Häfele America Shop Shot: Millwork

In another life I managed an architectural millwork company for a time, so millwork  always catches my eye.  We have some excellent woodworkers in the Häfele America Co. shop, and when they get a chance to break-away from assembling trade show displays and building hundreds of little mock-ups to work on millwork like this display for one of our showrooms, they jump at it with a vengeance.  In the foreground you can see the architectural drawings of the desired display, as well as a couple photos of the soon-to-be-replaced current display with critical notes and measurements.  The real magic is that the large millwork in the background is being built here in Archdale, NC and will be installed in our showroom in NYC!  Our craftsmen are utilizing lots of Häfele connectors, levelers and several tricks of the trade to allow for minor and in some cases major surprises that they may encounter during install.  I’ll keep you posted on this, because it really is neat to see how projects like this move from concept to reality.

Screws for Nerds (TMI)

One of the topics that a new customer service or sales rep at Häfele America Co. must wrap their head around is the issue of screws for attaching deco.  First off, being a hardware guy I know that threaded steel fasteners that thread into tapped (threaded) holes are called bolts.  That is unless they are smaller than 1/4″ in diameter.  Don’t ask me why, but something mysterious happens when bolts are smaller than 1/4″; they become “machine screws“.  Wanna get really nerdy?  Why not?

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.

Everything Old is New Again

I made a surprising discovery the other night as I was perusing some old Popular Science magazines.  As you can see from the short scanned article and photo from  a 1945 issue, they showed a pull-out table that hid-away beneath the counter top in a space the size of a drawer.  I immediately sent a message to the folks in our NYC showroom and asked them if they wouldn’t mind snapping a picture of our 505.58.103 Rapid Pullout Table, which we recently installed during the remodel of our showroom.   The second photo  is that very picture, and as you can see it’s a neat way of adding a work surface to any kitchen.

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.

Häfele America Shop Shot: Trade Show Planning

Here’s  a rare sight.  In fact, unless you happen to be in a large convention center a few days before or after a major trade show, you are not likely to ever see this.  What is it?  This is the foundation of our booth that you’ll see at the 2012 KBIS.  KBIS is the Kitchen & Bath Industry Show, and is one of the most important trade shows in the kitchen industry in the USA.  Nathan  is in the background installing Häfele Keku fittings, which are neat panel connectors that we sell and obviously utilize.  These fittings allow us to snap panels on and off the skeletal framework that you see, making our entire display a flat-packed, ready to assemble “Booth in a Box”.  More to come.

As always, click the pics to Biggie-Size.

First time Loox LED lighting experiences

I just received a message from a customer who recently completed his first Loox LED lighting install.  I figure that this is as good a time as any to also share my personal experience with this new family of lighting solutions, and even share a video that’s been clogging my phone’s SD card!

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

“Michael, Thanks for your help with our showroom display ideas using your LED lighting. What a difference it makes. Even the owner was surprised to see how much better the cabinetry “popped” when he walked into the showroom.

 

I was so pleased with the lighting, I decided to buy some for my own house – and surprise my wife. I remember you telling me about the “plug and play” feature. So, on Saturday, my 10 year-old son and I installed 4 lengths of the ribbon lighting in the China cabinet. It only took us 2 hours from start to finish. Needless to say my wife was very pleased with the lighting and loved the touch-dimmer.  Thanks to you for your guidance, and thanks to Häfele for a great product….

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!

A Rack and Pinion Opinion

I’m just now replying to a question from a Cabinetmaker on a woodworking forum who asked a great question about drawer slides for very wide drawers.  I recall seeing truly wide drawers for the first time at a trade show in Germany back in 2001, and for the life of me I just couldn’t understand them.  They were being shown in a kitchen and were loaded-down with heavy dishes.  Coming from the American tradition where our fine china was kept in the china cabinet, and the everyday dishes are kept in a wall cabinet near the sink, I just didn’t get it.

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?

OK Häfele, what’s the deal with the dots over the “A” ?

By now you know that I can’t explain something without giving a personal story, so please bear with 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!”