Fastener specialist Rapierstar is providing extensive support to window and door manufacturer Shelforce to streamline fastener usage and ensure its workforce is fully supported to achieve the highest quality finished products.
The Birmingham-based manufacturer, which specialises in the supply of windows and doors to the social housing, new build and schools sectors, is already benefiting from a 25% reduction in the number of different types of fasteners it uses following a Rapierstar fastener ‘Health Check’.
High levels of invisible atmospheric pollution across the UK could be undermining the long term quality of even the best manufactured windows and doors due to the wrong types of fasteners being used in their assembly, according to Rapierstar.
As Simon Monks, MD of hardware distributor VBH (GB) highlighted recently in an article, air pollution is a global problem, so no part of the UK can be immune to its effects. While the focus is usually on the serious dangers it poses to human health, wildlife and the environment, airborne pollution can have a catastrophic effect on certain grades of steel hardware used in windows and doors.
Scotland’s unique specialist distributor to the glass and glazing and door and window sectors, Abacus Agents, has added new Rapierstar high performance fastener options to its range to help customers upgrade the quality of their manufacture and installation.
Serving customers across Scotland and the north of England, Abacus Agents is unique in offering a range of products that covers all aspects of glass and glazing, as well as door and window manufacturing, installation and repair.
With a design specifically for British wall construction, StarFix® masonry screws from window and door fastener specialist Rapierstar could help installers achieve a better all-round result in less time and without generating unnecessary plastic waste.
StarFix fasteners are designed for quick and easy installation, requiring only a 6mm or 6.5mm pilot hole through the frame, reinforcement and brickwork before the screw can be driven into place. This saves times as there is no need to drill to accommodate a plug or anchor and plastic waste is reduced too – a hot topic for consumers at the moment.
Sticking, scraping and binding friction stays could be a thing of the past thanks to the development of the new LFG low profile screw by window and door fastener specialist Rapierstar.
Following a comprehensive 12-month trial with several major fabricators and distributors across the UK fenestration sector, Rapierstar is extending the roll out this pan head fastener, which is specifically designed to attach friction stays to PVC-U frames. LFG was developed by Rapierstar at its NPD and technical centre in Cheshire in combination with a leading friction stay manufacturer in response to feedback from across the industry, but it has the potential to deliver better casements for fabricators using any hinge brands.
Specialist fastener advice from Rapierstar on choosing the correct fabrication screws, and applying them in the right way, is helping window and door fabricators to maintain and improve their health and safety performance and eliminate accident risks.
‘Health Check’ audits offer a comprehensive review of and advice on the usage of fabrication screws throughout the manufacturing process, and provide valuable insights into where production operatives could be risking serious injuries as a result of poor component choice.
Rapierstar’s specialist technical support has played a key role in helping West Port to achieve high performing fire rated door-sets, by eliminating the risk of failure during testing as a result of the incorrect choice and application of fasteners.
Rapierstar, which is the UK’s market-leading supplier of window and door fasteners, is recommending that fire door manufacturers follow West Port’s lead and not overlook the major role that these smallest of components play in a door-set’s structural integrity, durability and long term quality. West Port door-sets offer outstanding performance in either 30-minute or 60-minute options, providing installers with a trusted fire protection solution.
Paul Balfe, Technical Consultant at Rapierstar, has completed one of the toughest challenges for amateur cyclists, fulfilling a long-held ambition and raising funds for MacMillan Cancer Support, the North West Air Ambulance and several other charities.
Covering more than 115 miles in around nine and a half hours and climbing 3,500m, Paul took part in the 2019 Saddleback Fred Whitton Challenge, one of the most popular sportives in the UK which is famed as being particularly difficult. The route around the Lake District starts at Grasmere and takes in climbs of Kirkstone, Honister, Newlands, Whinlatter, Hardknott and Wrynose passes, ranking alongside European events such as the Marmotte in terms of difficulty.
