Wood carving made easy- part 2

We are currently making a custom door handle that will be hollow and will be lit by an LED strip which will be positioned inside the cavity of the handle. As the decorative details that form the theme of this will be cut out of the pattern we decided to make the hollow sphere by hand. If the pattern had been a simple and uniform geometric shape then we would have turned to 3D printing and created an SLA resin print from a CAD file. We will be working with 3D printing later to develop a light diffuser but will cover that topic in a subsequent post.

Other videos of the process

For those who are new to wood carving or are physically tired of laboriously removing large areas of wood from a block of wood then I would recommend using a mechanically assisted wood carving tool. There are several on the market but we use the automach wood carver available from Woodcraft. When we were more focused on furniture we used several of these to help speed up the carving process and they were invaluable in adding textural chip details to our Hedgerow dining chairs.

While the mechanized chisel is useful we revert to hand chisels when adding very fine detail and when we need a larger wider angled blade. We have shown both methods in the video featured here.

If you play the video you will also get a glimpse of the raven sculpture’s feet in the background which is an ongoing video project that we will be adding to soon.

Color Changing Door Handles

We have just changed our profile photo to a collage image of colored door handles taken from our Morphic and Coral styles of door hardware. Our illuminated handles began with the introduction of low voltage LED lights into our Morphic cylindrical handles. To do so we had to solve the problem of how to incorporate a hard wired LED spot into a cylindrical handle the smallest of which has a mere 1.25” internal diameter.  As the cylindrical handle is vertical and as the design is open we could not use a strip of LED lights but needed to work within the confines of a small downward projecting light with a narrow 10 lens that would center rather than diffuse the colored beam.

The cylindrical handles range from 16” to 32” in length and are available either with a single color constant voltage LED spot with built-in driver or a color changing constant current spot.

The profile collage also shows the illuminated Coral handle which is one of 3 panel style door handles These are also color changing handles but are lit using multiple diodes encapsulated in a weather proof flexible strip that fits into the inner perimeter of the handle.

Both types of door pull are made using the lost wax method of  casting and  are available in bronze or stainless steel and are UL listed.

Illuminated Door Handles

New LED Door Handles and The Year in Review

As we move on to the post eclipse week we thought we thought it would be fitting to give an updated report on what milestones we have met and what lie ahead.

Following on from the successful listing of our LED lit door handles and wall sconces we have completed our initial UL inspection and so designers may be assured that the our UL approved fixtures will bare an indelible UL label. To help designers understand our LED single color and color changing fixtures we have developed a series of helpful installation diagrams as well as charts that will help explain what accessories will work best with our products to view these please download our pdf for Coral or our Illuminated products.

While the LED lighting scene constantly evolves with smaller brighter and more energy efficient units our focus is on designing and making decorative fixtures that work with this new technology. Our fixtures are hard wired and illuminated either by a small spot or by a strip of LED chips. The type of LED impacts our design, as spots are better suited to our round, down lit sconces and cylinders, while the linear strip inside the perimeter of our door panels project a forward directional light that we use to create our fish and coral shapes. The next piece in development for our panel series is a tiger design which will soon be released. The panel concept is also being extended to include a longer rectangular 26" x 4" panel and the first piece will be from our Willow designs.

Illuminated Door Pulls LED Spot for Dragon Egg Sconce & LED color changing for Panel Handles

LED Entry Door Handles - Door considerations

Our new illuminated door pulls are hard wired and not battery dependent and I was recently asked how this impacts the type of door chosen.

For some time door lock manufacturers have been making electric mortise and deadbolt locks that can be powered by low voltage wires that release either the bolt or the strike and often this is done by a remote controller.

Our illuminated door handles have the same needs and require;

Power to be supplied to the door

One of the easiest methods of supplying power to the door is through an electric door hinge.  Power coming from a low voltage class 2 power supply is delivered to the door jamb into the fixed section of the hinge. The wires then pass through the knuckle or center section of the hinge and on to the operative part of the hinge which is attached to the door itself and which pivots the door open.  Electric hinges have the advantage of concealing the wires used to power door handles and locks and most can be ordered for these low voltage applications.

Illuminated Panel Door Handles

A concealed door loop like the one by Command Access is a low profile alternative to the electric hinge and one that can be freely positioned anywhere on the jamb. While its unobtrusive design and size make it attractive you will still need a hinge to open and close the door. If you are looking for an equally discreet electric hinge you may want to consider the hinge options from Simonswerk.com who offer some very sleek concealed hinges that function in the same way as the surface mounted version but are recessed and flush with both the door jamb and door edge. These hinges will require a reasonably solid outer door edge that can be routed out for the hinge plate.

Off course the power can always be supplied  through a surface mounted conduit or metal arm which may be an option for commercial projects or areas where the reverse side of an entry door is less visible.

Hollow area for power channel

 To power the LED handle the wires from the handle will have to be routed through the door and connected to the power that is being delivered to the door jamb.  Provided the door has a hollow frame this should be relatively easy as the cables are small 22 gauge wires and can be fed through a channel in the door frame.  The top and bottom door rails for hollow metal doors will often have a separate cover that can be attached after the wire conduit has been fed through.

Impact on Door Design

In summary your door will need to have a hollow outer frame or pre-made channel designed into the construction so that cables can be fed through to the illuminated handle.  The channel can easily be incorporated into the construction design of the door and major door manufactures are already doing this so that the consumer can remotely open and lock the entry door using a remote controller to activate an electrically powered lock.