Fireplace Doors Craftsman Style Fireplace Screen Doors for a Portland, Oregon home in the Laurelhurst neighborhood. Pyramid Square Head Rivets are made from square head bolts. Craftsman style hinges are our own design.

Twisted Scroll Handles Upper Door Hinge & Corner Detail Lower Hinge, Panel & Corner Detail The right-hand handle operates a two-point latching system, shop-built. The door hinges incorporate brass thrust washers for ease of operation. All corner joints are hot-forged to overlap; joints have hidden welds and rivets are decorative. Many of the fireplace door sets we make have round or truss head rivets. The firescreen is 8 mesh, which means the wires are 1/8" on centers; the wire gauge is 26. Fireplace door sets may be made with bowed frames or arched frames, as the opening dictates. The assembly can be made to cover the edges of the opening, or, if it is important not to cover the edges, to be inset. When inset, a 1/8" gap is customary. Each set of Fireplace Doors is different, the possibilites are almost endless. Silhouettes can be incorporated; they may be geometric, organic, life-like, or stylized. They may be placed in front of the screen, or in back of the screen, whichever gives the desired effect. Why buy a custom set of fireplace doors? Many reasons, but from a safety standpoint, fireplace doors are much safer than a tipsy, free-standing fireplace screen. You never have to worry about it falling over while tending the fire, or, at any other time.

Gate and Arbor The Gate & the Arbor, and the accompanying fence and/or railing sections on the walkway and the terrace in the background, were done in mild steel for a Tudor style home in the West Hills of Portland. All components except the overhead latticework are solid sections. The double arches are 1 inch x 1-1/2 inch solid bar, rolled the hard way (on edge). The gate is situated between stone pillars; the space is about 30 inches. Nib-end scrolls were used in the gate. Scrollwork is also present in the side panels formed by the double arches. The arches are 64 inches inside dimension, and about ten feet tall. All the ironwork was hot-dip galvanized, then epoxy primed and painted satin black. Fasteners were either square- headed, or slotted round head, bolts.

Another Perspective The Arbor, seen from this perspective, is seen to be connected by a railing or fence section between the double arches. The scrollwork in the side panels, visible here, is actually two complete scrolls, one atop the other. Each meanders, and has several distinct elemental components. Although each scroll is made individually, it is made to fit a pattern, or jig, to assure uniformity of overall dimension and overall shape, while allowing for individuality of the smaller components.

The Trellis The Trellis, framing the garden entrance, is composed of three sections: the arch and the two side panels. The scrollwork climbs within the confines of the outer bar, and the scrolls have their backbone toward the doors. The scrollwork is done with 3/8 inch square bar; the outer bar is 3/8 inch x 1-1/4 inch flat bar. The assembly is fastened to the wall at several stand-offs, while its weight is supported at the bluestone walk, from whence it seems to grow.

A Closer Look The Gate Latch Handle, a detail left up to the blacksmith. Almost everything else was precisely specified by the architect, McRoberts & Associates of Bellevue, Washington. In this view, you can also see that the joinery is clean and simple, as obvious welds are not to be found. In the gate scrollwork, welds are hidden with a few strategically-placed collars, as they should be.

The Keystone Piece The Original Arch, found in an antique shop in Europe, is estimated to have been made in the early part of the twentieth century, for it was originally fabricated by the oxy-acetylene method of welding. Many of the welds had cracked, consequently the piece was thoroughly restored, and slightly widened, to accommodate the double doors of the garden entrance. New collars were placed. Side panels were then made to match. The Rose Arbor uses the same scroll elements, but where the trellis scrolls are single-sided, the arbor scrolls' backbone meanders, so as not to be single-sided, or, "handed".

House Hardware Forged Copper Exterior Trim for a New Old Stock mortise lockset, with accompanying doorbell button escutcheon. As these were specified to match existing hardware on a home nearby in the Alameda neighborhood, attention to all the details was required. Hinted at in the image is a chased groove along each edge of the handle and the straps which are laced over the base plates. The handle tapers in both dimensions along its length. The plates, or escutcheons, are of 64-ounce copper; the small straps are 1/8" x 1/2", and are swaged over each other at their intersections. Naven Restoration Specialties also constructed the door and sidelights, along with their frame and trim. These pieces were mentioned in an article in the Homes & Gardens section of the June 30th, 2005 Oregonian Newspaper. © Copyright Naven Restoration Specialties 2005