Last winter we were in the middle of producing our brand new catalog. At the same time our photographer, John Giammatteo, was in the middle of building a new post and beam studio. We went to him when we needed photographs of our hardware and he came to us when he needed to hang his very large barn doors. His doors were 10 feet tall by 5 feet wide and he wanted a great look as well as the proper iron hardware for the job.
Doors this large need pintles to support their weight and long straps to prevent sag. John's hinges are 40" long, 2" wide and 1/4" thick (part no. HF-42 in a custom length). 40" is the perfect length--2/3 the width of his 5' door. The result is beautifully proportioned and balanced as well as properly supportive. Each hinge is fastened with our hand forged carriage bolts for strength and aesthetics. John didn't use our pintles! His builder, Brendan Matthews of www.traditionalbarnraisers.com (860-873-3828), prefers SCREW IN, machine made galvanized pintles. The pintles were about 3/4" in diameter but not quite consistent. We often run into that situation with antique pintles. Each strap was made to fit a particular pintle so the fit is right. SCREW IN pintles are an interesting approach. They take lots of experience to install so while we make them on request, we don't stock them. The beauty of the linseed oil, coal forged finish is dramatic on John's cedar doors. In fact, the 'bleeding' that happens with authentically produced iron is happening already. John's building looks less new every day.
While we make a lot of custom hinges for a lot of big doors, it is difficult to understand the scale and look once they are installed. A tiny little image on a computer screen does not do justice to these pieces. John's story is a great one. You can visit his website at http://johng.typepad.com and see the entire building being erected. If you need good photography, send him an email at john@photographs-johng.com. If you have any questions for us, contact Orion by phone at 800-754-9127 or by email at orion@horton-brasses.com.
