A bit of piano hinge trivia...
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Roderick Grant
- Posts: 11815
- Joined: Wed Mar 29, 2006 7:48 am
Photos taken for the January 1963 edition of HB dedicated to Hanna show that the tall panels opening from the kitchen into the dining room have piano hinges. As tall as they are, those thin wood slabs would probably not have fared well with butt hinges. None of the historic photos in the magazine show this detail, so it's not possible to ascertain if the piano hinges are original or not, but it's unlikely that the panels were taken down, retrofitted with piano hinges and rehung. There are piano hinges in the 1956 workshop cabinets, but the glass doors seem (not too clear) to have butt hinges, like the main house.
The tendency of plywood to warp, the larger spans capable when using plywood for cabinet doors, and Wright's desire to keep those cabinet doors and frames on the same plane would mean that the most effective hinge would be the continuous piano. Having the exposed hinge adds a sparkling decorative touch, the kind which Wright seemed to enjoy: not applied, but integrated and proudly displaying its function.
It would seem that the switch to piano hinges coincides with the move to plywood.
It would seem that the switch to piano hinges coincides with the move to plywood.
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Wrightgeek
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- Location: Westerville, Ohio
No one was curious about the Bower-Bariff [sic] finish ?
http://albarwilmette.net/2008/07/10/bow ... ic-finish/
http://www.nmfrc.org/subs/history/feb27.cfm (note date: 1927)
It seems Mr Wright would be happy with a plain black line -- or, failing that, bright brass ? Dulled brass -- what happens with uncoated brass over time -- would please me more than a sparkly interruption -- but it's just a matter of preference.
SDR
http://albarwilmette.net/2008/07/10/bow ... ic-finish/
http://www.nmfrc.org/subs/history/feb27.cfm (note date: 1927)
It seems Mr Wright would be happy with a plain black line -- or, failing that, bright brass ? Dulled brass -- what happens with uncoated brass over time -- would please me more than a sparkly interruption -- but it's just a matter of preference.
SDR
On page 259 of "House Beautiful" issue November, 1955 is a piece written by Wright, entitled "I Believe a House is more a Home by Being a Work of Art". It basically is an essay on "taste", and more directly Wright's personal taste in decoration, collecting and furnishings, and how these might compliment the interiors of an organic house. There is a wonderful color photo of the Taliesin dinner table set with a brownish table cloth, floral arrangements done in a Japanese manner, Chinese dinnerware decorated with floral motifs, accompanied by glittering gold-plated dinnerware. The caption to the photograph reads as follows:
"Mr. Wright picks objects such as these to furnish his own and other clients' homes. He buys them from artist-craftsman through shops like America house and V.C.Morris. He likes the glitter of gold: "Lurex" in fabrics, gold leaf on Japanese screens and Burmese lacquer. He likes wooden bowls and platters when the wood-grain enriches both form and shape. He likes basketry---Victorian, American Indian, modern Italian or Japanese. This table setting in Wright's home uses Spade in a Chinese pattern, gold-glittering Dirilyte flatware and fragile, flower-shaped, Baccarat stemmed goblets."
A second caption reads: "Arranging the table for dining is a great artistic opportunity." -Frank Lloyd Wright
Below the top photo is another close-up detail of gold lacquered and brass Asian bowls sitting on red lacquered trays.
Anyway, the photographs reveal a clear affection for the colors and sheen of brass and gold, and that seems to be confirmed by the text, but considering the Bower-Barf reference, he also must have also appreciated the toned down patinated appearance of tarnished metals.
"Mr. Wright picks objects such as these to furnish his own and other clients' homes. He buys them from artist-craftsman through shops like America house and V.C.Morris. He likes the glitter of gold: "Lurex" in fabrics, gold leaf on Japanese screens and Burmese lacquer. He likes wooden bowls and platters when the wood-grain enriches both form and shape. He likes basketry---Victorian, American Indian, modern Italian or Japanese. This table setting in Wright's home uses Spade in a Chinese pattern, gold-glittering Dirilyte flatware and fragile, flower-shaped, Baccarat stemmed goblets."
A second caption reads: "Arranging the table for dining is a great artistic opportunity." -Frank Lloyd Wright
Below the top photo is another close-up detail of gold lacquered and brass Asian bowls sitting on red lacquered trays.
Anyway, the photographs reveal a clear affection for the colors and sheen of brass and gold, and that seems to be confirmed by the text, but considering the Bower-Barf reference, he also must have also appreciated the toned down patinated appearance of tarnished metals.
Last edited by peterm on Wed Apr 27, 2011 5:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Wrightgeek
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- Location: Westerville, Ohio
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Laurie Virr
- Posts: 472
- Joined: Sat Jul 25, 2009 5:32 pm
With regard to the Rubin house specifications:
Mortise thrust bolts are specified for the French doors, no doubt on the grounds of appearance, and the fact that they tend to complement the piano hinges.
The French doors in the Prairie houses usually had members that were of traditional sizes, those handed down from the Colonial era. Stock was from 2� and sometimes 2 1/2� material, bottom rails were 11 5/8� deep, top rails, a full 3�, hanging stiles 2 1/4� finished, and meeting stiles 2 3/4�.
Sash and French doors for the Usonian houses were almost exclusively from 2� stock, finishing at 1 5/8�.
No doubt as a means of saving costs, some had bottom rails that were of less depth than the traditional size, whilst the other members were of the traditional sizes, and this may account for problems associated with them, especially when they were fitted with mortise thrust bolts.
With any door it is the hanging stile and the bottom rail that do the work. A mortise thrust bolt requires a significant depth to be cut into the top and bottom rails in order that the mechanism has room to operate, and this incision often impinges on the tenons connecting the rails to the meeting stiles, thereby weakening the joint.
A partial solution is to install mortise thrust bolts, top and bottom, in the thickness of one of the meeting stiles of a pair of French doors, relying on the French light fastener to hold the other door in place. It does not constitute best practice.
The piano hinge is unobtrusive, extremely efficient, and assists in the achievement of planar surfaces in a manner denied butt hinges. The mortise thrust bolt was most probably designed with a similar aim in view, but its use demands that a structural price has to be paid.
I would suggest that doors hung on piano hinges, with bolts planted on the surface furnish the best of both worlds.
Mortise thrust bolts are specified for the French doors, no doubt on the grounds of appearance, and the fact that they tend to complement the piano hinges.
The French doors in the Prairie houses usually had members that were of traditional sizes, those handed down from the Colonial era. Stock was from 2� and sometimes 2 1/2� material, bottom rails were 11 5/8� deep, top rails, a full 3�, hanging stiles 2 1/4� finished, and meeting stiles 2 3/4�.
Sash and French doors for the Usonian houses were almost exclusively from 2� stock, finishing at 1 5/8�.
No doubt as a means of saving costs, some had bottom rails that were of less depth than the traditional size, whilst the other members were of the traditional sizes, and this may account for problems associated with them, especially when they were fitted with mortise thrust bolts.
With any door it is the hanging stile and the bottom rail that do the work. A mortise thrust bolt requires a significant depth to be cut into the top and bottom rails in order that the mechanism has room to operate, and this incision often impinges on the tenons connecting the rails to the meeting stiles, thereby weakening the joint.
A partial solution is to install mortise thrust bolts, top and bottom, in the thickness of one of the meeting stiles of a pair of French doors, relying on the French light fastener to hold the other door in place. It does not constitute best practice.
The piano hinge is unobtrusive, extremely efficient, and assists in the achievement of planar surfaces in a manner denied butt hinges. The mortise thrust bolt was most probably designed with a similar aim in view, but its use demands that a structural price has to be paid.
I would suggest that doors hung on piano hinges, with bolts planted on the surface furnish the best of both worlds.
That seems eminently sensible.
There are less orthodox methods of making doors -- ones which might greatly improve the strength of their frames. I was forced by circumstance to resort to such a method, three years ago, when I was asked to make a pair of "carriage doors" (so called by my client) for a tired Victorian residence in my city. With only the most primitive of equipment at my disposal, I selected milled poplar boards less than an inch thick, and assembled door frames by making a two-ply lamination with very large lapped joints at the corners, and offset laps to fasten the intermediate rail and to provide a seat for the sash and plywood panels. Because the door opening was seriously out of square, it seemed most efficient to build the frames, piece by piece, within the opening, starting with the hanging stiles, which were immediately hinged to the opening as a first step.
Doors being assembled, with loose pieces clamped temporarily in place.
Outer rail members yet to be fitted.
Polyurethane glue and clamps accomplished the lamination. The doors have performed well, with the exception that the specie chosen has exhibited unexpected sensitivity to changes in atmospheric moisture. There has been an overall growth in the width of each door of more than an eighth of an inch, with seasonal swelling and shrinkage of nearly that much, necessitating adjustment of the lock hardware. The corner joints exhibit the sort of curvature one would expect from the "bi-metal" action of an asymmetrical (lapped) joint. But the glue has done its job, and there is no sign of change in diagonal dimension of either panel -- nor do I expect there to be, ever. These frames could easily carry 1/2" plate glass -- in loose vertical slabs -- if it were necessary . . . !
SDR
There are less orthodox methods of making doors -- ones which might greatly improve the strength of their frames. I was forced by circumstance to resort to such a method, three years ago, when I was asked to make a pair of "carriage doors" (so called by my client) for a tired Victorian residence in my city. With only the most primitive of equipment at my disposal, I selected milled poplar boards less than an inch thick, and assembled door frames by making a two-ply lamination with very large lapped joints at the corners, and offset laps to fasten the intermediate rail and to provide a seat for the sash and plywood panels. Because the door opening was seriously out of square, it seemed most efficient to build the frames, piece by piece, within the opening, starting with the hanging stiles, which were immediately hinged to the opening as a first step.
Doors being assembled, with loose pieces clamped temporarily in place.
Outer rail members yet to be fitted.
Polyurethane glue and clamps accomplished the lamination. The doors have performed well, with the exception that the specie chosen has exhibited unexpected sensitivity to changes in atmospheric moisture. There has been an overall growth in the width of each door of more than an eighth of an inch, with seasonal swelling and shrinkage of nearly that much, necessitating adjustment of the lock hardware. The corner joints exhibit the sort of curvature one would expect from the "bi-metal" action of an asymmetrical (lapped) joint. But the glue has done its job, and there is no sign of change in diagonal dimension of either panel -- nor do I expect there to be, ever. These frames could easily carry 1/2" plate glass -- in loose vertical slabs -- if it were necessary . . . !
SDR