of 3D printing and we explain why in these posts.

https://www.martinpierce.com/blog/bumble-bee-cabinet-knob

https://www.martinpierce.com/blog/dog-door-knobs

https://www.martinpierce.com/blog/new-carp-fish-door-pull

https://www.martinpierce.com/blog/why-research-and-development-costs-for-custom-hardware-is-expensive-part-2

https://www.martinpierce.com/blog/3d-printing-as-useful-tool-in-casting-custom-door-handles

STAGE 3 - Mold making, gates and sprues

A mold of the pattern is made. The number of molds needed for one design depends on the complexity of the design and in assessing how the molten bronze will flow. The pattern is fitted with one central sprue and several gates that attach to the sprue and the edge of the pattern. A mold (s) is then  made of the pattern with the sprue and gates attached.

https://www.martinpierce.com/blog/how-to-make-a-simple-mold-for-lost-wax-casting

https://www.martinpierce.com/blog/how-to-cast-bronze-butteflies-good-and-bad-runners-and-gates

STAGE 4 – Wax replicas and shelling

The lost wax method requires a wax replica to be made for all the component parts needed to make one piece. The Hedgerow door lever for example require 4 waxes to be made; one for the escutcheon, one for the lever, 2 for the tree canopy. The waxes are then dipped in a silicone slurry that when hardened forms a shell that encases the wax. An auto-clave is used to remove the wax (lost wax)  and the hollow shell is ready to receive molten metal.

https://www.martinpierce.com/blog/wine-cellar-door-handles-and-shell-casting

https://www.martinpierce.com/blog/using-wax-facsimiles-to-create-bronze-door-handles

 https://www.martinpierce.com/blog/hawaiian-theme-door-handle

https://www.martinpierce.com/blog/creating-a-custom-appliance-pull-using-the-lost-wax-process-the-wax-stage

 https://www.martinpierce.com/blog/limited-edition-door-handles

Wax replicas ready to be shelled

 https://www.martinpierce.com/blog/limited-edition-door-handles

STAGE 5 – End result

These posts cover a range of topics from tooling and refining the casting by “chasing” to finishing bronze with an oil rubbed patinaed finish.

https://www.martinpierce.com/blog/bumble-bee-knob

https://www.martinpierce.com/blog/fish-door-handle-a-new-design

https://www.martinpierce.com/blog/luxury-door-hardware-is-defined-by-the-details

https://www.martinpierce.com/blog/oil-rubbed-bronze-door-hardware-and-living-finishes

Dragon and Netsuke Door Knobs

Dragon and Netsuke Door Knobs

Dragons appear in fictional literature and are brilliantly described in the witty tale “Guards,Guards!” by Terry Pratchett. More recently they were portrayed as loyal protective demons in “Game of Thrones”. So, it will come as no surprise that we are adding a dragon door knob to our Netsuke collection.

Credit also needs to be given to Dr. Lisa Allen who ordered a Netsuke bumble bee and asked if we had plans for a dragon knob. We had not been planning an addition to the Netsuke collection so as an alternative, suggested Lisa order the lizard knob. If one looks at the portrayal of dragons in different times and cultures they range from serpentine winged creatures to horned scaly lizard-like creatures not unlike the Komodo “dragon” lizard found in Indonesia. Lisa was not to be persuaded by my lizard argument, so Martin turned to his sketch pad to wait for dragon inspiration.

Original Pattern Carved in High Density Foam - Finer Details then Carved into Applied Gesso

What follows is an account of how the dragon knob was designed, carved and by use of lost wax casting will soon take flight as a bronze door knob.

As the Dragon knob will become part of the Netsuke collection we used the compactness inherent in this collection as a focal point. This meant that the dragon had to fold in and around itself and cling tightly to the center of the knob to form an ergonomically pleasing shape that had few jagged protrusions. The tight compact and smooth design characterizes the bee, lizard, rabbit and frog knobs and is why the collection is named Netsuke after the early smooth animal toggles used as fasteners for garments and satchels in traditional Japanese clothing.

Fish Door Handle A New Design

In a previous post we described the initial stages of our new carp fish handle. The design, as is customary, began with 2 detailed drawings showing the face and profile of the new pull. The drawing was swiftly followed by a 3-dimensional pattern sculpted by Martin Pierce in high density foam. Once the pattern was complete, we assessed how best to gate the piece to ensure that molten bronze would flow easily and fill all parts of the “shelled” fish. In this context shell refers to the investment method of casting and describes how wax replicas of the pattern are encased in a strong silicon slurry that when auto-claved leaves a void that is filled with molten metal ( see  Anatomy of a bronze door handle)

The fish castings can be used as either left or right facing door pulls as the direction is determined by the mounting posts that are machined and welded to either side of the piece. They can also be used as back-to-back door pulls on glass doors making them perfect for fish themed restaurants.

The first castings were in bronze and have now been patinaed by immersion into selenious acid a chemical that oxidizes the bronze turning it black (see Making a door handle black)

Once immersed the castings when dry were strategically burnished to re-expose the raised areas leaving dark the scaled recessed sections. Using different chemicals, the same mottled pattern could be achieved in blue or green or in almost any color range through powder coating.

For ocean front properties where salt water has a corrosive impact the fish handle can be ordered in 316 marine grade steel.

Artistic statements in cabinetry and cabinet hardware

Walter Jaeger, of Jeager and Ernst recently sent me his original cabinetry design for a master bedroom closet and dressing room project. The cabinet wall incorporates stained glass with embossed plant stems and mushroom and tree cabinet pulls from our collection of cabinet hardware. The woodwork will be finished in Sherwin William’s satin white paint making for a simple backdrop that will accentuate the decorative components. The design is both artistic and practical with the pocket doors on the left (see above banner image) opening to the master bathroom and dressing hall and with each door decorated with a stained-glass water droplet, custom made, by Mary Lu Winger Bennett. Mary is an artisan known in Virginia for her stained glass restoration projects as well as her contemporary pieces. For stained glass enthusiasts, I recommend you check our Mary’s work at Crossroads Art Center.

Cabinet design courtesy Jaeger & Ernst Tree pulls Mushroom cabinet pulls

Photo courtesy of Mary Lu Winger for other works

I asked Walter Jaeger what had inspired the cabinet and was not surprised to hear he is an admirer of Renee MacIntosh’s work, the Scottish architect and artist of the Victorian era. MackIntosh’s work is known for its rich symbolism and for its influence on European Art Nouveau, a style that I have mentioned in many posts.
Jaeger and Ernst are cabinet makers based in Virginia where they are known for their excellence in design and workmanship which is clear from the rendering below.
The mushroom, hedgerow round and half round cabinet pulls were finished in polished nickel with strategic areas darkened to accentuate their 3-dimensional form.

Flexibility a key component to door hardware design

The first edition of any piece that we make is rarely the final version, rather it evolves as new versions are developed to enhance the piece for  stylistic or practical reasons. At our design atelier there are many examples of this evolutionary process.

 Evolution of Grapevine -

The original Grapevine entry lever set is a popular handle set and still available in its original design but for home owners who have a narrow door stile of 4” a new version with a 3 ½” wide back-plate was developed.A new pattern was carved to make the leaf edges on the back plate smaller and more contained without compromising the original design.

Morphic Cylinders - a case study in progress

 The Morphic cylindrical door pull is currently specified as a 16”,26”or  32” long pull with a 2” diameter. We choose these lengths to offer a suitable range of grips for doors varying in height from a standard 80” to a large 96”+. For each size an original pattern of non-repeating lace was designed and carved resulting in 3 unique pieces. When a designer wanted to specify a different length, this could only be achieved by adding length to the non-lace ends.

 The new version in development retains the organic design but certain sections have been changed to create a repeat pattern which will enable customers to special order the Morphic pull in lengths ranging from 18” to a possible 60”length.

Post Oak Hotel

It was critical that the new pull retain the fluidity and natural appearance of the original pattern so considerable care was taken to create irregular repeat lines that do not truncate the design.

Designing for Function - Part 3 Making A Custom Door Handle

In previous posts we have used a stationary pull to illustrate how a custom piece of door hardware is designed for lost wax casting, but what impact does a functional handle with moving parts have? The answer depends on the function and varies depending on whether the design is for a door- knob or lever and whether it is to be used as an entry door set or as a handle set for an interior passageway or privacy (think bathroom) door.

In this post we will use the set lizard passageway set to answer the question.

The passageway set is made up of several components, some are cast but others are either machined in metal or custom made to order by fastener manufacturers like Seastrom.

While the back-plate is a relatively straightforward piece to cast, the levers (left and right) need to be cast with a square hole for the ferrule and spindle which are the components that connect the levers together and that will connect with the latch that depresses and returns the lever. The 2 patterns, one for each lever, need to be machined for a square hole and how you accomplish this will depend on the medium used for the pattern. A ferrule is then added either to the pattern or to the subsequent wax replica. For bronze castings we machine our own proprietary custom ferrules in stainless steel an alloy that bonds with the molten bronze but as it melts at a much higher temperature than bronze does not distort or melt in the process. For steel castings, as a metal ferule would melt, we incorporate the ferrule into the pattern. The ferrule acts like a sleeve to hold the square 8mm spindle and it is machined with a tolerance that allows the spindle to fit tightly. A “C” spring clip is added under pressure to the outer rim of the ferrule, and this holds the lever to the back-plate.

The lever set must also be designed to function with a tubular latch. The spindle passes through a square hole in the latch, a component made by another manufacturer and that has an internal spring that enables the lever to be depressed to retract the latch tongue and which returns the lever to throw the tongue.

Depending on the weight of the lever, an auxiliary spring can be added to the ferrule to assist the latch and help prevent any sagging. The auxiliary spring is made in spring steel and as part of the design process the back-plate pattern is made with a stop which limits the motion of the spring to a 33 to 45 range.

The mechanical demands and therefore cost to create a new one-of-a-kind piece for a client are inherently expensive.