Glossary

Antiquing Solution: A solution of chemicals which will oxidize un-lacquered brass to a desired patina and give it a darker antique look.

Backflap Hinge: These hinges are typically used to hinge the writing surface of drop front desks. They can also be used anywhere a wide leaf is desirable for the additional support it can offer.

Backplate: Door knob escutcheon usually larger than a rosette. Back plates come in many different sizes and shapes, and range from plain to highly decorative. Some come with keyholes.

Backset: The same as distance to pin in a lock.

Bolt: When you turn the key the bolt is the part that projects out of the lock.

Bore: The distance between the holes drilled for mounting bails, or the hole drilled through the thickness of a door to allow a lock or latch to be installed.

Casement Stay: An adjustable sliding or notched stay which comes in many forms and allows a hinged window to be held open at varying degrees.

Code: Most pieces of hardware we carry come with a Code # which is our way of grouping similarly finished and manufactured items into families. For instance if you wanted a group of items to match in color then you would select items in the same Code # group. See here for the list of Code #'s.

Cotter (Split): Before the advent of the bolt and nut, this type of attachment was universal for hanging hardware and is still in common usage in many parts of the world. The wire is opened up where it passes through the drawer front. The last 3/8� is bent back and hammered into pilot holes drilled into the back side of the drawer front.

Counter Bore: A hole bored from the backside of a door/drawer large enough to accommodate the nut when mounting hardware where the bolt is not long enough, or where you don�t want the bolt and nut to project into the inside drawer area.

Cremone Bolt: A surface mounted door bolt operated by a knob or lever which locks into the top and bottom of the door frame.

Distance to Pin: The measurement from the selvedge to the center of the keyhole on a lock.

Escutcheon: A plate or piece of hardware which surrounds and protects the wood around a keyhole or serves as a protective or decorative backplate. They come in surface, thread or flanged forms.

Extruded: A piece produced by the manufacturing process where brass is drawn through a die to produce a solid, seamless blank with exceptional strength.

Flatback Hinge: The traditional English hinge is a flat back design, a direct consequence of past manufacturing methods. The flat back design allows the thickness of each hinge leaf to be close to half the diameter of the hinge barrel.

Forged: A blacksmith shapes iron by first softening it in a very hot fire-usually produced with coal. A skilled blacksmith can judge just how hot and malleable a piece of metal is by its color-white, yellow, orange, red or purple. The softened iron is shaped or turned into wrought iron by pounding it against a heavy steel anvil. A variety of tongs and hammers are used for different jobs.

Full Mortise: A lock whose body is entirely mortised into the wood.

Half Mortise: A lock mounted into a shallow mortise in the back of the work.

Left Hand: Hardware relating to a door hinged on its left hand edge.

Lacquer: A surface coating which is used to prevent the finish of a metal from oxidizing.

Lift off Hinges: These allow for almost instant removal of a door by simply opening and lifting. Because opening is required before removal, this type of hinge is secure in out-swinging applications

Lost Wax Process: A demanding and time consuming process by which a clone of an original can be cast maintaining a high level of sensitivity to quality of line and detail.

Mounting: The process of attaching hardware to perform a function. See an in depth guide to all aspects of mounting Hardware in our Technical Guides

Patina: A controlled oxidation process in which chemicals are applied to metal resulting in antique finishes of various kinds.

Post & Nut: All our period hardware handles are supplied with post and nut mounting unless otherwise noted. The Code 4 items include traditional round nuts that are best tightened with long nose pliers while the Code 1 & Code 5 items come with 3/8� brass hexagonal nuts. In most cases the posts are suitable for material up to 1� thick if the nuts are counterbored.

Pressed Brass: Produced by a manufacturing process where fine detail is possible when thin brass sheets is pressed between dies. An example would be Hepplewhite handles with their oval medallion backplates.

Quadrant Hinge: Simply a butt hinge with an integral lid stay.

Rosette: A small escutcheon, usually round with a hole in the middle into which the door knob shank fits. Its purpose, apart from being decorative is to cover the bore hole and provide a metal surface for the door knob to rotate on when turned. Rosette handles are suitable for a wide range of furniture styles from the 18c century onward. An often unappreciated advantage of the rosette pull is its adaptability to odd borings. Most can be adjusted up to �� either way.

Right Hand: Hardware relating to a door hinged on its right hand edge.

Rim Lock: Rim locks are mounted to the surface of the door rather than inside the door like most other locks. Though well engineered no rim lock is as secure as a mortise lock so these need to be partnered with an auxiliary keyed deadbolt if used in an entry application.

Sand Cast: Pieces produced when molten brass, iron or other metals are poured and formed into molds traditionally made of sand. The products made in this manner are often thick and heavy.

Selvedge: The face of the lock through which the bolt projects.

Stop Hinge: A butt hinge with a square barrel, where the knuckles of a conventional butt hinge rotate past each other without interference these square knuckles bind against each other at about 100 degrees.

Strike: A plate meant to recieve the bolt of a latch or lock in order to secure a door.

Surface Mounted: A lock that is screwed to the back of the work with no mortising required.

Swaged Hinge: The leaves of a swaged hinge are bent around the barrel of the hinge, so that they are parallel when closed. While our American made swaged hinges are formed from solid brass extrusions, swaged hinges are typically made of thinner gauge metal to accommodate this bending, and the barrel of the hinge is enlarged to compensate for the weakness of this thinner metal.