When you open a cupboard or run water from a sink, you often do not think about the fasteners used in everyday objects: functional, mostly invisible solutions that make your home more comfortable.
Design for furniture and interior design require fasteners that combine strength, functionality, and aesthetics. To keep up with new trends, and the creativity of architects and designers, companies must be ready to develop highly innovative fasteners, also custom-made.
Fastening systems for furniture: requirements and characteristics
Fasteners used in furniture and interior design must meet four main requirements:
- durability, to ensure tightness over time;
- resistance to high weight loads, impacts, stresses, and wear;
- aesthetics, especially in products that require invisible or low-impact fixing solutions;
- easy and fast installation.
Fasteners can be found in almost everyday objects: tables, chairs, doors, kitchen cabinets, bookcases, bathroom furniture, sanitary appliances, closets, lighting, wall panels, etc. The materials involved can be many: wood, metal, composites…
Fasteners for furniture: what are they made of?
Fasteners used in furniture can be made of carbon steel, stainless steel, and aluminum. Among these, stainless steel is the material with the longest durability and highest corrosion resistance (there are also different degrees of “stainlessness”).
Treated carbon steel is also widely used, as it offers high mechanical and corrosion resistance. On the other hand, aluminum presents greater durability than coated carbon steel, but is “softer” and therefore unsuitable for applications on sheet metal and steel supports. Its use is limited to fastening aluminum sheets to wood supports or some limited applications of aluminum on aluminum.
Other common materials include brass, for interior use and on woodworking items, and some aluminum alloys.
The perfect fastener for every project
Looking at the different types of fasteners, we can have screws, nuts, bolts, bushes, rivets, and press-in systems. Invisible fasteners are very popular, for example in the application of wall panels: the absence of “visible” fasteners reduces the aesthetic impact and allows greater constructive freedom.
To sum up, the choice of the right fastener for a project depends on many factors, often connected. In particular, we need to consider:
- the material of the fastener and that of the substrate which requires fastening. For example, applying a screw to wood and sheet metal requires a thicker thread and a pointed end, while metal parts require a finer thread;
- the weight of the load to be supported;
- the resistance to stress application;
- the required clamping force.
Specialinsert® fastening solutions
Specialinsert® has always offered a wide range of fasteners for applications in the field of interior design and furniture. Standard products are available, as well as customized solutions to meet the specific needs of each project. Our innovations include:
- Press-in self-anchoring threaded inserts KEEP-NUT®, which can be used to create threaded seats on slabs of marble, granite, or other natural stones, composites, carbon, Corian, HPL, glass, and other solid surfaces. Their characteristics make them suitable for sanitary elements, sinks, countertops, and other kitchen components.
- Threaded rivets DEFORM-NUT®, to connect two or more parts in materials such as aluminum, steel, plastic, and composites, with a minimum thickness of 0.5 mm, solving threading problems on thin elements, ensuring maximum tightness and excellent aesthetics.
- Quick pressure anchoring system FAST-CON®, to quickly connect panels and coverings by simple pressing. This solution allows for a concealed mechanical fixing, making the union of two parts quick and reliable, and is particularly suitable for panelings, false ceilings, boiserie, removable coverings, removable seats, doors, furniture items, etc.
- Threaded bushes for wood ESPAND-NUT, ideal for non-removable fastenings and specially used in the furniture industry for paneling and connections of doors and hinges, given their small size.
- Inserts for the interior of the tubes CROWN-NUT, press-in threaded inserts for the creation of threaded seats at the head of round and square section tubes, suitable for adjustable attachments on metal feet and shelving.
- Self-threading bushes, with metric internal thread and special external thread for strong anchorage on soft materials, wood, and related products.
- Tubular threaded rivets DEFORM-NUT® TC/SC/1, deformation inserts with a knurled body that allow a mechanical and chemical structural anchorage on sandwich panels.
Explore your creative freedom: you can always rely on our specialists to choose the most suitable fastener for your projects or contact us to design a customized solution.
