Wright Chat

[egads]

Now that is obsessive. The screws don't show.

[peterm]

And what's the matter with obsessive?

Hans Wegner talked about chair design, and said a chair must be beautiful and logical from all sides, including the bottom, which isn't, under normal circumstances, visible. He said the first thing he did was turn the chair upside down and study the construction. If it didn't make sense from that point of view, he was confident that it was a poor design...

There is beauty to be found in a brass slotted screw that has been turned by hand, and it does show if you look for it...

[dleach]

I agree, pterm, obsession is simply attention to detail in this case. Additionally, I always align the slots in the screws, horizontally or vertically, depending on the visual situation. I align Phillips screws as well.
Thankfully, slotted screws are plentiful (anachronistically, one could argue) here in the US. Even Home Depot and Lowes have them.

[DRN]

I'm typically rather easy going, but I'm with peterm on the issue of the flush slotted screws in the hinges. The room doors and bath stall doors are usually open, and when they are, the splayed hinges and the stack of screws are very visible.

[SDR]

For those who are sensitive to the conservator's vexing decision -- "Do I wish to show clearly which pieces of the fabric are original and which are replacements ?" -- the use of Phillips-head screws might be a sufficiently subtle yet unmistakable sign of restoration. And it's hard to argue that, for the less-than-completely obsessive, randomly-tightened Phillips heads are less noticeable than randomly-tightened slotted heads. (Don't get me started on the technical objection to aligned screw heads . . . !)

The use of oval-headed screws (with either kind of slot) -- that is, screws with slightly domed heads -- might be preferable in appearance to flat-head screws, where there is any chance of the screws being driven at slightly varying angles (due, usually, to the pilot holes not being perfectly centered.) Oval heads will reflect the light in a more uniform way, thus not drawing attention to the flaw. I'm not sure what the history is, there. (Indeed, I am waiting to hear what the time-line is for the Phillips head. I know for a fact that they were common in the industry by the mid-'sixties.)

SDR

[DRN]

Would the domed heads (as opposed to flush heads) pose a problem for the leaves of the hinge closing on top of one another tightly enough to fully close the door?

[SDR]

They could. Oval-head screws are only slightly domed -- and there'd be room for them as long as the leaves of the hinge close parallel to each other. I haven't seen a piano hinge with swaged leaves -- see first illustration:

http://www.hoffmanhinge.com/standard-hinge-terminology.htm

If both leaves of a piano hinge were swaged, it would presumably be possible to install a door without any mortising -- even if the hinge were (shudder) shorter than the door.

I wonder if the piano hinge was selected for the grand piano because the top is made of boards glued up the "short" way (that is, perpendicular to the hinged edge) ? This would be a good explanation for the use of a continuous hinge, as the hardware might be called upon to help keep the panel flat . . .

S

[Roderick Grant]

"Indeed, I am waiting to hear what the time-line is for the Phillips head."
SDR

The phillips head was designed in the 20s by John Thompson and named after Henry Phillips, to whom Thompson sold the design. They first appeared in use in the late 30s.

[SDR]

Thanks ! Well, one would have expected Mr Wright to pounce upon that new development, maybe ?

dtc, what screws did you find at the Dobkins residence ? No Phillips screws at Lamberson, Peter ? The principle advantage of the centered slot arrangement of the Phillips or Posidrive screws (and the square-drive Robertson, as well) is that it aids in rapid setting of the screw. When I began in the kitchen trade in the mid-late 'sixties, installers were still using huge Stanley Yankee spiral-drive spring-loaded screwdrivers. In the shop we had Sioux electric drivers (the same ones were available as pneumatic tools).

Note caption: http://www.flickr.com/photos/36675938@N00/557523689/in/photostream/ Driving slotted screws with a Yankee or with a power tool is best accomplished with a device which captures the screw in a sleeve surrounding the drive tip, intended to keep the driver from slipping off the screw and damaging the surrounding material(s).

SDR

[Paul Ringstrom]

It would seem logical now days to keep my Stanley Yankee spiral-drive spring-loaded screwdrivers in with my slide rules, 16oz hammers, dot-matrix printers and my Macintosh Iix.

[SDR]

Most surely. And I won't tell you about the nasty accident I heard about as a young cabinetmaker, involving a Yankee and an eye . . .


SDR

[ozwrightfan]

I keep my Yankee spiral together with my brace and bit and Marples oval timber handled screw drivers (which were so comfortable to use).

[Education Professor]

Below is a link to some photos of the Haynes house showing the accordion doors in their intended state following the installation of the continuous hinges. The first photo in the set is by Juergen Nogai. Link posted with permission.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36675938@N00/with/557523695/#photo_557523695

EP

[peterm]

Haynes seems to not have the brass plating on the hinges.

http://www.hayneshouse.org/

I looked at the Haynes house video, and the hinges and knobs appear to be silver in color; the screws and light switch plates look like they are brass plated...

[dtc]

Only slotted brass screws at the Dobkins.

& the slots do not all run in the same direction...

Perhaps I need to do something about that.