Large Ornate Double Door Chain Pull Restoration | Random Restoration

Welcome! Today I will be restoring this large old ornate (and somewhat rusty) cast iron 1890s chain pull, manufactured by Reading Hardware Company out of Reading, PA. This is pretty much a part two to my previous restoration, where I restored a very rusty floor bolt, also in the Windsor design - The foot bolt is used on double doors as a door lock. The chain pulls are used on French doors as a latch to easily open and close them. I also picked up the mini three inch version of this chain pull, also in the Reading Windsor design, and decided to restore it too.
These latches are quite basic - A single cover on the back, a spring inside and the latch. Long story short, the disassembly was quite fast. After that I went to paint removal. Most of the paint was already gone, but the rear of the latches still had paint and lacquer that had to be removed. Next up was rust removal. I find that old hardware like this isn't as prone to rusting, and even though they weren't too rusty I left them in the rust remover for a day to remove any small amounts of rust. Then all parts were abrasive buffed and wire wheeled to bring them up to a nice shine and to give them a bit of a cleaning.
After this it was time for painting the bottoms of the latches, followed by some off camera spring polishing and screw bluing. Then I moved onto the large parts. I had to do a lot of sanding to remove all the rough areas on the front of the chain pulls. A lot of hardware like this have small defects, and these chain pulls were no exception. I carefully had to repair some of the defects, mainly to get a better looking end product. Then the parts were briefly polished. Unlike in some of my previous hardware restorations, I didn't want a finely polished surface. These were never a mirror finish, so I used a coarse polishing compound to recreate the original shine.
Now it was time for painting the recessed areas. This took a couple hours to do, but turned out looking great in the end. Then I lacquered both pieces to keep them from rusting. Next up is my favorite part of most restorations: The rebuild. The small number of parts made for the worlds shortest reassembly haha. The large latch I restored in this video and the foot bolt lock I restored in the last video will both be installed on a double door setup in the coming months - I have to get a few more hardware related items in the Windsor design restored before then, so this isn't the last you'll see of this design!
Time Stamps:
0:00 Welcome!
0:52 Disassembly
2:20 Paint Stripping
3:26 Rust Removal
3:50 Abrasive Buffing
4:33 Painting Small Parts
5:23 Showing and Sanding Rough Areas
6:20 Fixing Defects
6:48 Polishing
7:22 Painting Recessed Areas
9:57 Lacquering
10:36 Reassembly
12:44 Before and After
13:18 Thanks for Watching!
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Thanks for watching the video Large Ornate Double Door Chain Pull Restoration | Random Restoration

[@randomrestoration6858]

Hi all, today's video is pretty much a part two to my previous video - I had to split the projects up due to lack of time, but I hope you enjoy!

[@georgeshelton6281]

What was never used was zap restoring solution, for this old door chain.

[@randomrestoration6858]

@@georgeshelton6281 True, I'm pretty stuck in my ways when it comes to the products I use when restoring haha. Thanks for watching!

[@manicmasterofmetal2620]

So you are good at restoring antique and vintage items and a snappy dresser too. The story goes deeper.....

[@randomrestoration6858]

Not only that, but I insist on wearing a suit whilst restoring at least 93% of the time. With my sleeves rolled up of course! Thanks for watching!

[@markphillips6154]

Damn that red shirt and black ties beautiful. What a dude

[@georgeshelton6281]

This is of all of what's from the 1880s and the 1890s.

[@ichabodon]

Another great job. They made them to last back in the old days

[@randomrestoration6858]

Thank you! They sure did, it's hard to imagine a scenario (aside from some serious mistreatment) where this thing could ever break, and the amount of time it would take to wear this down to a state where it'd be unusable is incredible. As always, thanks for watching!

[@yeagerxp]

Beautiful restoration 👍👍👍. Thanks for sharing.

[@randomrestoration6858]

I appreciate it, thanks for watching!

[@vinceianni4026]

Hello mister beautiful restoration professionally restored well done

[@randomrestoration6858]

Thank you for the kind words, and thanks for watching, Vince!

[@dmitriyyuryewitch7068]

Большое спасибо)) В своем хобби вы достигли высочайшего уровня профессионализма. Это просто ювелирная работа. Удачи вам.

[@randomrestoration6858]

Я ценю его! Большое спасибо за просмотр!

[@frankierzucekjr]

Since most of these patterns seem to a lot alike. Idk if you have a whole set, but they do kook like they match. I'd love to see a whole set up on a door.. With the door bell, latches, hinges, doorknob, letter slot, latch locks, etc. Just to see how it all looked all put together back in the day on an old wooden front door. It would look gorgeous

[@randomrestoration6858]

You're on a video watching spree today I see hahaha. Good eye, I'm working on a full set of this specific "Windsor" design for a set of double doors. So far I've done this chain pull, a foot bolt, letter slot, store door lockset, and will be finishing the hinges up shortly. I'm pretty excited to get the whole set done so I can move onto some super cool (mostly hardware related) items that I've been waiting to restore for some time now! I think I'll get a quick shot of all the hardware once it's finally installed in a future video.

[@jwdickinson643]

beautifully and lovingly restored! nice shirt, btw. 👍👍👊👊

[@randomrestoration6858]

Much appreciated! Haha I needed an excuse to wear something a bit fancier than my usual polo covered in cast iron dust 😆

[@chandarussell]

I just love all these old door accessories. They are so beautiful.

[@randomrestoration6858]

I’m glad you like them as much as I do! Thanks for watching!

[@razorboyXVII]

Fabulous restore!

[@randomrestoration6858]

Thanks a lot, I appreciate it!

[@pattywilliams5124]

Awesome as always ! 😏

[@randomrestoration6858]

Much obliged, Patty! Thanks a lot for watching!

[@ArtisticEndeavors]

Excellent! ✌🏻🎨☕️

[@randomrestoration6858]

Much obliged, Susannah!

[@k.george8722]

Another beautiful restoration. When I lived in NY, I used to live in a Victorian Row House built by the Steinway Piano company in the 1870's for their employees. My front door were two double glass doors. I had one of these types of door latches. Not as ornate, but they worked well. Keep up the fantastic work. I love what you do.

[@randomrestoration6858]

Thanks a lot! Very cool, they still had some decently ornate chain pulls like these in the 1870s - They're very simple and should last a lifetime! I'm guessing there was also originally a foot bolt (like I restored in the previous video) to act as a more secure lock for the second door since it was an exterior door. I do have some neat projects coming up, so stay tuned! As always, thanks for watching!

[@k.george8722]

@@randomrestoration6858 Hello again! It did have a foot bolt! :-). The doors came in handy since they weren't the widest of doors. When having to move objects in and out of the house such as furniture, opening up both doors made it easier than trying to squeeze thru the one door. I guess today the doors would have been considered "French" type doors. I can see the and pull and foot bolt used on a "Dutch" type of door, also. No worries, I will keep watching. I ALWAYS look forward to your videos and your sense of humor you inject into them.

[@randomrestoration6858]

Oh yeah they're perfect for larger items - Though I'd argue there's way more comedic value watching two people attempt to fit an oversized couch through a single door, so maybe only one door is better in the end haha. Thanks again!

[@markchristopher9515]

As beautiful as I've come to expect. I've a request and a curator suggestion if I may? Provide a nice still of the door hardware alone so we can imagine? Room facing flat of latch. Touch 1200+ paper to the sharp edges to prevent shock on the lacquer from transferring to that face.

[@randomrestoration6858]

Thanks a lot, Mark! Ideally I would have installed both this chain pull and the foot bolt from last video and shown them both properly installed, but these are going to go to someone I know, and the double doors are not currently in existence hahaha. I could definitely take a picture of the hardware though, and I was pretty tempted to with this project, as I find that a picture usually better captures the true look/color of these pieces. Thanks for watching!

[@myrestorations]

So much like it👏👏👏👏

[@randomrestoration6858]

Thanks, I appreciate it!

[@kennith.]

HAHA I enjoyed the suit part.

[@randomrestoration6858]

I needed an excuse to dust it off hahaha.

[@user-wv3wl9tb6g]

COOL job!!!

[@randomrestoration6858]

Thanks a lot!

[@mumzly1]

Another one from Reading. Very cool, makes me wonder where you're from.

[@randomrestoration6858]

Haha yeah I've been on a Reading Hardware restoration spree - All these pieces are going to be put to use on a double door hopefully within about a year. I'm from Washington - No interesting hardware companies here haha. Thanks again for watching!

[@piperhalliwell222]

its Absolutely beautiful

[@randomrestoration6858]

It's definitely a lovely looking piece, thanks a lot for watching!

[@pault8470]

Fantastic

[@randomrestoration6858]

Thanks a lot for watching!

[@randomrestoration6858]

@@themagicroundabout2528 Thanks! Well holy smokes, now I have no idea which one of you is the real D B Cooper hahaha

[@tomswindler64]

Quite a ornate piece,love the design.keep on doing what your doing 👍👍👍😎😎😎

[@randomrestoration6858]

Thank you, Tom! Yeah this one’s pretty ornate and a bit larger than a normal chain pull from the time. Thanks for watching!

[@Dark..498]

You sir are a man of good taste...👍

[@randomrestoration6858]

I appreciate it!

[@WorkshopDC]

This Ornate looks very nice with a suit on you hehe' Great job like aways, love this kind of finish.

[@randomrestoration6858]

The only bad thing about suits is remembering how to tie that pesky tie haha. Thanks a lot, man!

[@abo_fhad]

اتابع كل ثانية في مقاطعك و انا منبهر بطريقة التنظيف و التلميع و الدهان مع لطافة العرض و عين المخرج الذي تختار زاوية التصوير و العجيبب كل هذا يعرض بطريقة سهلة ممتنعة

[@randomrestoration6858]

أقدر الدعم وأشكرك على الكلمات الرقيقة! شكرا لمشاهدتك!

[@koaya730]

great restoration! I love how you added the little chain to it afterwards, very nice work :)

[@randomrestoration6858]

Thanks a lot! I figured since this will be put to use in several months I better add the chain and get it finished sooner than later. Thanks for watching!

[@ChrisLee-UK]

Love these videos :D As for the sticking syringe, find a spring that's a little smaller than the bore of the syringe and that's around the length of max on the syringe. place it inside when you're using it, it kind of adds a linear response feel and prevents the sudden movement :D

[@randomrestoration6858]

Not a bad idea, thanks for the tip, Chris! I’ve used the syringe for painting less and less since this video, but if I do use it again in future projects I’ll give it a try! Thanks for watching!

[@animeangel1983]

Hehe, Birdo Fight Club: Round 2. I was just remembering my other comment about it. I kind of liked the silvery iron before the paint, but gold and black just like each other a lot.

[@randomrestoration6858]

Haha yeah the birds were back for more! I see where you're coming from, the slight silver polished finish is definitely nice looking too. It's just too tempting to get that golden look though haha. Thanks a lot for watching!

[@elisabethnadalini9324]

Une pure merveille,splendide restauration, mille bravos 😊💋🧡🧡🧡👍👏

[@randomrestoration6858]

Merci beaucoup pour les gentils mots!

[@elisabethnadalini9324]

@@randomrestoration6858 😉🙋‍♀️

[@bradleytuckwell4854]

Another stunning find it looks amazing

[@randomrestoration6858]

I appreciate it, Bradley!

[@piperhalliwell222]

omg you always do such good work 😍

[@randomrestoration6858]

Thanks, I appreciate it 😁

[@Wolshanze]

Hardly rocket science is it !

[@randomrestoration6858]

Haha nope I wouldn’t say it is. Thanks for watching!

[@Wolshanze]

@@randomrestoration6858 looks stunning though

[@markchristopher9515]

But, what a pretty rocket it would be.

[@randomrestoration6858]

Thanks a lot!

[@randomrestoration6858]

Hahaha the only downside is that I'm not sure how well it'd hold up in space.

[@I_leave_mean_comments]

This must have come from the same house as the doorbell.

[@randomrestoration6858]

Haha right, it is indeed also the "Windsor" design by Reading Hardware. Thank you for watching!

[@pamilynl.turner618]

You're hilarious.

[@randomrestoration6858]

Much appreciated, thanks for watching!

[@jamesmoe9188]

Hello again! Great follow up to the last vid! That lacquer definitely loves those pieces, I feel like in addition to giving the unpainted portions great color, it also works synergistically with the black to enhance the antique look of the paint. As is my m.o., had a couple of random thoughts, which I hope might be useful. Given how thin the black is, perhaps consider insulin syringes for application, they don't hold as much, but should allow for very fine paint placement. Disclaimer, my knowledge of plating is minimal, but I am wondering if it would be possible to paint, polish, and then plate a piece? Could create some interesting lookss if it's feasible. Thoroughly enjoyed the video, and as always, thank you for sharing!

[@randomrestoration6858]

Thanks as always, James! At first I was using finer needles, but I ended up switching to a much larger one after a bit of testing. Although I like keeping the paint under control as much as possible, and the smaller needles were great for that, I found that it was a bit too tricky to get paint on the edge of the raised design efficiently. The larger needle is definitely more work to remove all the additional paint, but it still ends up saving time getting full coverage the first time 'round. You are correct there - An item can be polished, painted and then plated, and in fact this was quite common practice with cast iron variants of old hardware. These were originally bronze plated with the recessed areas painted, so ideally I'd have them re bronze plated in the future. Although there are DIY brass and bronze plating kits that people can buy online, they're generally pretty hazardous to one's health, so I'd better leave the plating to the pros haha. Thanks again!

[@mrknittle532]

Beautiful restoration, as always. I have a very similar one on the French window-paned doors to the front parlor. Size-wise, it's between the sizes of the two you restored. On closer inspection, they notched out behind the door trim and covered the latch catch. Have you had any luck polishing the original chains for these pulls?

[@randomrestoration6858]

Cool, they usually made a variety of sizes - this specific design was offered between 3-8 inches, so you probably have an in between size like you mentioned. I haven’t really attempted polishing the chains, mainly because I haven’t come across any with much (or any) of the original chain remaining. They’re always plated, so you wouldn’t want to polish them too much, but if you did the best thing to use would be a Dremel tool with a polishing attachment. It wild take a while, but it’s the safest option. Thanks for watching!

[@SpCheRrY]

Beautiful restoration! How did you turn it gold without overpainting the already painted black parts?

[@randomrestoration6858]

Thanks a lot! Well I'm tempted to say I used magic, but I somehow suspect you may not believe me haha. I used a tinted translucent lacquer which I specifically made to use on cast iron and steel items to recreate a plated looking finish. Thanks for watching!

[@drunkdunc8738]

I require a free sample of that chain but unfortunately there was no links in the description 😲🍻

[@randomrestoration6858]

Yeah they're all out of free links, or maybe I'm bad at linking things - Welp now I've confused myself, good day to you haha

[@vincentsmith1384]

Hi! This is great. You’ve inspired me to restore similar hardware in the home I just moved into. May I ask what kind of paint your using? And what syringes the recommend?

[@randomrestoration6858]

Very cool, Vincent! Having this style of hardware throughout is definitely a bonus. When it comes to the paint, really any black spray in paint will do. I spray the black paint into a container and suck it up with the syringe. I always apply a lacquer (or sometimes a clear coat) over the black painted recessed areas to protect the black paint. My mentality is that the clear coat or lacquer will chip off well before the black paint ever will. In the past I’ve used a simple rust oleum gloss black paint, however I’ve started testing other brands, as the rust oleum black isn’t as dark as I’d prefer when in direct sunlight. When it comes to syringes I’m not entirely sure exactly what I used for the needle, but it had a larger opening because I like a bit more paint flow. I do remember the syringes themselves were 6ml. Any excess paint was gently wiped off with a stiff, very low lint cloth which was dampened with a bit of paint thinner. With all that said, I better add to watch out for lead based paint which gets slathered all over this type of hardware over the decades, and make sure to read all the instructions/warnings with whatever chemicals/tools you use throughout the process, especially if you end up using paint stripper - That stuff is nasty and will melt right through the nitrile gloves I use. Good luck on the restorations! It’s a lot of work, but having nicely restored hardware throughout the house will look fantastic I’m sure! Thanks a lot for watching!

[@gangieful]

@@randomrestoration6858 Thanks for the response! That's a lot of really helpful information!

[@georgeshelton6281]

Ah we hardly ever make those things anymore, we nowadays use bay alarm systems or ADT home security systems. Joel Robinson, Tom Servo and Crow never even said this. It's about the ornate door lock.

[@randomrestoration6858]

You're definitely correct about that, George!

[@garyjones2582]

Very nice work as always.. I couldn't read the can, but what kind of spray on paint stripper did u use? There was an older wood frame house across the street from my grandparents home in N.C... built probably in mid 1800's and approximately 3-4 stories and a full basement. It was built by some very wealthy people at the time and it had the most elegant and ornate stuff in it one could imagine..glass, door hinges, and handles, 12 ft ceilings etc...Sadly they tore it down in the late 60's to build a daycare 😢.. The home was loaded with pieces like u just restored.. Keep up the great restorations and God Bless...

[@randomrestoration6858]

I used Aircraft paint remover for this project. It works quite well and is a bit easier to apply than normal gel paint stripper. Now that is one sizable sounding house, hopefully someone ended up saving that old hardware rather than throwing it out! thanks for watching!

[@garyjones2582]

@@randomrestoration6858 I wasn't there when they tore it down, but my guess is it all went to the dump.. There was enough wood to build 4 regular size homes and that kind of hardware was a lot more plentiful back then.. I used some spray on stripper on a project many years ago and it worked very well.. The can even looked similar, that was the reason I asked... Well RR you take care and use that restored hardware in your home somewhere..Give it a second life...Hope to see more projects from you soon...

[@randomrestoration6858]

Yeah, it seems to be common even today that hardware like this is often simply trashed rather than saved when a house is demolished, but luckily there are still some people these days that spend a bit of extra time removing the hardware before the demolition. Almost all the hardware I restore will be put to use in the future - Including these latches. Thanks again!

[@garyjones2582]

@@randomrestoration6858 Back in the 60's this kind of hardware was a lot more plentiful and most people wanted to upgrade to the more modern style, so in many cases it just got trashed.. Now people are coming to their senses and realizing the value of this stuff and it lasts many times hundreds of years if taken care of.. RR did I ever ask you what area of the country you're from.. I'm in the Tennessee area so we can still find some of that stuff at garage sales occasionally.. I'll keep an eye out for you.. Until then, take care...

[@mrkrasker9609]

What is the large abrasive wheel you are using on your Dremel?

[@randomrestoration6858]

You may be asking about the abrasive buffs I use? They're great for removing layers of grime built up off the surface, and luckily you can find them for pretty cheap. If you search on Amazon for "Dremel abrasive buffs" there are a bunch of third party sellers that sell them. Thanks for watching!

[@chriscraft9681]

👍😉

[@randomrestoration6858]

Thanks a lot, Chris!

[@user-nc8ke5pq5t]

ЗАЧЁТ,

[@randomrestoration6858]

Спасибо!

[@valdemarolinto9496]

🇧🇷

[@randomrestoration6858]

Obrigado por assistir!

[@michellemcknight4185]

most of it was done ''off camera''

[@randomrestoration6858]

This is correct - about 30ish hours of off camera work to be exact. Thanks for watching!

[@mywysteria]

Naaastyy 🤣

[@randomrestoration6858]

Hahaha you can say that again!

[@IrishOphidia]

It's unfortunate that you painted over all of that intricate background design and made it dull and hidden.

[@markphillips6154]

Stop the madness! Please find something soft and fluffy to do the reconstruction work on. No sense in scratching stuff up

[@randomrestoration6858]

Haha I did buy some small, soft cloths in the past for the reassembly phase, but they were a bit too small and caused the camera to do some funky focusing/exposure on during the reassembly due to the bright portions of the table still in shot. I have meant to get something a bit larger but haven't been in enough of a rush I guess hahaha. Luckily the lacquer I used with this is quite scratch resistant, so no harm done - but you are correct, I should get something to place them on. Thanks for watching!

[@markphillips6154]

@@randomrestoration6858 Get a nice piece of carpet

[@randomrestoration6858]

@@markphillips6154 I was thinking about getting a large darker colored microfiber cloth, but now feel like I really want a questionable colored shag carpet hahaha. I'll have to get something in the near future though to keep everything scratch free - Thanks again!

[@markphillips6154]

@@randomrestoration6858 Oh man shag carpet would be really cool except you couldn’t find a little tiny screws and things darn it

[@randomrestoration6858]

@@markphillips6154 Haha yeah it’d be a nightmare with small parts!