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Baldwin Door Hardware

Baldwin French door knob (patio)

Baldwin, the door hardware brand, has been defining modern luxury and well tested timely design solutions to home owners, home interior designers, and house architects since 1946.

Balwin door hardware including knobs, knockers, locks and more have superior design, craftsmanship and functionality.

Baldwin has been innovative and was the first brand to forge elegant, stylish and long lasting solid brass door hardware. The door products and accessories are designed with utmost attention to detail.

Baldwin Door Knobs

Baldwin Door Knockers

Baldwin Door Locks

Baldwin Door Knobs

Door Knob - What is it?

The door knob is the most important and and distinct part of a door when someone enters the room or exit from the room. A door knob is sometimes known as door handle. The handle is the attached object or mechanism used to manually open or close a door.

The door itself won’t work properly without a knob or handle. A door without a knob is very much a car without a paddle.

In most houses, door knobs have screw style axle (i.e. spindle) which has one flat side. The spindle passes through the door jigger leaving some length visible on each side of the door where the handles are attached.

What Are Door Knobs Made Of?

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Most door knobs may be made of any hard substances, and they are sculpted in many different shapes and sizes. To name a few materials:

  • Bronze
  • Nickel
  • Black
  • Chrome
  • Brass
  • Pewter (a gray alloy of tin with copper and antimony, or lead)

Some door knob materials may be glass, wood, plastic, iron, porcelain, or a composite material of the above.

What Are The Different Types Of Door Knobs?

You may find knobs on that are required on door hardware, barn door hardware, commercial door locks or commercial door hardware.

Below are the different door knob styles.

Antique door knobs: They’ve an aged accent with timeless character, and are designed to compliment traditional or modern Victorian decor theme.

Classic door knobs: They’re mostly rounded or sphere shaped, and provide easy gripping and twisting. The classic simple style are suitable for all home interior design styles. The best part is class door knobs are available from most offline and online stores (such as Lowes, Home Depot, Amazon, etc), which make them easy to find and replace.

Door levers: French doors usually are installed with door levers. Door levers are made for easy grab with varying lengths, and they make lives for handicapped users easier.

Handle sets include a combination two keyed entry knobs:They’re designed for the exterior steel door (i.e. entry / front door) of your house. The thumb latch on the knob allows easy entry.

Modern door knobs: Their design includes simple lines and sleek finishes. They are suitable for homes with modern and refined interior design.

Rustic door knobs: Offers countryside charm in any room of your home. Great for modern farmhouse decor and ranch-style designs.

Below are door knobs by different functions.

Dummy door knobs: They’re mostly found together with small closets, pantries, or interior French doors. As the name suggested, they’re visually one-sided and do not include a lock or key. A dummy door knob doesn’t twist or latch in place. You open the door simply by pushing or pulling.

Keyed entry door Knobs: The main function is to to secure other rooms in a home such as a basement or storage room. Keyed entry door knobs are mostly used for a house’s main entry door (i.e. exterior steel door) or French patio doors, because they feature a lock and key mechanism on both sides of the door for safety and security.

Passage door knobs: They don’t provide locking, and serve as passage door from one room (or space) to the next room. In other words, they’re great for a house’s interior hallways, utility spaces or large closets. The passage knobs can be turned though are similar to dummy doors knobs.

Privacy door knobs: They’ve a twist or button lock which functions from only one side i.e. the inside of a room (or space). This feature makes privacy door knobs suitable for use in bathrooms, bedrooms, or any other room in a household that requires privacy. The doors may be unlocked from the other side with their emergency key.

Door Knobs Are Almost Always Far Away From The Door Hinges. Why?

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It has to do with the basic door mechanism for moving.

The short answer is about efficiency based on mechanical advantage. It’s an intended function, and it’s all physics. Let’s do a practical experiment.

Try screwing and embedding a knob to the door that is 3 inches from the hinge edge. Now open the door – It’s not as easy as you previously thought. It’ll take some much more force to completely open the door.

When the knob is at the normal position i.e. far away from the hinge edge, it becomes much easier to normally open the door. It’s about leverage.

Baldwin Door Knockers

What's A Door Knocker?

A door knocker is an item on the door which lets people outside a house to alert people inside.

Door knockers have a part fixed to the door, and a part (usually metal) which is attached to the door by a hinge. The part with a hinge may be lifted and used to strike a plate fitted to the door or the door itself, making a noise. This strike action is used to alert the people inside the house (or behind the door), which makes perfect sense for the door to be a main entry door (of a house).

If the door uses a struck plate, then it is supplied and fitted with the knocker together.

Many door knockers nowadays are only decorative.

The more modern alternative is to use the electric bell instead of a door knocker.

Baldwin Door Locks

What's A Door Lock?

A door lock is a security device which is used to keep intruders or trespassers from entering an enclosed premises i.e. Your private home (whether it’s a house or an apartment).

Door locks may be found on a house’s main gate, a room’s door, or a restroom’s door. kitchens, offices, warehouses, storage rooms or other spaces may have locks on their doors, depending on the security or safety level they require.

Many brick and mortar stores by your neighborhood do sell door locks and door locking mechanisms. You can easily find many different door lock types available at online stores (i.e. Walmart, Home Depot, Lowes, etc) including cylindrical locks, dead and heavy duty locks, door handle locks, electronic locks, furniture locks, padlocks, rim locks, sliding locks, or many more other locks.

What Are The Types Of Door Locks?

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Deadbolts are installed on exterior doors and come in three primary varieties: single, double, and lockable thumbturn. Single cylinder deadbolts are the most common for homes.

Deadbolts use a key cylinder on the outside and a thumbturn (rosary) on the inside to open or close the lock with a single weakness. The door can be opened from the outside using the thumbturn through a nearby window using some simple tools.

The double cylinder deadbolt solves the above security problem by using a key cylinder on the inside and the outside of the door. The door always requires a key to open it from the inside when it’s locked.

The lockable thumbturn is a deadbolt of hybrid between a single and a double deadbolt. The lock has a thumbturn on the inside that works like a normal single cylinder deadbolt, and the thumbturn can be locked using a key.

The thumbturn can be left in an unlocked position when people are inside a residential home, and it does operate exactly as a standard single cylinder deadbolt. This thumbturn can be locked so that even if someone has access to the door from the inside, the deadbolt cannot be unlocked. This mechanism provides maximum flexibility and security for deadbolts.

Jimmy Proof Deadbolts

Jimmy proof deadbolts are mostly used in apartments and double doors.

They’re secure locks as the deadbolt interlocks with the jamb bracket which prevents from being pulled apart by force from the outside.

The standard deadbolt lock has a complex drill pattern, but the Jimmy proof deadbolt lock is surface mount with the lock screws into the inside of the door.

For security upgrade, an existing Jimmy proof deadbolt lock can be replaced by only the rim cylinder. The lock only requires a hole drilled straight through the door for the rim cylinder. 

Knob locks

They are often installed in residential homes on exterior (entry) doors.

Knob locks shouldn’t be used for primary security on exterior entry doors (of a home). The lock cylinder is in the knob itself but not the door. With this setup, someone can bypass the locking cylinder by breaking off the door knob with a hammer, a plier or a wrench behind the knob.

Lever Handle Locks

Lever handle locks are often installed on interior doors in commercial buildings.

The large push down style lets you open the doors easily which suits well with handicap accessibility. The locks can be changed between left or right handedness.

When torque attacks (i.e. excessive pressure applied to the handle forcing the lock) are applied to lever handle locks, they can be broken and the door behind will open.

Rim Latch Locks

The best function of a rim latch lock is that it can auto lock the door behind you. This function suits apartment doors.

A rim latch locks have a standard or custom rim cylinder on one side and a surface mount latch lock on the other side. The lock cannot take a large amount of force when it is used as an exterior door.

Other Locks

Other lock types include cam Locks, Euro thumbturn cylinders, furniture locks, interchangeable core cylinders, padlocks, rim / mortise cylinder Locks, vending / T-handle locks, wall mounted locks, etc.

Why Do Some Door Locks Lock Twice?

For additional security purpose, some door locks are designed for locking twice.

Doors with locks that lock two times work like this: The second turn locks the interior latch handle in place. Assume on the door there’s a glass window. When you smash through this window you cannot simply open the lock and door. It forces you to use the door’s key before you can properly open the door.

Really, twice locking adds more safety to the door and the room. You want to install the twice locking lock mechanism on the front door of your big house.

Can A Professional Locksmith Make A Key From A Door Lock?

A locksmith would most certainly be able to make a key from any standard door lock, though it’s a more difficult and complex process than simply replacing an exisiting lock with a new door lock.

It may also be more costly to make a key out of the lock, so you should have a fairly good reason for your locksmith to do that.

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