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satin gold plated door stops

Posted on 31st August, by gbettenhausen in Recent Projects. No Comments

These door stops were part of a previous order completed in satin gold. It is always smart to order one or two extra stops when working on a large project (just in case).


salvage entry hardware (bronze)

Posted on 29th August, by gbettenhausen in Recent Projects. No Comments

This hardware will be used for an 1880′s entry in Chicago.  We will fill the exposed keyholes and replace them with functional turn pieces and cylinders.  A new full mortise lock can often be used with salvage entry plates.  It is always important to provide information like: door thickness, handing, stile width, etc to your hardware man.  There is a pdf download on our albarwilmette.com website that you can use for this.


ice box style hinges | brass

Posted on 27th August, by gbettenhausen in Recent Projects. No Comments

These strap hinges were made for a project in Wisconsin.  They have a 7/16″ offset for an application with an offset door.  We are also in the process of fabricating latches for these doors as well.  We should have finished photos soon (the polished nickel finish will be done in our shop as well).


satin silver | olive knuckle hinges

Posted on 25th August, by gbettenhausen in Recent Projects. No Comments

These Von Morris heavy duty olive knuckle hinges were plated in silver.  The finish is a satin silver that has an applied protective clear coat.  Satin silver is a really crisp transitional finish – for all of you traditional folks… silver was often used in formal areas of homes and estates.


satin gold hinges and door stops

Posted on 23rd August, by gbettenhausen in Recent Projects. No Comments

These high quality solid brass hinges were finished in a satin gold.  Gold is a very good decorative finish and tends never to tarnish.  This project was shipped out to California to be installed in a home.


polished brass screws

Posted on 21st August, by gbettenhausen in Recent Projects. No Comments

Most folks don’t realize how important fasteners are today with finish hardware.  Most screws are Phillips head or not the finish or quality you require for your project.

We provide screws from head size 1 all the way to 14 in oval, flat, and round heads.  We offer various lengths and fit screws to the appropriate countersinks.  Amazingly enough most manufacturers have stopped producing odd size screws (ie 5,7,9,11).  Interestingly enough all of the hardware manufactured in years gone by was done so with the odd sizes.  This is why so many polishing shops cannot ‘fit’ the appropriate fastener with your parts.

It pays to spend a little time up front discussing what you are going into (ie a window frame, or jamb, etc) and pre-fit screws.  Above all ask for a few extra (we do this automatically for you) because … Read More »


extended lip and custom strike plates

Posted on 19th August, by gbettenhausen in Recent Projects. No Comments

This is an extended strike for a 1 3/4″ door for a ball catch.  We can provide custom strike plates for all types of conditions in any finish.


385 bronze bar stock finishing

Posted on 17th August, by gbettenhausen in Recent Projects. No Comments

This material is more of the project previously shown.  It is actually bronze and not 360 brass which has less copper content.  The finishing was all completed in our shop in Wilmette.  We felt like our shop was small with 9,000+ pounds of bronze around us.


satin antique bronze / oil rubbed bronze finishing

Posted on 15th August, by gbettenhausen in Recent Projects. No Comments

Here is an in process photo and a finished project photo of some bronze bar stock and channel stock we finished for the new Trump Hotel.  This material weighed in at over 9,000 lbs and had our entire team busy for several weeks.  The finish is a satin antique bronze with reduced sheen lacquer. Most of the material was 12 & 16 feet long.


knurled knob | polished chrome

Posted on 13th August, by gbettenhausen in Recent Projects. No Comments

These knurled knobs were made for a bathroom right here in Wilmette, Illinois.  The crisp edge detail really sparkles with the chrome plating.  These knobs also look fabulous in polished nickel.


polished brass levers

Posted on 11th August, by gbettenhausen in Recent Projects. No Comments

This hardware was completed for a local church.  The lacquer we applied was a special two clear coat that will hold up a little longer in a commercial environment.  When the folk back at the church saw the quality and results of our work they took off all the hardware and we ended up polishing and finishing over 200 levers, plates and brass door hardware pcs.  We also were able to restore and finish all of the von duprin exit devices at our shop in Wilmette. We were able to provide missing and broken pcs as well. What’s more is it all was done while the facility was shut down for a week on maintenance.


custom hinges & plating & finishing

Posted on 9th August, by gbettenhausen in Recent Projects. No Comments

These are some hinges we have on display in our shop in Wilmette Illinois.  The hinge in the center is one we are working on for a project in Winnetka, Illinois.  It will be finished in a dark oil rubbed bronze (although it will be made from steel for strength).  When you are working on your hardware schedule give let us help do some of the heavy lifting for you.




a few of our latest projects...

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