Making a Drawer Pull—Chasing—Making a
Door-knocker—Repousse—Perforated Decoration.
_Exercise No. 7._
Drawer pulls can be of one part, the handle being fastened directly to
the drawer, or they may be of two parts, the handle and plate. The handle
can be made stationary on the plate or movable. In Figure 33 are shown
some hinges, drawer pulls and key escutcheons. The open work is cut out
while the stock is hot, or if light stock is used, it may be drilled, cut
and filed while the plate is cold.
[Illustration: Fig. 33.]
[Illustration: Fig. 34. Fig. 35.]
[Illustration: Fig. 36. Fig. 37.]
The stock used in making a plate for a pull, somewhat like those
illustrated, is represented in Figure 34. After the plate is cut to size,
which is done cold with a hand chisel, the outside surface is hammered
while hot with a ball hammer, drawing the plate a little thinner near
the edge. This hammering gives the surface a rough texture. The edges
are now ground or filed to shape and the holes are drilled as shown in
the drawing. The round holes are for screws to fasten the pull, and the
square holes are to fasten lugs, on which the handle is to swing. The
lugs are shown in Figure 35. The tenon can be filed, the top rounded,
the holes drilled, and the lugs riveted into the plate. When riveting
the lugs, they are caught in a vise, the plate set on and the tenons are
riveted tight into the holes. The square holes in the plate should be
countersunk a little on the back before the lugs are riveted.
The handle is a movable one, and the drawing is shown in Figure 36. The
different steps in making the handle are represented in Figure 37. When
the stock, which should be soft steel, is cut, the ends are heated and
drawn out tapering to ³⁄₁₆ inch at the end. One-and-a-half inches from
each end of the bar is marked with a center punch. The ends are now bent
over ¼ inch, then the bar is bent at the center marks. When the handle is
formed to fit the plate it is smoothed with a file. If desired, a line
can be chased on the handle and around the edge of plate. In doing this
a short, light chisel is used. After lines are traced on the plate with
a slate pencil the chisel is set on the line and struck with a light
hammer; at the same time it is drawn towards the worker with the lead
corner of the cutting edge directly on and above the line.
[Illustration: Fig. 38.]
The chisel should receive rapid, light blows and be continually moved
toward the workman. The lead corner of the chisel should be guided onto
the line while the other corner is doing the cutting. See Figure 38, a
rather large sized drawing of the cutting edge of the chisel. When the
lines are chased with the chisel, they should be gone over again with
quite hard blows of the hammer, forcing the chisel down to make the lines
quite pronounced.
To put the handle in place on the plate, it is heated and sprung into the
holes of the lugs. The last thing to do in finishing all work of this
kind is to heat it to a dark red. All scale and dirt is then scraped off;
when cool, some oil is put on. For this kind of work, machine oil is
good. The reason it is heated to a dark, even red heat is that when cool
the handle and the plate will have the same color and texture.
[Illustration: Fig. 39.]
_Exercise No. 8._
In Figure 39 are shown some hinges, latches and door knockers. Figure
40 is a drawing of a simple knocker. The plate is cut out and the line
around the edge is chased with a tool. The chasing tool is simply a cold
chisel ground to a short bevel and rounded somewhat like a fuller, as
shown in Figure 41. A short chisel is used for cold work and a longer one
for hot work. The chasing can be done while the metal is cold. If it is
to be very deep or wide the plate is heated and a longer chisel is used.
The lug at Figure 42 is made and riveted into the plate. The top of the
hammer is filed to straddle it. A hole is then drilled and a rivet put
thru. Holes are drilled around the edge of the plate for screws or nails.
[Illustration: Fig. 40.]
[Illustration: Fig. 41. Fig. 42.]
In making the hammer a piece of ¾-inch square, soft steel is used. It
is upset on one end to get the stock large enough for the bottom of the
hammer. The bar is then drawn out on the horn as shown at Figure 43. The
top part is formed as shown at Figure 44. Lines are chased on the front
of hammer as shown in the drawing; this can be done after it is formed.
If the lines are to be very deep it should be done while the piece is
straight and heated.
[Illustration: Fig. 43. Fig. 44.]
There is ample room for design in the making of door knockers, both for
outside and inside doors of dwellings. Knocker plates for doors on the
inside of dwellings can be elaborated by a combination of repousse,
chasing and perforated decoration which give a variety of light and
shadow. Perforated plates can be backed up with colored leather or cloth
which gives a very pleasing contrast to the metal.
[Illustration: Fig. 45.]
In Figure 45 is shown an interior door knocker. It is backed up with
colored leather. The plates are made of ⅛-in. thick, soft steel. After
the plates are cut out, the openings are marked with a slate pencil
and gone over with a short cold chisel to mark them. The plate is then
heated, and the part enclosed by the chisel line is cut out. A very
narrow chisel, 12 in. long, is used to do the cutting. The cutting is all
done from the outside. This gives the edge a slight bevel. The edges of
open places are trued up with a file. The openings must not be filed too
exact and smooth. The most essential thing to look after is form; the
work looks best when it shows handwork and is not mechanical.
[Illustration: Fig. 46.]
Handwork is most in keeping with the design and the material. The lines
on the plate are chased with a narrow chisel and the foliated form bumped
out from the back by hammering on the end grain of the elm block. The
hammer that does the knocking is hinged on the top plate so that the
bottom part moves out and in when knocking. Very thin red leather is
glued on the back of the plate with fish glue. The diameter of the top
plate is 4½-in., the bottom 2½-in., and the hammer is 6¾-in. long.
A good method of working out ideas for pieces of this character is to
make numerous rough sketches on paper with a lead pencil, making one line
over another without erasing. When one gets what he thinks is good it is
redrawn and perfected. It may then be worked in the material.
[Illustration: Fig. 47.]
At Figure 46 is shown a door knocker hinged at the top. The plate is one
piece. At Figure 47 are shown the dimensions of the plate. After the
shape of the plate is sketched on the metal, the lines are traced with a
chisel. The open work is then cut out, and the outside of the plate is
cut and filed. The center leaf at the top of the plate is indicated by
forcing the metal down along the top edge of the leaf with a punch, also
at the bottom to form the interlace. The plate should be hot when this is
done. The hammer shown in Figure 48 should be forged from ¾-in. square,
soft steel. The lug shown on the drawing is to be made and riveted into
the top of the plate. The hammer is then placed over the lug, and the lug
is drilled to conform to the drilled holes in the hammer.
[Illustration: Fig. 48.]
The chasing on the plate and hammer is done with a chisel as previously
explained. A gauge should be made from a piece of steel to scratch the
guide lines on the plate for the chasing as shown in Figure 48. These
lines are then cut with the chisel.