When Cristiane Hendrickson contacted me, her door was already well under construction, but there was still sufficient time to configure a Lizard Entry Set for her needs without using a thumb-latch-operated mortise lock. The Lizard Entry Door Hardware was originally designed for use with an Accurate 9024 mortise lock, which requires a large mortise cut-out inside the door to accommodate an 8” × 4” mortise box. The lock was large and not suited to Cristiane’s beautiful custom door, which featured a wrought-iron Saguaro cactus design superimposed over glass. We therefore configured a modified set, omitting the butterfly thumb latch but keeping the stone backplate to complement the desert setting.
Photograph courtesy of Cristiane Hendrickson
Kayce N. Newell of LKW faced a different site restriction for her client’s Lizard Set, as the entry door stile was simply too narrow for a standard 5½-inch stone mount or a 4-inch-wide backplate. Together we collaborated to create a custom narrow door hardware design that preserved the artistry of the original piece.
Cristiane’s door set required only a minimal hand-sculpted modification at the wax stage to fill the slotted area where the thumb latch would normally sit, resulting in a continuous stone backplate.
Wax model illustrating the hand-sculpted adjustments made to the Lizard handle for Kayce Newell of LKW.
For Kayce’s door, a major sculptural change was needed. A new lizard with redesigned toes was created in wax, and the stone mounting plate was carefully trimmed back. Our standard heroic Lizard door handle mold produces a form with flat feet and outstretched toes that extend over a wide base.
To accommodate Kayce Newell’s client’s door, Martin Pierce sculpted the red wax version so that the front right leg was close to the lizard’s body, with new toes wrapping around a backplate sculpted to a 3½-inch width.
Photography courtesy of Cristiane Henrickson a woman who knows how to use an iphone.