INDEX i BUILDERS’ HARDWARE STAPLE HARDWARE INTRODUCTION =1.= The hardware used in building construction may be classified as _staple_ and _finished_. =Staple hardware= may be considered as including such materials as nails and spikes, bolts and screws, sash weights, and other materials of this character, while =finished hardware= may include such devices and appliances as locks and latches, hinges, door and window trimmings, and the various metallic fixtures used in equipping the different classes of buildings. To this last classification the term _builders’ hardware_ is frequently applied. Strictly speaking, glass cannot be considered as hardware; nevertheless, it is frequently supplied to the builder through hardware supply houses, and it is so closely allied to the hardware of building construction that the subject of glass, its trade terms, and other information relating to its characteristics, will not be out of order in this Section. While little consideration is given to the hardware on the average building, there is no more important part of the construction, nor one to which greater attention should be given. On the quality and the selection of proper hardware depends the avoidance of the petty annoyances often found in buildings where this subject has not received proper consideration. The architect should be well informed regarding this subject, and should be in a position to know the kind and quality of hardware that, when specified, will give the best results. He will find that a thorough knowledge of builders’ hardware will assist him materially in writing comprehensive specifications for this portion of the work. Consequently, the writing of the hardware specifications will receive attention in this Section, and the proper manner of estimating, or “taking off,” hardware will also be considered. CUT AND WIRE NAILS =2. Cut Nails.=—The primitive nail was made or forged by hand, and this mode of manufacture still exists in certain sections of Europe. These hand-made nails sold at exorbitant prices compared with the machine-made nails of today. The manufacture of cut nails is less automatic and requires more manual labor than is necessary in the making of wire nails. The iron or steel is first rolled into sheets, the thickness of which is equal to the thickness of the nail; it is then cut into strips as wide as the nail is long. This strip of metal is fed into the nail machine and sheared off in tapering strips having the form of the nail, when it is seized by clamps that hold it just long enough for the heading hammer to strike the blow that forms the head. The nail manufactured in this manner is known as the =cut nail=, and is much superior to the wire nail, which is of more recent production. Not only has the cut nail greater holding power, but it is more durable, especially when used in damp places.