# Hardware Installation

https://kdisplay.com/capabilities/finishing/hardware-installation

Sheet metal hardware installation presses self-clinching nuts, studs, and standoffs into a panel and fits hinges, latches, and handles to it. K-Display, a Chicago sheet metal fabricator, installs the hardware you list on panels, covers, and enclosures, threaded parts before the powder coat and door hardware after.

## Overview
A self-clinching nut or stud is pressed into a punched hole until the sheet flows into its groove and locks it, leaving a thread in steel, stainless steel, or aluminum too thin to cut one into. Standoffs seat the same way. Hinges, latches, and handles are bolted or screwed on, and parts leave bare or powder coated with the hardware in place. Assembly joins the finished parts into a unit in a set order, then labels and packs it or packs the parts of one unit together.

## Materials
- Carbon steel
- Galvanized steel
- Galvanneal
- Stainless steel
- Aluminum

## Production volume
Hardware scope is reviewed with the assembly package and production quantity.

## Applications
- Front panels with self-clinching studs pressed in from the back to mount a display and its board.
- Chassis and card cages with standoffs that hold boards at a fixed height above the floor.
- Mounting plates with self-clinching nuts that give a bolt a thread in thin sheet.
- Kiosk doors hung on hinges and closed with latches.
- Rack-mount enclosures with standoffs that seat the boards and ground studs where the ground wire lands.

## Process
- Cut the holes to the hardware: We laser cut or punch each hole to the hardware's published hole size, so the nut or stud seats and locks.
- Press in the threaded hardware: We press each nut, stud, and standoff into the bare sheet until it locks.
- Mask and coat: We mask the threads and bare faces, covering them so the powder cannot reach, then powder coat the part.
- Fit hinges, latches, and handles: We fit hinges, latches, and handles to the cured part, and it leaves with every piece installed.

## Design considerations
A self-clinching nut locks only in sheet thick and soft enough for it and clear of the edge, because the sheet that flows into its groove needs metal around it to flow from. A nut outside those limits turns or pulls out, so we press each nut only where the sheet and the edge distance meet its maker's limits. A press-in nut enters from one face only, and a press needs a flat face on both sides of the hole, so a nut behind a bent-up edge has no room for the press. We press each piece from the face the drawing gives it. A door sweeps an arc as it opens, so a panel or bracket inside that arc stop…

## FAQ
**What hardware can K-Display install?**
The approved agency scope includes studs, nuts, fasteners, hinges, latches, handles, and other specified components. Final fit depends on the part design and assembly package.

**Should hardware appear in the 3D model?**
Show installed hardware as separate components in the assembly model when possible, and identify it by part number and location in the drawing or bill of material.

**Can customers supply the hardware?**
Customer-supplied and K-Display-sourced hardware can be reviewed. State the supply responsibility, approved part number, quantity, and delivery timing in the RFQ.

## Related pages
- [Assembly & Value-Added Services](https://kdisplay.com/capabilities/finishing/assembly)
- [Powder Coating](https://kdisplay.com/capabilities/finishing/powder-coating)
- [Laser Cutting](https://kdisplay.com/capabilities/cutting-forming/laser-cutting)
- [CNC Punching](https://kdisplay.com/capabilities/cutting-forming/cnc-punching)
- [Custom Front Panels & Bezels](https://kdisplay.com/products/panels-covers/front-panels-bezels)
- [Custom Chassis & Card Cages](https://kdisplay.com/products/chassis-cabinets/chassis-card-cages)
- [Custom Rack-Mount Enclosures](https://kdisplay.com/products/chassis-cabinets/rack-mount-enclosures)
- [Custom Mounting, Backing & Gland Plates](https://kdisplay.com/products/brackets-plates/mounting-backing-plates)