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Glossary of Terms

Not familiar with a hardware term? Find many of these terms in our item descriptions to help you choose the right hardware for you!

Don't see the term that you need? E-mail your suggestions for additions to info@baltimorehardware.com.



  1. Adjustable Glide: Threaded foot for raising, lowering, and leveling furniture, cabinets, caseworks, and chairs.

  2. Anodized: A material such as aluminum, has been subjected to an electrolytic process, which involves immersing the aluminum in a chemical bath and applying an electrical current to it, causing oxide to be produced from the resulting rust on the aluminum. This layer of oxide hardens the aluminum and makes it resistant to corrosion.

  3. Antique Brass: Darkened brass color simulating aged brass with golden undertones.

  4. Antique Copper: Lighter shade of bronze plating.

  5. Ball Bearing: Rollers used between two adjoining surfaces to facilitate easier, smoother, frictionless movement.

  6. Backplate: Accentuating, decorating background piece for knobs and pulls.

  7. Black Plate: The black coating on hardware to give black color appearance.

  8. Brass Plate: Decorative brass coating on hardware for beauty and protection.

  9. Brushed Nickel: Decorative nickel coating on hardware accentuated with the look of a fine surface brushing.

  10. Butt Hinge: Hinges comprised of two connected leaves held together with a pin.

  11. Butler Tray Hinge: Decorative locking hinges for tray top tables that allow the table leaves to swing 90 degrees.

  12. Cam: Rotating plate on the back of a Cam Lock which engages a strike to lock and unlock.

  13. Chamfered: Beveled or angled surfaces on an edge or corner to reduce edge sharpness.

  14. Cushion Glide: Caseworks and furniture foot incorporating rubber or similar soft material to absorb shocks and jolts.

  15. Door Dampening: Action or procedure to soften and quiet door closure, usually accomplished by a hardware device.

  16. Embedded Steel Washer: Steel washer molded or built into the structure of an item to give it more strength, usually in conjunction with a mounting fastener.

  17. Equalizer: In table slides, the mechanism connecting each slide end to work in conjunction with each other when one slide is actuated.

  18. Escutcheon: Metal plaque applied over keyholes or other holes to offer protection and/or decoration.

  19. Face Frame: Frame that is affixed to the front of a cabinet case for added strength and to provide mounting surface for hardware and doors.

  20. Flush Hinge: Allows door to be flush mounted in face frame application.

  21. Free Swing: Hinges and hardware that does not use springs or motion enhancing parts for operation. Hinges move freely.

  22. Full Extension: Drawer slide style that allows drawers or surfaces to extend their frames fully from their cabinet casework.

  23. Full Overlay: Type of door mounting which overlay the face frame or front sidewall edge completely.

  24. Full Wrap Around Hinge: Hinge which has cabinet member leaf wrap around each frame edge and run behind the face frame.

  25. Gauge: Scale of measurement for metal thickness.

  26. Grommet: Metal, plastic, wood, or rubber ring inserted into holes to reinforce and decorate the hole.

  27. Gusset: A triangular metal bracket used to reinforce a joined corner and often produced with a threaded hole to accept an adjustable leveling glide.

  28. Hanger Bolt: Straight, headless, usually steel fastener with wood thread on one end and machine thread on the other end.

  29. Heavy Duty Ball Bearing Swivel: Furniture, display, or chair swivel which incorporates ball bearings for smoother operation in heavier applications.

  30. Inset: Type of door mounting where door edges are fully inside cabinet frame.

  31. Institutional Door Hinge: A heavier hinge for institutional and commercial casework applications such as hospitals, schools, government buildings and other related settings. The pin is cut and cannot be removed.

  32. Invisible Barrel Hinge: Soss style hinge using links to join the hinge leaves eliminating typical pin/barrel/knuckle construction.

  33. Kerf Mounting Bracket: Brackets or braces which have flanges for insertion into saw kerfs (cuts) in wood frames for added strength.

  34. Keyed Alike: Specification of a group of locks that use the same key.

  35. Keyed Different: Specification for a group of locks which are actuated by their own different keys. Keys not interchangeable.

  36. Knob Hanger Bolt: Small, straight, headless fastener with wood thread on one end and machine screw thread on the other end. Used to mount furniture knobs.

  37. Knock Down Bed Bracket: Any bed bracket which allows bed frames to be assembled and disassembled.

  38. Lazy Susan: Flat top and bottom adjoining plates which swivel.

  39. Left Hand Lock: Mortise or surface locks constructed to allow proper key actuation on left side of door.

  40. Machine Thread: Standardized sizes of threads for external and internal assembly fasteners such as nuts and bolts.

  41. Master Key: Special key which actuates groups of keyed different locks.

  42. Mortised Hinges: Hinges that are mounted in routs of doors or frames to sit flush with the door or frame.

  43. Mounting Plates: Hardware pieces to which other hardware such as hinges, legs, and levelers are attached.

  44. Non Mortise Hinge: Hinges which are only one leaf thick when closed.

  45. Non Self Closing/Free Swing: Hardware, such as hinges and drawer slides, which are not spring actuated. Open and close freely.

  46. Offset: Distance measurement from a flush surface.

  47. Overlay: Mounting style such as a door over sidewall edge. Also, measurement of overlay such as half overlay.

  48. Partial Wrap Around Hinge: Hinge whose cabinet member leaf wraps around face frame edge only and not behind face frame.

  49. Polished Chrome: Chrome finish which is reflective like a mirror.

  50. Powder Coat: Newer, advanced method of applying decorative, protective coatings to metal by using electrically charged colored powder and then baking the coating on.

  51. Residential Door Hinge: Heavier gauge butt hinges for household door applications.

  52. Right Hand Lock: Mortised and surface locks constructed to allow proper key actuation on right hand side of door.

  53. Rigid Adjustable Glide: Furniture leveler with a non swiveling base.

  54. Self Balancing: Feature of a spring loaded support that holds lids in open position and prevents lid from falling closed.

  55. Semi Concealed: Type of hinge that has door member hidden behind the door.

  56. Sewing Machine Hinge: A style of round end hinges originally designed for sewing machines.

  57. Smove: A small shock absorber for cabinets to soften door closing impact and eliminate noise.

  58. Statuary Bronze: A darker version of copper finish resembling dark bronze color.

  59. Stop: A feature built into a hinge which causes it to stop opening at a pre-determined angle.

  60. Surface Mounted Hinge: Hinges which have both leaves mounted on providing surface and not routed in.

  61. Table Hinge: A category of hinges made especially for drop leaf tables.

  62. Triple Pole: A style of magnetic catch that has three horizontal metal plates around two magnets for extra strength.

  63. Unequal Leaf Hinge: A category of hinges that have one leave wider than the opposite leaf. The pin and barrel are not in the center.

  64. Zinc Plating: A silver-colored finish of zinc, offering corrosion resistance as well as decoration.

     

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