The Art of Bronze

Bronze is beautiful, sustainable, durable, weather resistant, and antimicrobial.

The bronze used in Sun Valley Bronze products contains a minimum of 85% pre-consumer recycled bronze content. All of the bronze used in our machining and casting operations is reclaimed and reconstituted into art grade bronze, which we reuse in ingot form. LEARN MORE >

Bronze is naturally weather resistant, requiring very little maintenance. Sun Valley Bronze hardware is crafted using the finest quality art-grade bronze and simple care will guarantee a lifetime of beauty.

All Sun Valley Bronze internal mechanisms are made of the highest quality stainless steel that will not corrode, ensuring longevity in even humid or coastal climates, with teflon coated springs for flawless function and durability.

Not only aesthetically beautiful, bronze has the additional benefit of natural anti-microbial and self-decontaminating properties due to the high copper content in the alloys. Research has shown that copper and its alloys inhibit the growth and spread of harmful bacteria and viruses. Sun Valley Bronze hardware contains 94.89% copper in the silicon bronze and 61.36% copper in the white bronze. Our brass alloy contains 60.25% copper. LEARN MORE >

The development of copper alloy door handles, push plates and fixtures are now recommended by the Copper Development Association (CDA) for health care facilities and other institutions.

Innovation in design, both aesthetic and functional, is what keeps Sun Valley Bronze an inspired and evolving company.

Precision machining and practical engineering ensure our products are of superior quality throughout. Sun Valley Bronze designs for longevity, using only the finest grade bronze for castings and stainless steel for internal mechanisms. All machining is performed on state-of-the-art equipment, capable of meeting tolerances to 1/10,000th of an inch, producing un-compromised quality and lifelong performance.

Careful attention to detail makes our hardware FIELD REVERSIBLE and FIELD SERVICEABLE, setting Sun Valley Bronze apart in the industry. Our entry sets are interchangeable from active to dummy function and feature reversible handing. 

Sun Valley Bronze internal spring assists and limiters are made of the highest quality stainless steel that will not corrode in humid or coastal climates. Teflon-coated for smooth operation, our stainless steel springs are an integral part of the technical advances which ensure that Sun Valley Bronze hardware is built to last. Our revolutionary spring assist is so durable that it outlasted the cycle tester; the tester itself failed at 1.5 million cycles.

This remarkable hinge incorporates innovative design, precision machining, and a stainless steel ball bearing, to create a low-friction, smooth operating hinge that is easily adjusted.

A pair of matched hinge leaves are fitted around an adjustment mechanism and tension pin that allow vertical adjustment of either hinge leaf relative to the second hinge leaf at any time. Partial threading of the mechanism and tension pin prevents over-adjustment, thus protecting the structural integrity of the hinge. The stainless steel ball bearing, fitted between the hinge leaves, reduces friction and extends the useful life of the hinge. The hinge is easy to lift off by simply lifting upward. Long term performance is assured through meticulous design details.

Nearly 40% of our production is custom work.

About 60% of our production is catalog pieces  >

Learn more about our Custom Design Policies >

While maintaining the traditions of creating handmade hardware of uncompromised quality, Sun Valley Bronze strives to conduct a business with integrity.

Sun Valley Bronze uses only the finest quality art grade bronze for consistent, high-quality castings. New ingots are transformed into architectural hardware. Scrap bronze from sand castings is recycled into subsequent castings, and even the floor sweepings are saved and sent to recycling centers.

The bronze used in Sun Valley Bronze products contains a minimum of 85% pre-consumer recycled bronze content. All of the scrap metal used in the production of bronze ingots comes directly from recycling yards and/or the general public. All of the bronze used in our machining and casting operations is reclaimed and reconstituted into art grade bronze, which we reuse in ingot form. LEARN MORE ABOUT THE BENEFITS OF BRONZE >

Green sand is composed of olivine sand, bentonite clay and water. The patterns are placed in flasks and this mixture is compacted around them in preparation for the pouring. After the pour, the sand is dried out and reused - nothing is lost. Sun Valley Bronze chooses to utilize a cleaner, greener sand casting process which is water based and completely reused from one casting to the next.

Sun Valley Bronze hardware is finished with a mild acid similar in strength to vinegar. The hardware is hand dipped into the patina solution, hand-rubbed and hand-waxed. The finishing solution is reused. All of the rinse is captured, water is boiled out of it after which it is neutralized and collected by a waste and recycling service. LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR FINISHES >

Sun Valley Bronze hardware is 100% locally manufactured. No aspect of our process is outsourced overseas. With a growing awareness of our “carbon footprint,” the most important “green” consideration is how far our product must travel before it reaches the consumer.

The majority of our manufacturing equipment is made in the USA. Not only is this great for keeping local manufacturing alive, it means we exhaust fewer resources and emit less waste as we expand our business.

Sustainable practices have long been an important part of our company from the office to the workshop. Sun Valley Bronze uses biodegradable plastic packaging, recycles cardboard boxes into packing material, implements an office recycling program, chooses recycled materials for print and marketing, encourages bicycling, walking and carpooling, uses recycled art grade bronze for castings and employs numerous environmentally conscience manufacturing methods in the production of our hardware collection.

Sun Valley Bronze encourages you to use the digital version of our Specification-Price Manual. In so doing, you will lessen the impact on the earth’s valuable resources. By not printing one Specification-Price Manual (1,614 pages or 16.4 lbs. of paper) 0.16 trees are not harvested, 0.45 lbs. of water-borne waste are not created, 66.89 gallons of wastewater is saved, 7.41 lbs. of solid waste are not generated, 14.57 lbs. net of greenhouse gases are prevented and 1,115,388.89 BTUs of energy are not consumed.

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