Quality, Safety, and Good Work Mesh Together

Buzzworthy Fireplace Barriers from Quanex

Two things drove the creation of Quanex’s fireplace barriers business. New regulations. And bugs.

First, the Regulations

“The business really began back in 2012, when the Hearth, Patio and Barbecue Association (HPBA) announced self-imposed guidelines its members had to subscribe to, which was prompted by kids being burned when making contact with hot glass that made up the front of fireplaces,” said Jeff Smith, director of channel sales, Quanex. “Essentially, they had to pass a new deflection test and heat test for safety.”

Second, the Bugs.

“We already had a core competency around building insect screens,” he continued. “We knew we had a product to contribute, so we leveraged our engineering team in Rice Lake, Wisconsin, to develop a screen and certified barrier that met the fireplace specifications.”

The team repurposed the plant’s existing insect screen equipment to model, design and develop a rigid fireplace screen that not only met specifications but would work with both new fireplaces and retrofits, as certified barriers were not widely adopted at that point.

There were questions

Naturally, customers—fireplace manufacturers—had questions. “How do you know how to do the integration piece?” Jeff said, relaying the inquiries he and the team anticipated and heard. “How do I introduce the screen on the fireplace? I’ll need attachment mechanisms. I’ll need brackets. Can you bore holes through the screen?”

Quanex Had Answers

The team:

• Made top-quality coatings to resist high heat and scratches.
• Bore holes are precisely placed on the screen to attach to the prime unit.
• Employed a patented T-web corner lock and a metal pressed-in spline for rigid construction and corner reinforcement.
• Steel instead of aluminum was used to ensure a robust assembly that would stand up to an active environment.
• Developed a magnetic attachment for aftermarket retrofits.

“The secret to this success was to continue to improve on the model we developed by thinking through each particular application,” Jeff said.

Invested in Doing the Right Thing

The Rice Lake facility where the fireplace screens are made has roughly three CNC machines and 350 people across 300,000 square feet, making it one of the larger plants in the NAF network. Fireplace barrier frame production is a fully integrated manufacturing process where teams make the components precisely to specifications rather than buying parts and assembling them.

The team takes pride in following the CREED and doing the right thing, which aligns with the core purpose behind the fireplace screens and is the reason Quanex got into that vertical market in the first place: to make homes safer and provide more peace of mind for families with children and pets.

“It’s gratifying. It’s not like other products. It has real meaning to it,” Jeff said. “I think we’re not just creating a product that’s utilitarian and has safety features, but it makes the world a better place. A safer place.”

And does Jeff, after years of working with these screens, ever look at fireplaces the same anymore?

“It’s everywhere I go,” he said. “I walk into a house or lobby and notice right away. For some people, a fireplace is a source of heat or a pretty flame in a corner. I look at it with nostalgia but also think of the children we’ve saved from getting burned. After 24 years at Quanex, this has truly been one of the highlights of my career.”

InvisiMesh™. You Gotta Not See It to Believe It.

The latest innovation from Quanex fireplace screens, InvisiMesh is made with a special formulation that still protects but is practically invisible from six feet away (1.929 meters) or more. The result allows users to see the beauty of the flame more clearly.

“Customers are astonished when we show it to them,” Jeff said. “We have a certified barrier; it protects kids, and it makes the space more aesthetically appealing.”

What are Deflection and Heat Tests?

These tests ensure a fireplace screen is strong enough to avoid contact with the fireplace glass and that the screen won’t reach a temperature warm enough to burn skin.

The deflection test is a way to ensure a child or pet pushing on the screen or barrier won’t burn themselves on the fireplace glass. To mimic this action, a two-inch (5.08 cm) puck is applied to the center of the screen with 10 pounds (4.536 kg) of pressure. If the barrier doesn’t contact the fireplace glass, it passes the test.

The heat test is similar. A one-inch (2.55 cm) puck is applied to the center of the screen with five pounds (2.268 kg) of pressure, while a heat gauge measures the temperature of the screen cloth. If it stays below 137°F (58.3°C), it passes the test.