Many people mistakenly assume that hardware is just fasteners, the same as screws, bolts, screws. This is actually a wrong opinion. In addition to fasteners, they include industrial products that are actively used in everyday life and entire sectors of the national economy.
The concept
Hardware is the metal products surrounding a person. Scissors, pliers, shovels - people face them daily. For in-depth familiarization, one should consider in more detail the description of the hardware, the purpose and application.
Production
The main raw materials are ferrous metal alloys, in particular, steel grades. Processing of blanks occurs by various methods: casting, stamping, pressing, cutting.
For example, bolts are made of hot rolled steel. It is cut into blanks of a given length. On the working part, a layer of several millimeters is removed. The upper part of the product is heated to give a hexagonal shape. The resulting semi-finished products are laid in a furnace, where they are hardened at 816 degrees. During this period, a change in the molecular structure occurs, strength is imparted. Then the future bolt is clamped and inserted between the shafts that create the thread. In this case, the workpiece is watered with grease to prevent overheating.
In the manufacture of scissors, sheet steel is used, which contains 0.5% carbon. At a pressure of 70 tons, blanks are cut out on a conveyor. Then it is quenched in a special furnace, heating to 1500 degrees in 15 minutes. Blade sharpening is done automatically with special equipment. Pens are made of plastic. The product passes control on sharpness of sharpening of blades. The final stage is packaging.
Classification
Hardware by type of application is divided into industrial and general purpose items. Many products are included in the household use group.
General metal products
It should be noted that such types of hardware include:
- Accessories to facilitate housework: cleaning, washing, drying clothes.
- Knives and cutlery: cutlery, forks, spoons, scoops and a number of others.
- Tools for wood processing: saws, axes, for planing, filing.
- Household goods: step-ladders, secateurs, rakes, shovels, soil cultivators, scythes, sickles.
- Devices for heating and lighting: lights, fuel boilers.
Industrial group of hardware
Includes several subgroups. It combines these hardware that they are produced only in the factory. They have standardized parameters. These are telegraph hooks, wire, cables, wire mesh, cotter pins.
Fasteners
A huge subgroup of items of strictly standardized products. Fasteners - hardware that serve to connect parts, structural elements in construction, engineering, and other types of national economy.
Names of the main varieties:
- Bolt - a metal product with a thread on the bottom and a hex key in the key.
- Screw - rod with a thread along the entire length of the working area.
- A screw is a subspecies of a screw.
- A hairpin is a metal rod without a head with a thread on the entire working surface.
- The pin is a metal product without thread.
- Splint - a rod with a semicircular section, bent in half. With an eye at the fold.
- Nut - a die with a through hole and thread inside. Usually has six faces.
- The washer is a thin metal product. It is put on under a nut.
- Rivet - rod without thread. Has a riveted "hat" in the upper part.
By appointment, fasteners are:
- Building focus. They are united by high strength, resistance to any weather conditions, most of the products are large.
- Furniture. They are small, used to assemble furniture elements. The service life of the goods depends on the quality of the fasteners. Sagging cabinets in cabinet furniture, loosening of the backs of sofas are due to poor fastening of structural parts.
- Automotive. High-strength hardware products are used to connect structural elements of the car. High quality is important when assembling high-capacity vehicles.
- Hardware fasteners that are used on the railway. They are highly resistant to adverse weather conditions, vibrational vibrations.
Advice
During construction and repair, fasteners for construction purposes are actively used. You should not save on them. Before buying, you should study the reviews, ask sellers about the manufacturer, quality, use certified products. The durability of construction or repair depends on the quality of the products.
Metal accessories for the home are also purchased for a long period of time. Secateurs, scissors, shovels made of high-quality steel will serve several generations of consumers of the same family.
Summing up, it should be noted that hardware is all metal products around. Most often they are made from alloys of ferrous metals, sometimes from non-ferrous. For example, aluminum wire or copper basins.
In the process of production, steel products are hardened to give strength and increased wear resistance. Many manufacturing operations are carried out without human intervention. Automation allows you to reduce the cost of production. At the same time, standardized products are produced. This is a prerequisite for hardware intended for use in the military, defense industry or in the field of medicine. For these industries, products undergo a rigorous check for compliance with GOSTs and other quality standards.
Metal products are used in everyday life and industry. You should not buy cheap products manufactured outside of strict factory conditions. It should be remembered that hardware is objects of a long period of use.