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Knobs Knobs Knobs
Nov. 4th, 2022 08:31 pmWhen we moved into this house (an 1860s 2-up, 2-down factory worker's cottage, a row house) five years ago, none of the interior doors actually had a real knob that opened and closed the door. They had what looked like knobs, or could have been knobs in another life, but these were just screwed on, static. You used them to shove the doors, which also had, on their profiles, odd little nubs like you sometimes get on the doors of cabinets. This meant that a change in air pressure or a cat leaning on the door popped the sucker right open. You were a showering guest? Too fuckin bad, mate. Time for everyone's favourite TOS episode, "Naked Time". Nothing locked in the house; nothing even actually shut.
When a massive salvage yard closed in Exeter, I went down for the several days of the sale and hauled back most of what we've been using since to slowly redo the place.
The door handles we finally got put in are from that sale.
So the area where the old handle used to be needs cleaned up, and all these might need base plates. I'll see if I have any. This is a simple wood handle I chose over all the Bakelite options. I need to figure out how to oil it. Perhaps some beeswax?
This Bennington Brown handle looks like stone, but it's actually a mid 19th century American ceramics technique. I don't really know how it got to the UK: was this imported, or did the UK's then-amazing ceramics firms clone the popular Atlantic seaboard technology?
I need to get a little paint off this bathroom handle, but I'm not entirely sure how.
A painted porcelain knob with blue roses.
The older step in place for this bathroom edition was very narrow, and presented a trip hazard. Time will tell if I've gone too far the other way. This is a seasoned, 1930s threshold from a demolished house I got off Freecycle. I need to sand and then oil it with something; I don't know what yet. I think I'm also going to ask them to build out the profile underneath. Structurally, it's sound. Cosmetically, I'm not loving it. One of the issues raised, however, was that any build-out would be softer, newer wood, aka deal. Very much not my thing.
When a massive salvage yard closed in Exeter, I went down for the several days of the sale and hauled back most of what we've been using since to slowly redo the place.
The door handles we finally got put in are from that sale.
So the area where the old handle used to be needs cleaned up, and all these might need base plates. I'll see if I have any. This is a simple wood handle I chose over all the Bakelite options. I need to figure out how to oil it. Perhaps some beeswax?
This Bennington Brown handle looks like stone, but it's actually a mid 19th century American ceramics technique. I don't really know how it got to the UK: was this imported, or did the UK's then-amazing ceramics firms clone the popular Atlantic seaboard technology?
I need to get a little paint off this bathroom handle, but I'm not entirely sure how.
A painted porcelain knob with blue roses.
The older step in place for this bathroom edition was very narrow, and presented a trip hazard. Time will tell if I've gone too far the other way. This is a seasoned, 1930s threshold from a demolished house I got off Freecycle. I need to sand and then oil it with something; I don't know what yet. I think I'm also going to ask them to build out the profile underneath. Structurally, it's sound. Cosmetically, I'm not loving it. One of the issues raised, however, was that any build-out would be softer, newer wood, aka deal. Very much not my thing.
