HOUSE AND GARDEN 
July, 
1912 
iron in- 
An 
door latch 
easily. It is this which 
permits it to sag and 
consequently to bind. 
The method used in 
hanging the door by the 
previous genera¬ 
tion, was to allow the 
easy rolling of a quarter 
dollar in the joints when 
the door was closed. 
This sagging is of 
course limited when the 
door is shut, and is less 
restricted when it is 
open. When in the lat¬ 
ter case it becomes bad 
enough to interfere with 
the floor it is time to 
throw it away. The old-fashioned pinned door 
is less liable to pull apart than the more recent 
sort with glued joints. When the door itself 
begins to sag it must be eased with the plane at 
the points of friction, which at once gives it a 
chance to sag more; if it starts the hinges they 
must be reset. 
In the half or Dutch doors where the leverage 
was considerable, the strap hinge was used and 
extended across the full width of the door. This 
form of strap hinge was “loose joint;” that is, 
the hinge-pin, which was driven into the door 
post, and which received the strap socket, al¬ 
lowed of the easy unhanging of the door. Its 
principal was somewhat at fault as the strain 
was not direct—the hinge-pin receiving a side 
and not a direct strain. For this and the further 
reason that it is next to impossible satisfactorily 
to readjust the hinge-pin, owing to the consid¬ 
erable hole made in the door-post, it should not 
generally be used in modern work. When af¬ 
fixed to the old oaken 
door - post, however, 
it was fairly firm. 
The later and better 
form, the familiar 
surface hinge, was on 
the same principle as 
the strap hinge of to¬ 
day, which, while 
having the disadvan¬ 
tage of the fixed 
joint, admitted of bet¬ 
ter adjustment to the 
door-post, the same 
being effected by 
nails. The strap 
hinge was one form 
of the surface hinge, 
and as a door sup¬ 
port, the best type 
we have had. We 
know of no perfect 
hinge, but this comes 
nearest to it; its ob¬ 
jection lies in the 
fixed joint, which 
prevents the easy un¬ 
hanging of the door 
Modern reproductions in brass of good Colonial 
designs 
A brass in¬ 
door latch 
This 
design comes 
New Orleans 
from 
A brass knocker for a 
paneled door 
Characteristic ways in which iron 
latch handles were designed 
in case of the shifting 
of the door-frame. 
There is, however, no 
reason why the old mod¬ 
els cannot be altered to 
the loose pin type with 
but little expense, but 
these pins should be of 
brass to avoid the rust¬ 
ing together of parts. 
The next hinge which 
claimed the attention of 
our forefathers and 
which soon superseded 
the surface hinge, was 
the fixed joint “butt." 
This being, when folded, 
but the thickness of the 
door, was practically concealed between the door 
jamb and the engaging rabbet, thus destroying an 
important principle of good art, which demanded 
in this case that the door have some visible means 
of support. This form of hinge has developed 
into the common form of to-day with but few 
changes. The first of these was making the two 
hinge plates detachable, so that the door could 
be readily unhung; these were called “loose 
joint” butts. For heavy doors the “loose pin” 
pattern was an extension of the loose joint prin¬ 
ciple. Owing to the awkwardness of conditions 
attending the unhanging of the door a further 
alteration of the old type widened the hinge- 
plate so that the door when open swung free of 
the casing, thus allowing one to secure a hold on 
the inner stile. Personally we do not care for 
this type of hinge. In the first place as already 
stated, it does not sufficiently suggest the hang¬ 
ing of the door; secondly, its mode of attach¬ 
ment is poor. It depends for its hold upon the 
woodwork — on the resisting 
qualities of the wood fiber 
engaging the comparatively 
minute screw threads. If 
the strain exerted were uni¬ 
form and direct upon the 
hinge-plate, there would be 
less chance of their loosen¬ 
ing, but it is a shifting and 
prying strain. 
Unless one has to do with 
the problem of the Greek 
Revival, the common forms 
of the surface hinge, which 
we have already mentioned, 
may be used anywhere, with 
the latch or surface lock, 
without committing any seri¬ 
ous architectural offense. 
Not having made any very 
extended investigation of 
the matter, we are still under 
the impression that this type 
is not reproduced to any ex¬ 
tent in modern hardware. 
It is a common custom to 
effect this feature in modern A simple iron 
colonial work with loose latch handle 
