| Door and door hardware glossary Antique brass: Finish on hardware that has a dark brown color, also denoted by industry as US5. Backset: The term backset is used to explain the distance from the edge of the door to the center of the hole drilled for your knob, lever or deadbolt.
Ballcatches: Item of hardware inserted into hole drilled into top of door and used where only pulling or pushing opens the door. In double doors, they are used with dummy pairs of levers or knobs. They also can be used in the top of a small closet where pull may be used. The ball is pushed by spring tension into notched brass plate in jamb above door.
Bore: Bore is the diameter of the hole drilled in a door for a knob, lever or deadbolt. Deadbolt: Locking mechanism for an entrance door or other door, in which a bolt moves with a turn of a key into a jamb. Deadbolts can be a single cylinder or double cylinder. With a single cylinder deadbolt, a key is used on one side, and is turned by hand on the other side. With a double cylinder deadbolt, a key is used on both sides. Double cylinders are only recommended where no one needs to go through a door in case of emergency. Door stop: A door stop is the small piece of wood, usually 1 3/8" - 1 1/2" wide, that is attached to the door jambs on both sides and on top of the door. This strip of wood is where the door comes to rest when it is closed. It stops the door from moving any further, and also covers the gap that would otherwise appear between the door and the jambs. Door viewer: Item that is inserted into a hole drilled into the face of a door. Viewer has a curved lens in it to magnify an image on the other side of the door. Viewers are made with various degrees of field of vision. Dummy pairs: Dummy pairs are for doors where no latches are needed. These knobs or levers do not turn. They can be split up for bi-fold door set, since no hardware is needed on back of the bi-folds. Dummy pairs can also be used on double french door units, where ballcatches are used to hold doors in place. Dummy Pairs do not require a standard hole to be drilled, since most are attached from each side of the door. Finials: Also called decorative tips, these may come in different shapes, such as balls or pointed steeples, which attach to the top and bottom of a hinge for decoration. Only some hinges will accept these finials. Flush bolts: Bolts mounted in a door to lock a door in place. These bolts slide up into the jamb above the door, and down into the threshold or floor below door. These are used primarily on double doors, where one door is locked in place and the other door is the one mainly used. When needed, the door locked in place can be opened. Flush bolts can also be called slidebolts, which are mounted to the face of the door. Flush bolts are mounted flush with the edge of the door.  Hinges: Hinges are the metal objects that attach your door to the jamb, normally with screws. They can be made from brass, steel, iron or other products. Jamb: The wood that surrounds the door, and which the hinges are attached to on one side, and which the latch goes into on the other side of the door. Keyways: The part of the lock mechanism where the key is inserted. Can be changed if needed for security reasons, or changed also if wanted for ease of use, where more than one lock is in existence, and you want all the locks to take the same key. Knobs: Round part of door handle that you hold with your hand. This can be made of brass, porcelain, steel, glass or other products. Latch: The latch is the part of the door hardware that moves with the turn of a knob or lever. It slides into the latch plate attached to the doorjamb, and holds the door shut or opens it. Left hand: Used to describe which way the door is hung on the jamb. Left Hand describes the side of a door the handle is on as it is pulled towards you. As a door is pushed away, this would describe a handle on the opposite side of the door. 
(left hand diagram) Lever: A lever has the same function as a knob, except it is longer and thinner. To open a door, levers are pushed down. Besides the decorative uses of a lever, they are also used in applications where someone is handicapped, and cannot grasp a knob very well. Non-Rising-Pin (NRP): A pin inserted into a hinge that cannot be removed. Used mainly where security is needed, so that the pin cannot be removed, and door removed from opening. On exterior doors which open outward, the pin is on the outside of the building. In this case, these pins may be used more often. One-quarter inch radius corners: Round corners on hardware, which may be on hinges, or other hardware items, such as ballcatches. This is one of the three standard corners on a door hinge. The other two corners are 5/8" radius and square corners. For ease of use in machining, round corners are normally used, and our company prefers 1/4" radius where possible, and the square corners otherwise. Passage: Passage knobs or levers are for doors that do not need locked, such as a closet or doors between rooms and family rooms or living rooms. Pewter: Used here as a term for a hardware finish, a non-shiny gray color, called US15A by the door industry. Polished brass:  Brass finish that is shiny, also called US3 by the door industry. Polished chrome: Chrome finish that is shiny, also called US26 by the door industry. The image above shows polished chrome on the backset. Privacy: Privacy knobs or levers are used on doors where locks are needed, such as on bathrooms, or bedrooms on interior doors. Right hand: Describes the way in which the door is hung on the jamb. Right Hand describes the side of the door the handle is on as it is pulled towards you. As a door is pushed away, this would describe a handle on the opposite side of the door. 
(Right Hand Diagram)  Rosettes: Plate behind lever or knob that holds the lever or knob in place. Satin brass: Brass finish that is not shiny, also called US4 by the door industry. Satin-chrome: Chrome finish that is not shiny, also called US26D by the door industry. Strike plate: Plate attached to door jamb, which receives the latch, when the knob or lever is turned, allows the door to be closed or opened.
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