Hardware

A wide-leaved hinge screwed to the underside of a drop-leaf table, with the knuckle on the top surface, used with a rule joint so the leaf hangs vertically when down.

Two rectangular leaves on one pin, let into the door edge and the carcass side so the closed hinge sits flush: the standard hinge for inset doors, lids and flaps.

A cup-and-arm hinge set into a 35 mm bore in the door and clipped to a plate in the carcass: invisible when closed and adjustable in three directions, the standard hinge for sheet-material cabinets.

Two blades crossed on a pivot pin and let into the top and bottom edges of a door: the door closes flush and only a hairline shows, in place of a visible knuckle.

A continuous hinge that runs the full length of a lid, flap or door edge, spreading load over many screws; cut to length from a long strip.

A pin-and-socket hinge at the top and bottom of a door: the door turns on a vertical axis through its own edge, with no leaf on the side, used for flush and overlay doors.

A long tapered leaf screwed or nailed across the face of the door, with a pin or knuckle at the edge: the surface-mounted hinge for plank doors, chest lids and heavy cupboards, where the iron is part of the look.

A pair of telescoping steel rails with ball bearings, screwed to the drawer sides and the cabinet sides: smooth, full-extension travel for modern drawers, with optional soft-close.

A concealed full-extension slide fixed under the drawer box, clipped to the drawer bottom and screwed to the cabinet sides, with a damper that slows the drawer and closes it quietly; nothing shows when the drawer opens.

A strip of hardwood in the carcass that a drawer slides on, waxed and fitted with a small clearance: the traditional drawer support for period furniture, with no metal parts.

A swinging loop handle hung from posts on a backplate: the brass batwing of Queen Anne and Chippendale chests, and the forged iron warabite on a Japanese tansu.

A straight or arched bar held off the face on two posts: the standard grip for kitchen and office drawers and, in small sizes, for period case pieces.

A shallow scoop of metal on a flat backplate, fixed by two screws from the inside: a hand hooks under the lip and pulls, so nothing sticks out to snag.

A small turned brass drop that swings from a single post, usually on a small backplate: the pull of William and Mary and early Queen Anne chests.

A decorative plate around a keyhole that protects the wood from the key and dresses the opening: brass or ivory on period cases, a bare keyhole outline on Biedermeier fronts.

A round or turned grip on a single screw: the plainest way to open a drawer or door, in wood for Shaker and country work, metal or ceramic elsewhere.

A magnet in a small housing on the carcass that pulls a steel strike plate on the door shut and holds it; the simplest quiet catch for cabinet doors.

A spring-loaded or magnetic plunger that pops a door or drawer open when you press its face; lets a front go without any handle, pull or finger groove.

A spring-loaded roller (or pair of rollers) on the carcass that snaps over a fixed strike plate on the door; a firm mechanical hold that is adjustable and quiet enough for furniture.

A small wooden or metal bar on a central screw that turns to cover the edge of a door, lid or back panel and hold it shut; a hand-made catch with no spring and no strike plate.

A keyed lock let into or fixed to a door, drawer or chest lid, with a keyhole shown by an escutcheon: cam, rim, mortise and chest types for cabinets, drawers and chests.

A round-headed bolt with a square neck that bites into the wood and stops the bolt turning, tightened from the nut side: the strong through-bolt for outdoor frames, benches and play structures.

A fat, coarse-threaded, blunt-tipped screw with a smooth shoulder, made to hold in particleboard, MDF and plywood edges: the standard flat-pack carcase screw.

A metric or imperial machine screw threading into a barbed T-nut hammered into the back of a board: a repeatable, strong, removable joint for knock-down furniture, leg plates and hardware that must survive being unscrewed.

A washer-head, self-tapping screw driven at about 15 degrees from a drilled pocket in one board into the face or edge of another: a fast, hidden fixing for carcases, face frames and cleats.

A tapered or parallel-threaded screw with a smooth shank, driven into a pilot hole: the everyday fastener for hinges, brackets, plank chairs and hidden fixings.

A tapered, rectangular nail sheared from an iron plate: the nail of early American and English carcase work, still used for reproduction furniture, backs, drawer bottoms and boards nailed across the grain.

A thin round wire nail with a small head: for tacking moulding, fixing thin backs and holding glue-ups while they set; not a structural fastener.

A hand-forged iron nail with a hammered head: the nail of pre-industrial furniture and the right choice where reproduction authenticity matters.

A hook-and-slot or bolt-and-plate fitting that locks a bed's side rail to its headboard and footboard posts and comes apart again for moving: the knock-down joint of the bedstead.

A cylindrical barrel nut set crosswise in a hole in one board, met by a bolt that runs in along the other board's axis: the invisible, strong, repeatable joint of flat-pack and take-apart furniture.

A headless double-ended stud with a wood-screw thread at one end and a machine thread at the other: driven into a leg or post so a nut or plate can bolt it on, the classic fixing of mid-century legs.

A small metal bushing with an external wood-gripping thread and an internal machine thread, driven into a drilled hole to give a strong, replaceable screw thread in wood, particleboard or MDF.

A flat or gusseted steel angle screwed across an inside corner to hold a joint square: a hidden reinforcement for frames, table aprons and shop furniture.

A small figure-eight plate that pivots on one screw while the other screw holds the top, so a solid-wood top can move across its width without splitting or tearing off its base.

A small shop-made wooden block with a tongue that slides into a groove in the apron and a screw up into the top: the traditional way to hold a solid top while letting it move.

A Z-shaped steel clip that hooks into a saw kerf in the apron and screws to the underside of the top: quick to fit, and the top can slide on it as it moves.

A threaded stem with a pivoting pad that screws into the bottom of a leg or plinth, so a piece can be adjusted to stand square on an uneven floor.

A small pin that sits in a bored hole in the carcass side and carries one corner of an adjustable shelf: the hardware behind the row of holes on a bookcase or cabinet.

A small swivel wheel in a socket or on a plate at the foot of a leg: brass cup casters for period tables and chairs, and plain plate casters for workshop and utility pieces.