204. To describe all the special kinds of finished hardware used, or designed to be used, in buildings would be almost an endless task, therefore only a description of such pieces as are in common use will be attempted.

For those who would like a thorough treatise on the subject, Mr. Clarence Blackall's book on "Builders' Hardware"* is recommended as giving the most complete description (up to the date of its publication) of the varieties and cost of hardware obtainable. Many of the following cuts are taken by permission from this work.

For most architects a careful perusal of the following pages, supplemented by the manufacturers' catalogues and an examination of the different styles and patterns at the local hardware dealers', will furnish all the information usually required. The most valuable information, however, can be obtained only by studying the mechanism of the different styles and observing the way in which they wear. When satisfactory hardware has once been found it will be better to keep to that than to experiment with other makes, although the best grades of any of the leading manufactures may be relied upon.

In describing the various pieces of hardware the author has deemed it best to take them up in the order in which they are related to the different parts of the building.

Door Trimmings. - The hardware for a single door consists usually of hinges, lock, knobs and escutcheon plates. Outside doors used by the public are also often provided with an overhead check. Double doors require in addition bolts for the standing leaf. Sliding doors are commonly hung on "hangers," and are fitted with lock, flush pull and cup escutcheon plates. Double-action doors should have push and kick plates instead of knobs, and a dead lock if a lock is necessary. Store doors usually have handles instead of knobs, and long escutcheon plates. Doors that are provided with an overhead check are often fitted with a pull handle on the inside and a push plate on the outside, and a dead lock.

Other trimmings may also be required for special conditions, but the above covers the trimmings commonly used. Each of the above kinds of hardware are made in a great variety of patterns and sizes, the more common of which we will try to describe.

Hinges. - Hinges proper are divided into two general classes by the hardware trade : First, those that are screwed to the face of the door or shutter, which are called hinges, and second, those which are screwed to the butt edge of the door and against the frame, and which are designated as butts. The latter are almost invariably used for hanging the doors in finished buildings, hinges being used principally on stable and out-house doors, blinds, shutters, trap doors, etc.

* Published by Macmillan & Co., New York. Price, $5.

Spring hinges may also be divided in the same way into spring hinges and spring butts, although the latter are very commonly called hinges.