Emtek Select Straight Knurled Hinge Tips (4 tips per set)

They are two separate fits, not two quality levels. The Straight Knurled tips are sold matched to either heavy duty plain or ball bearing hinges, or to residential duty hinges, in the same 3-1/2 inch and 4 inch sizes. Look at the hinge already in your door: if it is a ball bearing hinge, order the heavy duty version in your size. Residential duty hinges take the residential option. Ordering across the two is the usual reason a tip will not seat.

Four tips per set. A standard hinge takes two tips, one top and one bottom, so one set caps two hinges. A door hung on three hinges needs two sets, and you will have two spare tips.

That is what they are for, provided the hinge is one of the sizes and duties Emtek lists: 3-1/2 x 3-1/2 or 4 x 4 in residential or heavy duty plain/ball bearing, or 4-1/2 x 4-1/2 and 5 x 5 in heavy duty plain or ball bearing. The tips are sold as replacement parts, so you swap the existing tips rather than replacing whole hinges. Check the hinge size across the open leaf before ordering, and confirm whether it is a ball bearing hinge.

Ten finishes are offered: 606 Satin Brass, 613 Satin Bronze Oil-Rubbed, 619 Satin Nickel, 625 Bright Chrome, Flat Black (US19), French Antique (US7), Pewter (US15A), Polished Brass Lifetime (US3), Polished Nickel (US14), and Unlacquered Brass (US3NL). Those are Emtek's standard finish codes, so a tip ordered in US15A Pewter matches Emtek trim ordered in US15A. Unlacquered brass is the one to watch, since it is meant to patina rather than hold its as-shipped look.

Emtek lists the Select Straight Knurled tips as residential. They are a decorative cap on the hinge barrel, so on a multi-family or commercial opening with a fire rating or a hardware schedule to meet, spec the hinge itself to that standard and treat the tip as trim rather than as part of the rating.

Purely cosmetic. The Straight Knurled tips are replacement parts that cap the top and bottom of the hinge barrel and change the look of the hinge, with a knurled straight profile in a contemporary style. Swing, load, and the pin itself are all functions of the hinge you buy them for, and none of that changes by fitting tips.

They do, within the range Emtek publishes. Between the two option axes you can order the same Straight Knurled tip and the same finish for 3-1/2 inch, 4 inch, 4-1/2 inch and 5 inch hinges, so a building with mixed hinge sizes still gets one consistent look. You order per hinge size and duty, and one set of four covers two hinges.

Brass, both the material and the substrate. That matters for the oil-rubbed and unlacquered options in particular, since those finishes live on the base metal and change over time rather than sitting on a plating layer.