Mild steel will rust. Don't let it go on to long. Use steel wool, then furniture wax polish
Cross-sell no. 1
Most metals, especially iron, 'bleed' into un-treated hardwood, especially oak, when it gets wet.
Dove-tail nails for maximum grip. Different angles also helps protect the wood from splitting.
A hand-made piece deserves a better fixing than cross-head screws. Use nails or slot-heads.
Many carpenters use nails on a door, screws on the doorframe, so the door'll come off later if needed.
Old carpenters say a T-hinge should be 2/3rds the width of the door but it's really what looks right.
Cut nails grip better than 'wire' nails, but not as good as 'annular' nails.
Stable doors often have a long T top and bottom, with two shorter ones in the middle but whatever looks right IS right.
Butt hinges which fit into rebates in door and frame are more difficult to fit than Ts or Hs.
Need fixings for your Forgeries forgeries ? We've got old-fashioned rose-head nails, from 25mm to 50mm, to match your hinges. So don't betray your hinges with plated cross-head screws !
As a rule we don't do brass, partly because of the difficulty of finding the old alloy mix, which has a much redder, coppery colour than modern brass. But little shutter knobs are hard to find in any alloy
Need fixings for your Forgeries forgeries ? We've got old-fashioned slot-head self-coloured countersunk screws and black enamelled round heads
You've hung the door. Now think about opening it. Our suffolk latch page has a huge variety of mix 'n' match variations.
Fancy a coat hook on the back of your door, to match the ironmongery ? Take a look at our 'beam hooks'... and 'nail hooks', especially for bedrooms and bathrooms
Snecks and bean latches, Suffolk latches and plain thumb latches
They come under many names - sneck in Northern Britain, bean latch in New England and suffolk latch in old England and most of Britain - but essentially they are all the same. The design is based on a handle incorporating a moving thumb-piece which operates a lever going through the door. This lifts, or lets fall, a latchbar on the other side which in turn meets a keeper on the doorframe.
At Forgeries we have a range of parts - with more to come - extras and additions to our basic Suffolk latch, mix-and-match, all copied from originals spotted all over Britain. There are five different latch bars, four different staples (to hold the latchbar in place) and three different keepers. And if the choice defeats you we offer a standard sneck set complete.
And if you want more choice we can offer a Queen Ann Suffolk Latch, a cabbage Suffolk latch, an arrowhead Suffolk latch and many more, to order. And if you just need odd bits to complete an old original Suffolk Latch, we can help.
The full Monty..... handle, thumb-piece, plain latchbar and pivot pin, spike staple and spike keeper.... all you need. You don't even have to remember which side has the hinges : our Suffolk latch is the same left or right.
Handle and thumb-piece only. The thumb-piece extends to a downward curve on the reverse side to provide a grip to open and close the door. You'll need in addition a keeper, a staple and a latchbar. But don't worry how the door is hung : this will work with hinges to right or left.
Much more ornate.... some say 'flambouyant' or even over-the-top ! It's also easier to fit than the spike version. We're not sure when it came into use but it's certainly still popular today.
A hole in the staple and a special pin – hanging on a black leather thong – make it easy to lock from the inside by preventing the latchbar from moving up to clear the keeper. And in emergency it's easy to push the pin out with a matchstick.
The basic.... slim enough to fit under the staple, heavy enough to fall easily into the keeper on the door frame. Sometimes it was ornamented with simple punch and chisel marks, some say as Christian symbols. Our's isn't... but it could be if you want it (e-mail us with special instructions – no extra charge)All hinges are priced per pair. If you need an odd number please e-mail Sales@forgeriesonline.co.uk when you order.
Another way to close the door or lift the latch, which some prefer to using the thumb-piece (which becomes redundant and can be cut back, almost flush with the door). Like all our latchbars it pivots on a little rose-head nail (provided)
We produce four variants of the latchbar for our Suffolk latch. This one has a distinctive brass knob - like the iron-knob version above - which provides a sharp contrast with the black iron.
incorporates a curved 'hook' that takes the forefinger (or any finger, or whatever u're carrying at the time !). Great where users might have difficulty gripping a knob or the thumbpiece lever. For some reason we've only seen it in Wales (e-mail us if you've seen one elsewhere (sales@forgeriesonline.co.uk)
It's the only one of our Suffolk Latch parts that's 'handed' so we need to know if the hinges are to left or right as you look at the latchbar. Not a problem if you get it wrong..... like any Forgeries item we'll swop or refund in full if anything's not right.
this is the most forgiving of our keepers, the easiest to fit and it looks pretty neat too. The only drawback is it needs to be rebated into the door lining by 3 or 4 mm to clear the edge of the door. Or some people notch the door instead.
….. which is why we introduced the screw-on staple, easily fixed.... and if you get it in the wrong place first time it's much more easy to move than the spike version, but it's still in keeping with the 'look'.
If the spike keeper doesn't look right sticking out of the architrave, or if it's a bit too basic, go for this one, on its own backplate, with screw or nail fixings. (It's a bit easier to adjust – with the spike you only really get one go !)
A peg that hammers into a pilot hole in the door lining. It's the oldest version of the keeper but some carpenters think it's a bit brutal..... and you have to get the position right first time – there's no second chance. But it's neat and unobtrusive and it'll go with almost any Suffolk Latch if you're looking for just a part
A simple piece of metal to hold the latchbar in position.... the cut spikes hammered into pilot holes and clenched on the other side (or cut off). It's how it was done but could be considered a bit brutal these days....
