Animal and floral unique cabinet pulls

Our new cabinet pull website section makes plain the theme-based nature of Martin Pierce’s designs. For door hardware, after the initial design concept, the direction of each collection was dictated by functionality with each style needing to work as entry way handles, passageway levers and privacy levers and door knob sets. Cabinet pulls and knobs all perform the same function to open and close cabinet drawers and doors and this simple dictate allows for greater design freedom and whimsy.
Bamboo dresser pulls
All of our cabinet or dresser pulls are made to order as we are a limited production company and are very hands on, thus ensuring the high quality of each piece. The same does not hold true for the bamboo plant that was used to model the cabinet pull shown below. We are in the process of trying to eradicate this very resilient and invasive plant that regretfully was planted as a border plant and now threatens to extend its domain to include our entire garden. So, if you love the look of bamboo consider a more limited production version.

Orchid kitchen cabinet pull
In contrast to our bamboo plant our orchids are not very hardy and very selective as to when they flower and this may explain why we are so drawn to their beauty. Modelled on the orchids on display at the conservatory in the Huntington gardens a place worth visiting for it’s rich variety of tropical plants and trees.

New Cabinet Pull Direction for 2021

In 2021 we will be gradually be re-formatting our website so that our unique cabinet knobs and pulls can be viewed in greater detail and from different perspectives. This project started in 2020 and it has been quite an undertaking requiring each piece to be photographed several times, then clearly outlined in Photoshop and re-created as a dimensional diagram. We hope the result will allow viewers to appreciate the beauty of each pull and see how each is installed with either a single mount or double screw mount. The new pages will go live when all 70 pieces have received this attention so these posts will be a preview of what is to come.

Our cabinet pulls have been reorganized according to their style and on the number, we could fit onto one page for each collection. The size of the page did present a real challenge when it came to plants and creatures with somewhat arbitrary collections for flowers and plants and animals and flying creatures, but our hope is that viewers will be sufficiently inspired to browse all pages and not be deterred by categories.

The dragonfly is the piece we chose to represent our flying creatures and he/she is attached to with a single screw from the back of the cabinet drawer into the center post which is pre-drilled and screw ready, yes, all of our cabinet pulls come with screws.

The Hedgerow branch pull is attached with 2 screws also applied from the back of the cabinet drawer at a distance of 3 ½” between the centers of the screws. Many of our cabinet pulls can be adapted for surface mounting from the face of the piece but you will need to check with us to see if this is possible for the piece you are considering.

Creating A Custom Appliance Pull Using the Lost Wax Process - the Wax Stage

We are currently working with a local designer who has specified many of our Willow cabinet pulls but who also needed a taller version of our Willow Sprig for use as an appliance pull. The client’s kitchen, not surprisingly, only required 3 large pulls and did not warrant the cost of a new patterns and mold. As our work is made using the lost wax method, we were able to create 3 new pieces by hand and by combining wax models.  Please refer to our earlier post to see how the new pull was designed using a left and right facing Willow Sprig.

Step 1

A total of 3 Willow sprigs were created in wax. A left and right wax sprig were made for each end of the new piece and a section of a second left sprig was used to make a connector between the 2 ends. Picture below shows melted red art wax made by Westech being poured into the sprig mold, the wax has a relatively low meting point of 160 degrees.

Step 2

The mold is held together until the wax has cooled and solidified at which point the mold is pulled apart and the wax pattern thereby released.

Step 3 and 4

The section to be used as a connector was cut from the wax sprig using a heated blade and then further heated with an air torch so that it could be bent to the correct shape.

The ends of the left and right sprig were cleaned and refined with a hand chisel.

Step 5

The ends of the left and right sprig were cleaned and refined with a hand chisel and then joined to the connector using a heated blade which melts the wax enabling it to be melded together to form one continuous piece.

Gold Cabinet Pulls or Polished Bronze?

When is gold truly gold and when is it polished bronze? This is a tongue in cheek question and the answer reflects (pun intended) the high luster and jewel like appearance of polished bronze.
While we do occasionally gold plate our door hardware and while this clearly adds value to the item, for many, the appearance of gold is what is needed to create an accent to cabinetry.
Bronze is an alloy containing copper and this is what makes it a golden color. Copper and Gold are both elements on the Periodic table Cu and Au respectively and while they are both malleable and were used by early man they differ considerably in terms of scarcity and hence cost. A visit to https://www.jlab.org/ revealed that the “name Copper comes from the Latin Cuprum meaning “from the Island of Cyprus” which is where the Romans obtained the majority of their copper ore. The name gold comes from the Sanskrit word Jval and the Anglo-Saxon word gold.” Gold and bronze are both very soft mediums and in the case of silicon bronze tin and silicon are adding to copper to create a harder more durable alloy.

Frog Cabinet Pulls Polished Bronze

To create a highly polished surface the casting goes through 3 stages of progressively finer buffing;
First, we buff it using a high strength non-woven nylon disk on a mechanized buffing wheel, as the disk is not woven it is pliable and can buff irregular shapes. The material of the disk contains aluminum oxide a mineral that makes sharp very fine cuts into the surface of the bronze which helps to create consistent brush marks over the entire surface. We use a medium grit disk made by Standard Abrasives.
The piece is then hand polished using a 400-grit fine wet/dry sandpaper.
Lastly, we buff the pull on a cloth buffing wheel. Buffing compound is applied to the edge of the rotating cloth disk and when sufficiently coated the pull is pressed against the edge of the disk to create a high luster.

Nature inspired cabinet pulls

The yellowjacket wasp was the model for our open and closed wing wasp cabinet pull and was originally designed for the Ascot Highboy a furniture piece made by our sister company Martin Pierce Furnishings. In keeping with the yellowjacket we finished these pieces with a yellow oxide which we burnished along the wing veins to expose the golden bronze beneath.

The Ascot tallboy was a limited edition of 100 which was closed at number 78 in 2013. The piece was made using quartered English brown oak, selected for its rich brown amber hues and for it’s dark “leoparding” a term that refers to the darker spotted figuring. The open and closed wing wasps were patinated to compliment this distinctive wood.

Several years ago, on a road trip to Idaho, we stayed at Lake Pend Oreille and came across the bald-faced hornet which is a relative of the yellowjacket but being much larger it is referred to as a hornet. The black and white markings of this insect are why it is referred to as bald-faced rather like the way we refer to the “bald” eagle.

Our memory of the hornet’s markings influenced a recent order that called for a simpler black oxide patina. By restricting the black patina to the head and thorax and by burnishing the wings we were able to create a dramatic statement using a simple patina on a small piece.

The wasps are cast in solid silicon bronze and are part of our insect and animal collection of cabinet knobs.

Unique Metal Door Pulls - Influence of Medium and Luster

Our contemporary door handles, Morphic and Ergo are usually seen in a polished or satin or 2 tone finish. Each finish can give a different aesthetic to the same handle allowing the same handle to be employed in different areas to different effect.

These 2 modern collections of door handles can be cast either in bronze or in stainless steel and the appearance and mood is very different. When you add the textural layer from smooth, to satin to brushed you achieve even greater scope of use.

Consider the Ergo heroic pull as shown here.

Modern Door Pulls began with our Ergo Collection

The Ergo pull shown on the left is cast 316 stainless steel while the image on the right is silicon bronze. Both were cast using the same mold and by means of the lost wax method of casting. Both metals are resistant to corrosion but the stainless steel is more easy to maintain without the need for any type of sealant. By comparison the bronze unless sealed will tend to become more yellow over time.

As the Ergo handle is extremely fluid with deep recessed areas it lends itself to a sophisticated 2 tone finish. In the detail photo shown below different facets of the handles have been polished or sand blasted to create contrast and depth.

Write here…

Compare the top sand blasted section of the steel wave to the same section of the bronze version.

Ergo one of several modern cabinet knobs

Unique Metal Door Pulls - Influence of Medium and Luster

Our contemporary door handles, Morphic and Ergo are usually seen in a polished or satin or 2 tone finish. Each finish can give a different aesthetic to the same handle allowing the same handle to be employed in different areas to different effect.

These 2 modern collections of door handles can be cast either in bronze or in stainless steel and the appearance and mood is very different. When you add the textural layer from smooth, to satin to brushed you achieve even greater scope of use.

Consider the Ergo heroic pull as shown here.

The Ergo pull shown on the left is cast 316 stainless steel while the image on the right is silicon bronze. Both were cast using the same mold and by means of the lost wax method of casting. Both metals are resistant to corrosion but the stainless steel is more easy to maintain without the need for any type of sealant. By comparison the bronze unless sealed will tend to become more yellow over time.

As the Ergo handle is extremely fluid with deep recessed areas it lends itself to a sophisticated 2 tone finish. In the detail photo shown below different facets of the handles have been polished or sand blasted to create contrast and depth.

Write here…

Compare the top sand blasted section of the steel wave to the same section of the bronze version.

Kitchen Design Inspired By Trees

Hedgerow Branch Cabinet Pull

When we decided to remodel our 1926 kitchen we were able to tap into our experience as furniture and cabinet makers which gave us access to local lumber yards, wood finishers and wood duplicating machines. As a wood carver Martin was able to create two unique tree patterns that were then reproduced by a wood duplicator to create multiple tree feet for the cabinetry.

A wood duplicator is a machine that works rather like a pantograph. Duplicators vary in terms of the number and size of multiples they can reproduce with the output ranging from 8 to 24 units. A series of routers are connected to act in unison so that multiple blocks of woods can be cut all at once and uniformly. The wood pattern that Martin carved was used as a master template and guide to be followed by the interconnected routers with each station creating one copy. Two patterns were made one for the center cabinet feet and a second right angle design for the corner legs.

Hedgerow Tree Round Cabinet Pull

The choice of hardware was key to the overall kitchen design and the tree motif is what ties the cabinets to the pulls and knobs.

The Hedgerow cabinet pull collection has a large left and right large facing tree that worked well for upper cabinets and for the glass door to the butler’s pantry. For the lower drawers the Hedgerow branch pull worked well and the small round cabinet knob was useful for the  bi-folding  cabinet doors as well as the smaller upper doors. 

As the original red oak floor was  in excellent condition we chose the same species for the cabinetry and finished the hardware with a simple oil rubbed finish.

Colorful Door Hardware - How to Use Hot Patinas

Nature is a strong and continuous source of inspiration for our door handles and cabinet pulls so I wanted to complete this series of posts with a few pictures that illustrate this as well as providing information on how our yellow and maroon color patinas are made.

The dragonfly cabinet pull is an example of a hot chemical patina created with Sculpt Nouveau’s red and yellow dye oxide that are mixed together to create a maroon color.

To create the yellow amber tones of the butterfly we use a yellow and white dye oxide which we apply to the heated butterfly and once the desired color has been reached and after the pull has cooled down we apply small black wing markings with a  fine paint brush and a cold patina M20 product  by Birchwood Technologies.

Animal Cabinet Knobs and Pulls

The process for all of our hot patina finishes is the same;

Buff the bronze pull by hand or by using a buffing wheel buffing wheel and buffing disks, progressing as needed, from medium grit to fine grit disks. The disks we use are made by Standard Abrasives and made from a tough resin reinforced nylon fiber with aluminum oxide which acts as an abrasive element. Since the nylon web is un-woven it is more flexible and so will follow the contours of the bronze.

To remove fiber particles, dust or other surface impurities we clean the piece with an air pressure hose.

Blend the liquid oxides in a non-reactive container to achieve the desired color.

Heat the pull to about 200° and apply the dye oxide blend to the areas you want to color with a very fine paint brush.

After the casting has cooled re-buff any areas that need to be re-worked or where you want to expose the golden color of the raw bronze.

Seal with a clear wax or use tinted waxes to create to add a different hue.

Sources:

www.sculptnouveau.com

www.birchwoodtechnologies.com

www.birchwoodtechnologies.com