Rockwood SD1260 Standard Duty Protector Bars

Mounting holes are 8 inches center to center on the SD1260. Lay that out on the door face and drill through, because the bar fastens with #10-24 x 1 flat head machine screws and sex bolts, which means a through-bolted assembly rather than screws biting into the door. Both faces need to be accessible when you install it.

Yes, because it through bolts. The SD1260 ships with #10-24 x 1 flat head machine screws and sex bolts, so the fastener passes through the door and clamps against a barrel on the far side. That works in hollow metal and in wood without needing the door to hold a thread. The tradeoff is that you get a visible sex bolt head on the opposite face, and you cannot use it where the back side is inaccessible.

The SD1260 is a stainless steel bar that mounts on the door face to take the hits instead of the door and its trim. It stands 3-1/4 inches off the face, so carts, gurneys, and hand trucks strike the bar rather than the door skin, the lever, or the pull. Standard duty, and Rockwood builds it for commercial openings, which is where you see it: hospital corridors, school hallways, back-of-house doors in hotels and restaurants, and loading side entrances.

One finish: 630 satin stainless steel, the same thing older specs call US32D. It is solid stainless steel, not plated, so scratches from cart traffic do not expose a different base metal underneath. If your other door hardware on the opening is 630 satin stainless, this matches; if the building is standardized on 626 satin chrome brass, the SD1260 will read slightly different in color against it.

They solve different problems, and on a busy corridor door people often install both. A pull is there to move the door. A protector bar like the SD1260 is there to absorb impact, so it sits proud of the face at 3-1/4 inches and shields the trim and the door skin from carts and equipment. If your complaint is dented doors and bent levers rather than a hard door to open, the bar is the part you want. If people are grabbing the bar to pull the door anyway, size and mount it where a hand naturally lands.

It is a commercial grade part in stainless steel, and Rockwood hardware of this kind goes into institutional buildings, schools, hotels, detention, and sports facilities. Standard duty is the lighter of Rockwood's protector bar tiers, so it suits normal cart and traffic contact on a corridor or service door. For an opening that takes repeated hard strikes from loaded carts or powered equipment, step up to a heavy duty protector bar rather than pushing the standard duty version.

Anything through bolted to a fire rated door leaf has to be permitted by the door manufacturer's listing, because drilling the leaf can void the label. The SD1260 mounts with #10-24 machine screws and sex bolts through the door, so before it goes on a labeled opening, take that fastening method to the door manufacturer and confirm it is allowed on that specific door.

No handing to specify. The SD1260 is a symmetrical bar fastened through the door on 8 inch centers, so it goes on a left hand or right hand door the same way. What you do need to decide is which face it mounts on (push side, pull side, or both) and where vertically it needs to sit to intercept the traffic hitting your door.