where to find/finish vintage doorknob roses

[Ivan Drucker]

Please forgive me if I'm posting in the wrong group, using the wrong vocabulary, or asking questions that have been asked before -- I'm really know very little about this and I researched as best I could before asking!

We are restoring our apartment, and we decided to keep our vintage glass doorknobs. Unfortunately, the roses (the metal donut which the knob sits in -- do I have the name correct?) that we have are flimsy and cruddy looking. We tried to buy new roses from Rejuvenation Hardware, and found some nice ones, but the opening is too small to accomodate the doorknobs

-- the opening is 5/8 inch, whereas the original roses have an opening of 11/16 inch.

My question is, what our our options? Is it possible to find roses with the larger opening anywhere, and if so where? (I guess salvage stores are one place to look, but we've tried every store in New York...) Another option we were considering was having the ones that we have cleaned up and refinished, but it would be nice to get new ones...

Second question: we need new keyhole covers for the keyholes in the mortise locks. The keyholes won't actually be used but they're part of the look, of course. Is there a good place online (or elsewhere) to look for these?

Thanks much for any help.

[Dhakala]

Got an 11/16 inch drill bit?

[KLS]

Try one of the most wonderful businesses in Rochester, New York (which has a huge stock of older houses): Historic House Parts at

You would not believe the selection of old house parts here. I've bought doors and windows and appropriate hardware from this place. Good luck.

[Roger Shoaf]

This can be simple. The function of the rose is to supply a bearing for the knob spindle. Usually the rose is secured to the door so that the spindle stays in line with the lock.

If the rose you are considering just has a little smaller hole than the knob, then the only thing that needs to be done is to either reduce the size of the knob spindle, or increase the size of the hole, or a little of each. The choice is made by how much material will be left when the machining is done, or which piece is easier to machine.

I would take a sample of the knob and the new and old rose to a machine shop or two and ask them. This should be no problem.

[Bob DeWeese, CML, CJS]

If they are just tarnished, painted over, etc., I'd have yours cleaned up and polished. They're probably solid brass. I think you'll be very pleased with the results.

Bobby

-- Bob DeWeese, CML, CJS [e-mail]

Bear Lock & Security Service, Inc - A full service locksmith company specializing in professional, cost effective solutions to your Commercial, Residential, Safe, and Automotive Security Problems.

[Allen Epps]

I'm lucky in that I was able to take most of my old doorknobs and clean them up. The couple that were in poor shape I replaced with some from VanDykes.

If you have an old house their print catalog is wonder and the prices are generally good. IIRC the Knobs were $10 each.

Allen

[bridger]

On Tue, 05 Jul 2005 20:35:24 GMT, Ivan Drucker :

get an 11/16" drill bit.

[Bud]

Given the torque if the drill bit really bites in a rotary file might be better. Also a small grinding bit but it may 'load-up' depending on what the material is.

Bud--

[e-mail] wrote:

[Roger Shoaf]

You say this like someone who has never tried something like this.

The escutcheon is probably 2 to 3 inches in diameter, and made of stamped brass. It is not easy to get a clean hole under these circumstances and you would need to make a fixture. Also if the escutcheon is stamped brass drilling it out will eliminate the bearing surface.

[Norminn]

If they are original and you wish to preserve them, it isn't difficult (assuming they are solid brass). If painted, strip them. Clean off stripper with very fine steel wool and mineral spirits. Dry. Polish with Brasso and extra fine steel wool. Coat with clear lacquer.

[Ivan X]

Thanks for all the great suggestions -- very helpful, and I may well be referring to those places soon for other needs. Roger, we tried actually doing the drilling, and indeed it was too difficult.

We wound up finding a refinishing service here: On the phone they were extremely nice and helpful and sounded like they had a ton of accessories, could match keyholes, etc, and so we're sending the roses off to be refinished. I'm crossing my fingers. And yes, they may indeed look cruddy now, but I'm sure that they'll look pretty good when the paint and brassy look are replaced with something nicer.

Thanks again.

Ivan.

[bridger]

I've done things like this many times. if I was in a mood to tinker I might set up the lathe for it, but probably I'd do it on the mill, with a drill bit. it's possible that the part would be too thin to drill, as per another post, but the OP mentioned nice ones from rejuvenation HW, so I'm assuming castings. if they are too thin to drill, I'd go with a reamer.

[Roger Shoaf]

Excuse me for being snappy.

I just pictured some one with a hand drill w/ an 11/16 bit and thought I might urge some caution. If you have a lathe and a mill you probably had thinwall brass grab on you so you now know how to avoid it.