Frequently Asked Questions

Is your hardware lacquered?
Our brass hardware is predominantly un-lacquered. Our products are meant to age with time. We serve a market that mostly wants to see the effect of time and use on the hardware. We do carry a number of products with lacquer, which have PL or –L as a suffix in their stock number.

What is the difference in appearance between polished nickel (PN) and polished chrome (PC)?
Noticing the difference requires a good eye. Nickel plating has been used for centuries. Chrome plating is a relatively new process, having come into its own in the 1930’s. Visually they are similar, but nickel plating has a warmer tone, and chrome plating a cooler tone.

I have one of your old catalogs and many stock numbers on this website differ from the stock numbers in your catalog. What gives?
We have reformed our naming system. In our old naming system, a stock number starting with 2 meant the item had a brushed nickel (or satin nickel) finish; a stock number starting with 7 meant the item had a polished nickel finish; a stock number starting with 8 (but not 88 or 87) meant the item had an oil rubbed bronze finish. In the new system a finish will be indicated by a suffix to the stock number. An item which has several finishes will now have one stock number – but with a suffix to indicate the finish – e.g. #2115 becomes #1115-BN, #7115 becomes #1115-PN, #8115 becomes #1115-OB.

How do I install glass knobs and handles?
Installing glass knobs and handles requires special care. There are two situations:

A) With the bolt inserted from the front that goes through the glass knob to the back of the drawer/door wall. Use only hand tools to install glass knobs or pulls. Power tools may cause damage to the thread or to the glass knobs. To tighten, turn only the nut on the back of the screw. Do not turn the knob itself as it may cause breakage. Tighten carefully but do not over-tighten – remember they are made of glass so are fragile.

B) With the bolt inserted from the back of the drawer and going into a metal insert in the glass or a threaded shank in the brass base of the glass knob. Again, use only hand tools. Power tools will damage the thread, the shank or the brass base. Hold the knob and turn the screw. Do not turn the knob against the drawer or door wall. Tighten carefully, but do not over-tighten. Make sure the screw is not too long for the job in order to avoid turning the shank in the base. We include screws that are 5/8″ long.

I have an antique dresser. Some pulls are missing – but not all. What to do?
In olden days there was virtually an endless number of designs in any particular type of hardware. It is impossible to reproduce them all. If you cannot find the exact match for the hardware left on your furniture, you would need to replace both the missing and existing pulls. The solution is to select a different design that will agree with the style and period of the furniture to be refurbished, and replace all the pulls on the furniture. Make sure the existing holes are either used again or are hidden by the new hardware.

What is zinc alloy die-cast?
We have very few items made of zinc alloy (die-cast denotes the production method) – the overwhelming majority of our metal products are made of solid brass. Zinc alloys were developed in the early part of the 20th century and thus connote newness. Still, there is a demand for them. Products made of them, costing less than brass, became common from the Depression Era and the Second World War onward.