Comments on: Campaign Hardware from Whitechapel Ltd.

By: Steve_OH

Steve_OH — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:03:51 +0000

I am reminded of a story that was printed in _The Pragmatic Programmer_ (I don’t know the original source):

A tourist visiting England’s Eton College asked the gardener how he got the lawns so perfect. “That’s easy,” he replied, “You just brush off the dew every morning, mow them every other day, and roll them once a week.”

“Is that all?” asked the tourist.

“Absolutely,” replied the gardener. “Do that for 500 years and you’ll have a nice lawn, too.”

-Steve

By: allenworb

allenworb — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:13:25 +0000

Killer hardware. I bet they would look good on a campaign-style TV console. Hmmm…teak or mahogany?

By: davegutz

davegutz — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 13:03:28 +0000

About 1995 I was updating the 1950′s built house I lived in. I kept the hollow core, birch veneer doors – they looked nice. The doorknobs were all the same – polished brass coated with lacquer. Due to age the lacquer had chipped in many places and the exposed brass tarnished. Overall they looked a bit crummy. Since I liked the shape of the knobs and appreciated the potential of pure brass, and since I am also a bit on the thrifty side I decided to experiment with polishing all these knobs. I mounted a buffing wheel on my bench grinder, bought different grits of rouge and went at it. When I was done I waxed them all with leftover car wax.

Fifteen years later those knobs have “oxidized” in an antique sort of way and look “ok.” If I want to restore the shine it would be a lot of work and I don’t live there anyway. I like the appearance better than the old chipped lacquer.

The “oxidized” finish mentioned in previous post seems like a controlled way to age the parts and stabilize their appearance. I like the idea. It has staying power. If you like the appearance it may mean less work for you in the future. It won’t have the eye-candy appeal of the lacquered hardware or freshly polished brass.

By: Ray Knight

Ray Knight — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:38:52 +0000

I struggled with these different finishes. The polished is too shiny, millfinish not right, the antique oxidized is too uniform, SO I started buying the antique finish, and then hand polish, as if the maid polished them regularly for years or decades, leaving antique oxidation in corners and edges, patina appearing close to appropriate. Ray

By: esincox

esincox — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 21:01:58 +0000

I started buying box locks from Whitechapel Ltd. last year.

I doubt I will buy from any other retailer in the near or distant future. It is amazing how much more easy it is to install a quality-made lock from England than a poorly-made one from China.

They are a very attentive company, as well. After my first purchase from them, I received an e-mail asking how my purchase experience was through their website. I offered a few bits on some problems I saw (minor stuff, like some images that wouldn’t load properly and an image overlapping some text on another page.

When I returned to the website two days later, all of the problems I’d mentioned had been corrected.

By: flatscat

flatscat — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:23:03 +0000

According to their catalog the finish is controlled oxidation with no lacquer or other finish. That is for pieces marked code 1

By: Christopher Schwarz

Christopher Schwarz — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:17:37 +0000

Space at the bottom of this cavity doesn’t matter much because the mounting screws that hold the hardware in place are on the rim. I often end up making deeper mortises for clearance when installing ring pulls and locksets.

So you are correct.

By: hmann

hmann — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:29:01 +0000

Do you mortise to a depth just deeper than the screws? Does it matter if there is extra air space behind the back plate as long as the three screws and face plate are seated nicely?