Do you do fabrication? Can I get a catalog? How are products finished? Do you sell hinges? What is the difference between a handrail and a guardrail? Q: Do you do fabrication? A: No. Julius Blum & Co., Inc. supplies stock materials only and does not offer custom design, fabricating or installing services. It has always been our philosophy never to compete with our customers! If you need some help finding a fabricator, we are always happy to recommend firms. Q: Can I get a catalog? A: Printed catalogs are available free on request. Catalogs are also available for download. Q: How are products finished? A: Except as noted, all items in our catalog are supplied in a mill finish. Additional polishing, painting or anodizing of these items is not handled by Blum and would be performed by a professional polisher/finisher or the fabricator. The National Association of Architectural Metal Manufacturers (NAAMM) has an excellent metal finishing manual to assist in specifying architectural finishes. Visit www.naamm.org for more information. Q: Do you sell hinges? A: No we don't sell hinges. We are "Julius Blum & Co., Inc." There is another unrelated company based in Austria called "Julius Blum GmbH" that makes hinges and drawer parts. The web address of "Julius Blum GmbH" is http://www.blum.com Q: What is the difference between a handrail and a guardrail? A: Julius Blum & Co., Inc. has always stocked a wide range of handrail mouldings to suit many needs and conditions, but not all Blum handrails are suitable for all applications. Accessibility standards and code authorities often have dimensional limitations on handrail size which eliminate larger handrail mouldings from consideration. Confirm whether size limitations apply to your installation before specifying. Most building codes differentiate between handrail and guardrail. Handrails are generally defined as being used for guidance and support while the purpose of guardrails is to resist accidental falls. Handrail heights are commonly between 34" and 38", while guardrails are 42" in height. There is often a requirement that a guardrail have a handrail included as well. The detail to the right shows a glass railing used as a guardrail. The 3-1/2" cap rail is at a height of 42" - too high and too large for use as a handrail. A 1-1/2" pipe handrail section is mounted at a proper handrail height of 36". The handrail is mounted using a 307 bracket and a 224 glass mounting adapter kit. The tempered glass must be drilled prior to tempering to permit use of the 224 (see page 10 in Catalog 18 for more information). Back to top © Copyright 2000-2009 Julius Blum & Co., All Rights Reserved.