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Steve Wargo
02-17-2005, 6:41 AM
I like to make my own pulls out of wood, but I'm kind of stumped as to what to make for this piece. I'm leaning towards an ebony teardrop pull on a ebony post with a contrasting maple pivot. This piece is a monster coming in at 7' tall and 54" wide. So a tear drop would be large. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. I posted this one on the design forum as well, but any input would be appreciated. Thanks and sorry for the poor picture quality.


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Louis Bois
02-17-2005, 7:31 AM
Nice wardrobe Steve. The wood selection is pretty wild!!! Slight flashback there...and the cedar back is awesome as well!

As for the pulls, teardrops may seem a little out of place on such a large piece...even if you make them fairly large. Ebony wouldn't be out of place here, considering the other wood selections on the piece.

Personally, I think I'd tend to go with a longer, stationary pull. If it gets too fancy, it may detract from the other elements in the piece. A slight curve would work, but I wouldn't go over the top...just my 2 cents.

Jim Becker
02-17-2005, 8:59 AM
I agree with Louis...elongated vertically. But ebony would be wonderful on that piece! (Nice work!!)

Jim Dunn
02-17-2005, 9:07 AM
Steve I don't have a clue as to the pulls. I just wanted to post what a beautiful piece of furniture it is. Are those book matched panels in the front doors? If so how did you do it as the panels look to be 24" wide.

Jim

Steve Wargo
02-17-2005, 9:10 AM
ebonized Maple with a undyed pin. I'm affraid that ebony would crack too easily.
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<p align="center"><img src="http://madhunkyworkshop.com/images/doorpull-Model.jpg"></p>

Steve Wargo
02-17-2005, 9:11 AM
But not quite as wide or bulbouse.

Jim Becker
02-17-2005, 9:14 AM
Do a prototype that you can stick on with double-stick tape and see how you feel about it after a few days...black spray paint will deal the color.

Mark Singer
02-17-2005, 9:43 AM
Do what Jim said!

Steve Wargo
02-17-2005, 9:53 AM
I'd planned on doing a mock-up. Just didn't want to waste the time on a design that didn't work. While I love the Asian, look I really didn't want to go for it on this piece which is why I was wanting to stay away from a long straight pull. Thanks for the replies so far.

Mike Scoggins
02-17-2005, 10:00 AM
Steve,

First, great job on the piece.

Let me offer a potential alternative. When I first say the piece I was struck by the interesting grain pattern of the door panels. Because of this, consider pulls that would maybe be a takeoff of the sunburst theme with "the sun" being located at the point roughly 60% up from the bottom of the door where the grain pattern comes together and to which the eye is naturally drawn. I've included a couple of very crude drawings below in a weak attempt to convey the concept. You could use maple (or some other light colored wood) with interesting grain pattern (birdseye maybe?) with an ebony inlay. Or maybe just the opposite to your liking. The inlay could be more elaborate, with alternating triangles for example, to develop the sunburst them further. Or, if you're into carving...

Just another option for consideration.

Mike

Dan Moening
02-17-2005, 10:00 AM
Steve,

That is a beautiful piece of furniture!

I agree with the concensus: a stationary pull
but for slightly different reason.

I feel that your pull design, while elegant in its own right, may lend itself to failure over time. Wooden handles, pulls, hinges and knobs all add that extra special touch; but must be carefully crafted to ensure longevity.

An elongated stationary pull will provide for this and still leave you open to design options.

And oh yeah, Ebony will truly set this off nicely!

Tom LaRussa
02-17-2005, 10:05 AM
Steve,

FWIW, (which isn't much, I know), I'd go with something long and curved, to emphasize the grain pattern in the lower section of the door panels.

I've marked the curve I'm referring to in brown on the pic below.

Steve Wargo
02-17-2005, 10:23 AM
What did you do to my picture???:mad: :D Just kidding. I'm starting to agree with the starionary pull . I actually was debating about doing an elongated bowtie of ebony with a holly strip down the center on ebony posts drilled and wedged from the inside with holly.
<p align="center"><img src="http://madhunkyworkshop.com/images/Drawing1-Model.jpg"></p>

Tom LaRussa
02-17-2005, 10:49 AM
What did you do to my picture???:mad: :D Just kidding. I'm starting to agree with the starionary pull . I actually was debating about doing an elongated bowtie of ebony with a holly strip down the center on ebony posts drilled and wedged from the inside with holly.



http://madhunkyworkshop.com/images/Drawing1-Model.jpg

That looks pretty cool. Would each door have a complete bowtie, or would the two pulls together form a single large bowtie when the doors are closed?

Dave Richards
02-17-2005, 11:28 AM
My thought was to make the pulls so they aren't very decorative. There's a lot going on with the bookmatched panels in the doors. I think I would be careful about doing anything that tries to draw attention away from the doors themselves. I was initially thinking something simple in the same wood as the panels but with less figure. I did a quick sketch of a simple pull. In deference the comments about using ebony and holly, I did two versions with colors similar to those woods. (At least they appear to be on my monitor.)

Perhaps the corners should be a bit less rounded.

Steve Wargo
02-17-2005, 11:32 AM
I like those. I Just may need to tweak them a little. I want to use round posts.