In the USA bolts are measured in diameter, thread and length.

For example, you could go to the hardware store and purchase a 1/4-20 x 2″ bolt.  Notice that I didn’t type 1/4″-20, but instead typed 1/4-20.  The 1/4 represents the diameter of the bolt, while the 20 represents the number of threads per inch, or TPI.  Yep, I agree; that’s weird.

Something similar happens with machine screws.  The diameters of these small “bolts” are measured not in fractions but in something called “wire gauge”.  So back at the hardware store you’ll see machine screws that measure 8-32 x 2″.  This time I didn’t type 8/32″, because the “8″ has nothing to do with the “32″.  True, they are hanging out together, but in this case the machine screw was made with #8 gauge wire, and it is threaded with 32 threads per inch.

Another factor in buying bolts, machine screws and the nuts or other items that they thread into, and that’s the coarseness of the threads.  You’ve no doubt heard of fine thread screws.  In the case of machine screws there are two different “threads” that are typical in the USA.  For example, the course version of a #10 machine screw would be a 10-24, while the fine thread version would be a 10-32.  Again, this is not pronounced “Ten thirty-seconds”, but rather “Ten, thirty-two”.   These two “standards” are called USS and SAE.  USS is the course bolt, and that stands for “United States Standard”, and SAE stands for the “Society of Automobile Engineers”.  Do you need to know this?  Why not?  Besides, if you’ve read this far it’s a little too late to be asking that now, isn’t it?

As usual the metric world simplifies all this.  The bolt or machine screw is referred to by the actual metric size of the wire used to produce it, but because the wire is threaded, the actual measurement of the finished part will be a little less than the original wire.  To signify this we refer to a 4mm diameter machine screw as an M4 screw.  See what we did there?  We dropped the two lowercase m’s from the back of the 4, and replaced it with a single uppercase M ahead of the 4.   This is a lot like the nominal dimensions used in lumber, like the 2×4 that we all know does not actually measure 2″ x 4″.

What about the “TPI” count on the metric bolt?  Well, the problem with that question is there is no “inch” in the metric system!   Instead of measuring an inch on a bolt and counting all the threads, in the metric system we simply measure the distance from the tip of one thread to the tip of the one next to it.  This distance, measured in millimeters, is know as the “pitch”.   In most cases metric bolts and machine screws are available in two pitch types: One course and one fine.  At Häfele America Co. I’ve measured the pitch on hundreds of the bolts that I’ve encountered over the past 13 years and in every case the pitch was the course pitch.

Now, what prompted this post?  The other day I dropped by a customer’s showroom and noticed that one of the pieces of deco on a prominently placed drawer was sitting closer to the face of the drawer than all the other pulls in the kitchen.  (Click the pic to Biggie-Size it)   BTW, “deco” is the generic name that hardware nerds call any handle, pull, or knob that’s intended for furniture and cabinets.  As I did a double take I realized what had happened.  The person who installed the deco obviously didn’t have the correct length machine screw, and I imagine that someone in the shop suggested that they just countersink it (meaning the head of the screw) but instead the installer countersunk the deco!   It took everything in me to not laugh out loud and then I realized how awful that would be for someone who lacks the ability to grasp small objects .

So, what is the correct length machine screw for deco?  If the deco is to be installed in a kitchen you will likely need two lengths:  For doors you’ll need one for most knobs and two for most pulls that’s the length of the doors thickness plus 4 to 5mm to engage the threads in the deco.  For drawers we need to know a bit more about how the drawers are constructed.  Most kitchen drawers begin life as a four sided 1/2″ or 5/8″ thick box with a decorative front that matches the doors.  Where I come from we call this a four-sided drawer.

If the doors are 3/4″ thick (19mm), and the drawer box is 1/2″ thick (let’s just call that 12mm), we’ll need to add these two numbers, 19 + 12 to get 31.  To that we’ll add 4 to 5mm for the deco and we wind-up with needing an M4 x 35mm machine screw.

Some drawers have only four sides; meaning that the front of the drawer box is also the decorative drawer front that is seen from the outside of the cabinet.  This is common in furniture.  If that’s the case the length of the screw would be the same for a drawer and those used on the doors.

Just so I don’t totally confuse things, please note that while some of these things apply to standard wood screws that might be used to construct cabinets and to attach functional hardware, the TPI and pitch info does not.

Someday you need to remind me to tell you about cut-off machine screws that we sell for deco and why I hate them and think that no toolbox is complete with them.  But that’s another post.

This is one of those products that when you see it you just say “wow!”  Imagine grabbing what looks like a drawer, but instead pulling out of a 24” base cabinet a table that’s up to 43 ¼” long!  It’s really like a Las Vegas magic trick.  We happen to have a crazy-small kitchen at home, and I’ll admit that there have been times that I’ve had to pull open a drawer just to have a place to set a cookie sheet!  Think about how this could add a table for baking, cutting and serving, mixing, etc.

Häfele America Co. has a couple of versions of pull-out tables.  Two of them have a solid section that pulls out first, followed by a matching section that’s made like a tambor (roll top) door.  While most folks would never guess that the back half is segmented, you wouldn’t want to roll-out dough on that part of the table top.  Actually, I suppose you could, if you were making ravioli.  Anyway, the other version, the poorly named “Top Flex” is made with two solid leaves that the Cabintmaker provides.  This one works somewhat like an expandable dining table, but with the back leaf that “automagically” moves out of its storage place above the front leaf, and slides into place behind the first.  It’s kind of hard to explain, but it’s very slick to see in action

Now consider all the other uses for this type of pull-out table: In the home office as an extension to a desk; as a folding table in the laundry room; as a work table in the craft room; or how about as a desk-top writing surface in a piece of furniture that looks nothing like a traditional desk.  And don’t miss the fact that this table is a bit lower than the average kitchen counter top, which means it could be installed at the ideal height for kids or for folks who prefer to or must work while seated.

Yep, this is an idea that was way ahead of it’s time, but fortunately for us, that time is now.

If you study the two photos carefully you’ll notice a major difference between the two tables.  What is it?  Take a look at our 505.59.703 Presto Pull-Out Table for a clue.

As always, click the pics to Biggie-Size them.

As always, click the pics to Biggie-Size.

But first, here’s the comment from our customer, sent through our Boston-based sales rep, Mr. Michael Imperatore:

My first hands-on experience with the Loox lighting was quite similar, and it took place on location at a customer’s installation line while they looked on!  Sure, we’d had lots of time to “play” with all the components beforehand, but there’s a big difference in the pressure that you feel between theoretical planning and drilling holes in a brand new cabinet that’s about to be installed in Häfele America Co.’s New York City showroom!

The video below was shot because it was an interesting situation.  We had two adjacent cabinets that need lighting and the energy consumption was so low that we only required a single “driver”, which is what the power supply is called in this type of lighting system.   What at first looked like a challenge was the fact that the lighting needs in each cabinet is dramatically different:

• One cabinet has glass doors, and because this is going into a showroom, and they are so darn efficient, the two strips of LED ribbons will remain on 24/7.

• The other cabinet has a wood door with a switch that will turn its two LED ribbons on when the door is opened.

Again, the goal here was to power both of these unique lighting situations with a common driver.

Using the plug-and-play wiring feature of the Häfele Loox LED lighting system we added a switch between the lights in the cabinet with the wood door and the driver; while the lights in the cabinet with the glass doors plugged directly into the driver.  The driver itself is plugged directly into a standard 110 volt wall outlet.  Is that all there is to it?  Huh.  Seemed too easy.

Add to this the fact that the ribbon LEDs are peel and stick, this system is so easy to install that even though this was our first experience installing the Loox system, we were done in minutes!

These cabinets are now on display in the Häfele America Co. NYC showroom, and were built to our specifications by Plain & Fancy in Oct 2011.

So as promised, below is a poorly filmed video of the results of a first-time Häfele Loox LED lighting install by a couple novice installers that included yours truly.  Nice work Daryl and Ed!

Fast forward a couple years and I found myself at home recovering from an appendectomy.  Partially out of boredom and partially to help-out my bride, I decided to empty the dish washer.  I bent over and grabbed a dish in each hand, then stood and reached up to put the dishes in the upper cabinet.  Bend, grab, stand, stretch and drop. (repeat x 20)  Suddenly I got it!  I thought about my 5′ tall mother-in-law doing this task daily for the past 60+ years and realized the wisdom of the deep and wide drawer located near the sink and dishwasher.

Wide drawers can be a challenge for the Cabinetmaker for several reasons:

• 97.3%* of the drawer slides that American Cabinetmakers are installing each day are traditional drawer slides, which are not synchronized with each other; so the sides of the drawer travel independently of each other.  On most drawers this isn’t perceivable to the user because the rigidity of the drawer box itself keeps the slides traveling somewhat in sync.

• In a wide drawer application, the width of the drawer box allows for some twisting and flexing, and this is exacerbated by the fact that most people won’t operate the drawer by pushing and pulling on it in the dead-center, resulting in binding.

• Please forgive this “No duh!” statement, but add to the items above the logical tendency for large drawers to attract heavier weight loads and the challenges of wide drawers become easy to understand.

Because wide kitchen drawers have been a growing trend in the past few years,  a couple years back Häfele America Co. added the 420.90.995 Rack and Pinion drawer slide system to handle these issues.  (Let’s just call it the R&P slide from here on, shall we?)

Many of us are now used to bottom-mounted, concealed slides, but because they have a limited weight capacity (typically between 75-100lbs), the R&P slide system features a pair of heavy-duty, full-extension telescopic side-mount ball-bearing slides.  (Wow, that’s a lot of hyphenation in one sentence!)  Yes, our catalog does call it a bottom-mount slide, but in actuality they are positioned on the side and wrap around to support the bottom of the drawer box.

I really like this slide, because it solves ALL of the problems that we described above; but it does bring a few idiosyncrasies to the party that you should be aware of:

• The 420.90.995 Rack and Pinion drawer slide system has a 200lb capacity; so it requires a bit more strength to get moving.  Add to this the largest drawer box in the kitchen, and for that matter, the biggest load of any drawer in the house, and you can imagine that this drawer will feel different from smaller drawers with lighter-duty undermount slides.

• The R&P slide requires 1″ of space between the drawer side and the cabinet side.  This is twice the space that most side-mounted slides require, but then again, it’s packing a larger slide and a rack needed to do the job.

To understand this next statement it’s important to know how I am describing a drawer: Width is the width of the drawer from left to right while standing in front of the cabinet; height relates to how tall the drawer sides are, and depth relates to the distance from the front of the drawer to the back of the drawer.  With me?  OK….

• Because there is a connecting rod (an axle really) that runs behind the drawer and engages a rack on the left and right sides of the cabinet, the drawer may not be quite as deep as others in the kitchen.  This system can accommodate a 22″ deep drawer in a 24″ cabinet, which is the common configuration in most American kitchens.  Didn’t know that?  Oh yeah!  There’s almost always a little wasted space at the back of the drawer.

The Häfele 420.90.995 Rack and Pinion drawer slide system is a great solution to the demand for a strong, smooth-running, long-lasting wide drawer application.  Just be sure to manage your customer’s expectation of it.  Is there anything else to say?  I don’t think so, but if you have a question please feel free to ask it in the comment field below.

*97.3% is an educated guess.  The actual number may vary by as much as .8%.  Again, that’s just a guess.  Why are you doubting me?

As I mentioned in a prior post, I interviewed for my job at Häfele America Co. back in1999, and though I had been a customer for a couple years, I really didn’t know much about the company, so I figured I’d do a little research online.  Remember that ’99 was pre-Google, so I went to AskJeeves.com (now known as Ask.com) and Dogpile.com and searched “Hafele” and got nothin’!  Hummm.  I tried “Hafele America” and got… nothin’.

I went off to my interview in NC and at a point that made sense in my conversation with the Director of Marketing I asked about their lack of presence on the web and he said “What did you search for?”  I told him what I just told you and then he explained the “deal with the dots”.  The dots over the “A” in the name Häfele are called an umlaut.  Yes, those TWO dots are ONE umlaut.  This is sort of a short-hand, as adding an umlaut over a vowel eliminates the need for, but not the effect of the vowel that normally follows it.

For example, if we used umlauts in English we might shorten the word “look” to simply lök.  Yes, this is an oversimplification, and throwing umlauts into words shouldn’t be done on the fly by amateurs, because these “language things” were decided years ago by professional “Wordies”.  Trust me on this… I Gögled it so I know what I’m talking about.

Anyway, the internet required a simple alphabet, so it was decided that URLs and email addresses would not contain special characters, such as umlauts.  As a result Häfele.com would not be allowed.  That’s when I learned what happens when you drop the umlaut from the name Häfele… it becomes Haefele!  Häfele’s website was haefele.com!   Today we’ve moved past this, and now all of the various Häfele subsidiaries’ web sites are all hubbed through Hafele.com, but I’m mindful to make sure that whenever I type the name Häfele anywhere but in a web address that I always add the umlaut.

So that’s the short story version of the deal with the dots.  What’s left to say is really another biggie, and that’s pronunciation.  It’s always fun to visit Cologne, Germany (BTW, it’s also known as Köln) for the world’s largest woodworking trade show, Interzum, and to listen to Häfele employees for the other 36 subsidiaries as they talk about working for “Hay-fuh-lee”, “Haf-uh-lee”, and “Hay-fell-leh”.

In the US I suspect that most of us stumble whenever we see an odd character in a word.  I vividly remember a conversation that I had in my early days with Häfele America with no less than Mrs. Ursula Häfele herself about this very thing.  I asked her what the proper pronunciation was and she told me it was very difficult for the American ear to discern the subtle nuances, and harder still for the American tongue to pronounce it.  I said “Try me”, so she said “It sounds like what you would say if you were trying a pick-up line on a guy… you’d say ‘Hey fella”.”  I said “Hey fella” and asked her if that was right, and she said with a smirk “No, but that’s close enough!”

On that June day in ’99 I spent several hours with John Hossli, the then-new president of Hafele America Co.  John asked me how I felt about the fact that if I was offered the Trainer position that I would be filling the shoes of a very popular and effective Trainer of eight years who had moved into a new position within the company.  I answered John’s question with the confidence that my new suit and three large cups of coffee was empowering me with, but later on the flight home as I reflected on the events of the day it hit me that John himself had just made that exact same transition.

It’s now over twelve years later and John Hossli has just retired.  As the Training Coordinator it was fortunate for me that John’s passion for learning, and his vision for the Training Department has taken it and me to places that I never imagined back in 1999.

(Insert your own clever segue here, because I can’t seem to conjure one.)

As I type this quietly on my iPad we are three days into a four day long sales meeting, where most of our sales force are meeting and interacting with our new president, Mr. Paul Smith for the first time.  I’ll let our marketing machine introduce you to Mr. Smith, (which they’ve done at this link) but let me tell you about one moment in our opening session that set the tone for his introduction to our team:

Like me, our Director of Sales and Marketing, Mr. Hugh Rose, is from Ohio, and he is a dyed-in-the-wool Ohio State fan.  Little did most of us know, he and our mid-west sales manager who is based out of  Michigan had a little friendly wager going about his region’s performance in 2011, and Hugh invited the entire region to the front to experience his humiliation up-close as he donned his new Michigan State sweatshirt that the mid-west’s region’s sales performance had earned.  After posing for a photo with big smiles on their faces, Hugh went on to add that there was more piece to the bet…

The second half related to profit margin, which anyone with a business mind knows is the fuel that keeps the engine of business churning. Hugh reminded the crew of this second part of the bet and their smiles left their faces as they realized what their manager had done to them.  Hugh reached into a large box that was strategically placed at the front of the room and began to reverently distribute their new Ohio State shirts!

The photo I’ve included is the moment that followed when our new President took the stage to rousing applause from the newly appointed welcoming committee, all sporting shirts for Mr. Smith’s alma mater!

As expected, the week has been informative, relevant and interesting, and while we all have a healthy measure of anxiousness about inevitable changes to come, we are all excited to learn more about the course that our new president has planned for Hafele America Co.  Stay tuned!

P.S. My old rep, Russ? He’s the guy on the far right… in the red Ohio State shirt.

It got me thinking…

We’ve been prepping for an upcoming sales meeting and have been crunching numbers, building PowerPoint presentations and even practicing in front of the mirror so that the message we deliver is appropriate, valuable and effective.  What’s that message?  Oh, that’s for me to know and you to find out, but I’ll give you a big hint: It has a lot to do with satisfying our customers.

So what’s the message you want to deliver to your customers in the new year?  How are you planning to deliver it?  Is that delivery method connecting with your customer in the right time and place?

Now, go make 2012 a great year, and make sure your customer is hearing the message you intended to convey.

There’s No Place Like Here: Liberty Tool from Etsy on Vimeo.

Here’s a link to the accompanying blog post:

http://www.etsy.com/blog/en/2011/theres-no-place-like-here-liberty-tool/