Death of the Fox

10/09/2024

A little calmer existence than he would have had in the 18th century (being chased by fox hunters and dogs).

03/16/2022

Recreating the original front door.

You can see the original front door in this ca. 1935 photo. Sometime before 1938 the door was replaced with a more “modern” one. It had been my dream to someday replace it with a replica of the original. After 4 months working diligently in the basement, I built a new original. Having only this photo to work from, I carefully measured in millimeters the relative lengths of the raised panels and rails & stiles to get the dimensions I would cut. All of my raised panels I hand-planed -- the main reason this took so long! I made the inside of the door bead and batten, also hand-planed.

I was able to buy a well preserved large 1700’s thumb latch. In 2002 I had bought 1700’s strap hinges for a door I would someday make. Once attached to the door, the strap hinges hang on iron pintels (spikes) that have to be hammered at an angle into the door jamb. They have to end up perfectly aligned or the door won’t swing evenly and/or will sag. Once you hammer them in, there’s no redo. I read blacksmith warnings online, "Do not to attempt this, leave it to a seasoned professional.” After 4 tedious hours of setup, aligning and driving in the spikes, I nervously removed the screws that were holding the door in place. . . pulled . . . and it swung effortlessly in. A perfect alignment on the first try! Just in time for our house tour that was two weeks later. These house tour deadlines are always good motivators to get projects done.

12/14/2021

11/17/2018

You can see the original front door in this 1931 photo. Sometime between 1931 and 1938 the door was replaced with a more “modern” one. It had been my dream to someday replace it with a replica of the original. After 4 months working diligently in the basement, I built a new original. Having only this photo to work from, I carefully measured in millimeters the relative lengths of the raised panels and rails & stiles to get the dimensions I would cut. All of my raised panels I hand-planed -- the main reason this took so long! I made the inside of the door bead and batten, also hand-planed. Last month I was able to buy a well preserved large 1700’s thumb latch. In 2002 I had bought 1700’s strap hinges for a door I would someday make. Once attached to the door, the strap hinges hang on iron pintels (spikes) that have to be hammered at an angle into the door jamb. They have to end up perfectly aligned or the door won’t swing evenly and/or will sag. Once you hammer them in, there’s no redo. I read blacksmith warnings online, "Do not to attempt this, leave it to a seasoned professional.” After 4 tedious hours of setup, aligning and driving in the spikes, I nervously removed the screws that were holding the door in place. . . pulled . . . and it swung effortlessly in. A perfect alignment on the first try! Just in time for our house tour in two weeks. These house tour deadlines are always good motivators to get projects done.

08/19/2018