Antique Cast Iron Door Plate or Escutcheon by Chicago Hardware Co. - Circa 1885
This is an Antique Item
This is a hard to find cast iron door plate or escutcheon by the Chicago Hardware Company of Chicago. In 1878, a new means of opening doors was patented by Milton and Sidney Niles and manufactured by the Chicago Hardware Company. The true innovation of the Niles system is actually in the installation. The knob was designed with an extra long shank that fits directly and securely into the mortise lock, each knob activating the latch independently of the other. As advertisements of the era for Chicago Hardware exclaimed, the Niles knobs and locks were always perfectly adjusted. They effectively eliminated set screws and the washers required to adjust the fit of the doorknobs in the escutcheon plate. With the advent of the Niles patent, it was said, one need never have to worry about jiggling handles, door thicknesses and stripped screws ever again.
Read more about the Chicago Niles line of hardware in our blog.
I'm fond of telling customers that I would never term anything I work with standard. Im usually being honest and mention it in an effort to dissuade someone from buying a set of antique Eastlake styled doorplates to install on their new pre-cut door, or to save them the exasperation of trying to fit into their current rosette a replacement knob with a shank that is just too large.
Do you have more door hardware than shown here?
We have a very large inventory of antique door hardware, including door locks and parts. We are happy to search our inventory for specific door locks you may need. Click here to view our mortise lock search form which you can fill out and email or fax to us and we will search our inventory for a lock to suit your needs.
Do you have lock parts?
Yes we have some lock parts, although these are available in limited quantities. You can see them here.
Do you offer lock repair services?
We do some basic lock repair work in-house only (we do not make house calls) and we do not offer same day service on lock repairs. If you can bring your lock in to leave with us we can try to fix it. Our service charge for lock repair is $35 if we are able to repair. If you are not in the Rochester, New York area please contact us first before mailing in a lock for repair.
How do I know what part I need for my broken lock? Or where the broken part goes in my lock?
Check out our Antique Mortise Lock Resources page to get some help with this, we are unfortunately not able to help with this as we are not locksmiths. You can see that resource page here.
Do you offer hardware polishing?
Yes we do, please email us a photo of your hardware for a price quote. or call us at 585-325-2329 for details. Please include the item number if you are looking at one of our items.
My lock is missing completely from my old door. How do I know what I need?
You have several options. First option: if the door is a style that is found elsewhere in your house you can start by removing the lock from an identical door in your house and try inserting it into the hole (also called the mortise) in the door you need the lock for to see if it fits. When houses were built, the builders purchased all the locks together so in most cases the locks found throughout a house will be the same brand and often the same size, although probably keyed differently. So if the doors throughout your house are the original doors, there is a good chance you will have the lock you need in another door. The exception to this is your front door, unless you have another exterior side or back door which also has an exterior mortise lock. These exterior door locks are usually larger and have additional features over smaller interior mortise locks.
Second option: If option #1 does not apply, for example your door is a replacement that does not match any other doors in your house, or you tried all the other locks in the house and none of them work, you will need to find a lock using the dimensions of the hole (mortise) in the door. We are happy to search our inventory for specific door locks you may need once you provide us with the exact dimensions using our Mortise Lock Search Form. Click here to view our mortise lock search form which you can fill out and email or fax to us at 585-325-3613 and we will search our inventory for a lock to suit your needs. You can email us here.
How do I get the lock out of my door?
The lock itself is held into your door by two screws that are found on the top and bottom of the faceplate which is on the edge of your door. However, there are several other parts that need to be removed before the lock can be pulled out of the hole (mortise).
Here are the steps to remove your INTERIOR door lock:
- First you need to remove the doorknobs. Each knob is mounted onto either end of a rod called a doorknob spindle. The knobs are held onto the spindle using screws or pins. The screws, called set screws are the most common method of securing a doorknob onto a spindle. Look on the neck or shank of the doorknob for the head of the screw and just unscrew it. You only need to unscrew one side, and pull the other knob out of the door and it should slide out with the spindle attached. Be very careful not to lose the set screw some of these are obscure sizes and thread counts and extremely difficult to replace if lost. For that reason we recommend being very gently when unscrewing these, taking care not to damage the fragile threads. Screw the screw right back into the spindle for safekeeping while you are working on the lock.
- If your doorknobs came out easily using the first step you may be ready to pull the lock out of the door by unscrewing those two screws on the faceplate of the lock on the edge of the door. Again, preserve those screws so you dont lose them. Put a screwdriver into the hole where the doorknob spindle was installed and gently push the lock out of the hole in the edge of the door. It should pop out.
- Not working? You may have a privacy lock which is used on bathroom doors and has a thumbturn which locks the door from the inside. If that is the case, there should be a couple of screws on the faceplate of that thumbturn which you can remove (put them someplace safe with the thumbturn) and pull the thumbturn out. Once it has been removed, the lock should slide out of the door easily.
- Still not coming out? If the edge of your door is painted, including the lock faceplate, you can take a utility knife and score the paint around the edge of the faceplate on the edge of the door. Once you have broken that paint seal, you should be able to slide the lock out. Still stuck? If your door has round rosettes that are mounted behind the doorknobs, sometimes the small screws that mount these to the door surface are too long so they penetrate into the hole (mortise) that the lock is mounted into and they will prevent the lock from coming out. So you may need to remove those to get the lock out.
Here are the steps to remove your EXTERIOR door lock:
- First, you need to remove the doorknobs. Each knob is mounted onto either end of a rod called a doorknob spindle. The knobs are held onto the spindle using screws or pins. The screws, called set screws are the most common method of securing a doorknob onto a spindle. Look on the neck or shank of the doorknob for the head of the screw and just unscrew it. You may only need to unscrew one side, and pull the other knob out of the door and it should slide out with the spindle attached. Be very careful not to lose the set screw some of these are obscure sizes and thread counts and extremely difficult to replace if lost. For that reason we recommend being very gently when unscrewing these, taking care not to damage the fragile threads. Screw the screw right back into the spindle for safekeeping while you are working on the lock. If your knobs are different sizes, you will probably have to remove both using this same method. If your exterior door has a handle and thumb press on the outside instead of a knobs, remove this by removing any screws holding it into place.
- Next, remove the deadbolt cylinder. There is a single machine screw that is found on the faceplate on the edge of your lock that is holding your cylinder in place, unscrew this first it is reverse-threaded from a regular wood screw so turn it the clockwise to unscrew it. Then unscrew the ring (collar) around the cylinder on the outside of the door if there is one, and unscrew the cylinder itself and pull it out of the door.
- Next, remove the screws holding the thumbturn on the inside of the door in place and pull that out. If there is a doorplate with an attached thumbturn on the inside of the door, remove the screws that attach that to the door and remove that piece.
- Once all the surface mounted hardware has been removed from your door, you should be able to insert a screwdriver into the doorknob hole, and press the lock out of the hole (mortise).
