Door Hardware for Walnut Hollow Farm
August 2018 - Double Door Hardware for Walnut Hollow Farm
by Jordan Goodwin
Jordan made the hardware for these oak doors over the course of a year beginning in late 2017. Consisting of 6 large strap hinges, 3 bolts, a Suffolk-style latch, and nearly 200 hand forged nails, the forging, finishing, and installation of the hardware utilized many different techniques, some requiring that new tools be made before the process could continue. Made almost entirely with hand tools, with each piece being hot formed using a coal forge & anvil, or cold formed at the vise, and shaped & finished using a hacksaw and files. Some of techniques used in the process included forge welding, hot punching, cold punching, draw filing, and cold-riveted tenon work.
This extensive project was inspired by many examples of early American ironwork, and brings together many different techniques and style elements to create a complete set of working hardware for these beautiful customer-supplied oak “braced & ledged” batten-style shed doors. Many thanks to Larry & Rachel Graubner for giving us the opportunity to help in the creation of these beautiful made-to-last doors for their cabin. You can see more pictures of the cabin and land at Walnut Hollow Farm on Larry’s Instagram profile @ljgraubner.
One of the doors fastens to the doorframe using two spring-loaded vertical bolts, and the second door fastens to the first with a heavy horizontal bolt. All three bolts are mounted to backplates using staples that are tenoned into the plates and cold riveted into place.
The hinge straps and pintles are made from 1/4” thick steel, and the rolled hinge eye swings on a 1/2” diameter pin that is forge-welded into the eye of the pintle.
While one door is designed to stay bolted unless an extra-wide opening is needed, the other opens and shuts freely as a single door, using a traditional “Suffolk” style latch. this latch has a simple handle with a thumbpress that raises a bar on the inside of the door out of a catch that has a ramp leading to the notch so that the bar will automatically slide up & drop into place when the door is shut. The long “tail” of the thumbpress extends past the latch bar and is curved to act as the inside handle to the latch. Just lift and pull!
The doors are assembled and all the hardware mounted using hand-forged “rosehead” nails that are driven through and clinched on the opposite side of the door- a widely used method in days gone by that results in rock-solid construction that will never loosen or pull apart.
The top & bottom vertical bolts feature different lengths of handles to facilitate use without having to bend over or stretch to reach them. These bolts have springs built in so they will hold position whether open or closed.