Hardware 101

Hardware Terms

· Back Plate: an oval or rectangular plate that holds the doorknob in place

· Backset: distance of the center of the doorknob or key cylinder from the edge of the door; most residential doors have 2 3/8” and most commercial doors have 2 3/4” backsets. The ideal backset isone half the width of the stile.

· C to C: the distance between screw holes measured from center to center of the holes.

· Double cylinder deadbolt: has keyed cylinder on both interior and exterior.

· Dummy set: fixed doorknobs that do not turn often used on pairs of doors.

· Escutcheon: keyhole plate.

· Exterior mortise lock: recessed into the edge of the door. Utilizes a deadbolt cylinder for modern keys and a turn piece for the interior side.

· Ferrule: doorknob shank; most common diameters are 5/8” and 3/4”

· Handing: describes which way the door opens, with door opening out or in or left or right. From inside the room, when the doorknob is on the left and the door opens into the room, it is a left handed door (inswing) LH. If it opens out from the room, then it is a LHR (left hand reverse or out swing).

· Hinge: measured when fully opened, total length by width not including any decorative tips.

· Interior mortise lock: recesses into the edge of the door. Utilizes either a skeleton key or privacy turn to lock the door.

· Key hole spacing: the distance from the center doorknob to the round part of the key hole measured on center. 2 1/4” is most common but may vary in antique hardware.

· Offset: measurement between two parallel mounting surfaces.

· Pocket door edge pull:​ recesses into the edge of the sliding door. It has a pop-out handle that is used to pull the door out of it’s pocket.

· Pocket door handle: recessed cup located on the front/back side of a sliding door.

· Pocket door jamb bolt: small toggle used to lock pocket doors for non-mortise lock application.

· Rail: horizontal areas above and below door panels running from side to side. Lock rail is where the lock or latch is located.

· Rim lock: surface mounted lock aka box lock.

· Rosette: a round plate that holds the doorknob in place.

· Single cylinder deadbolt: has keyed cylinder on exterior and turn piece on interior.

· Spindle: the rod that connects two doorknobs. Most modern doorknobs do not use a spindle. Spindles adjust to the thickness of the door. Threaded spindles are for doorknobs that screw into place. Tapped spindles are for doorknobs that slide onto the spindle and are held in place with set screws. 5/16” is industry standard size.

· Stile: vertical area on the edge of the door adjacent to the door panels.

· Strike plate: receives the latch bolt or deadbolt and is mounted on the door frame.

· Tube latch: modern mechanism that allows the doorknob to turn. May have passage or privacy functions. Reproduction tube latches use spindles, others do not.