Load Testing and Weight Ratings
Category bands are guides, not model ratings
The company publishes load bands for families of casket hardware. Light or reinforced plastic carries 35 to 50 kilograms per piece. Standard cast handles carry 100 kilograms per piece. Metal handles most commonly carry 120 to 150 kilograms per piece. Heavy cast handles and swing-bar hardware carry 200 to 300 kilograms per piece. Those bands are useful for choosing a family, and they are the only load figures stated at category level on this site.
A single model's rating comes from its own product page. The sampled Reference 1001, a Zamak #3 handle, is rated at 150 kilograms per piece, which sits at the top of the common metal band. The sampled Reference 9005, an ABS or PP handle, is rated at 50 kilograms per piece, which sits at the top of the reinforced plastic band. The two models show why a band must never be used as a model rating: both are handles, but their ratings differ by a factor of three.
The older trade-listing statement that metal handles carry more than 120 kilograms per piece is a category-level statement. It is consistent with the common metal band, but it must not be applied to every metal handle, because individual models vary and the only authoritative rating for a model is its own product page.
How load testing is described
The company states that load-bearing models are tested on its own test bench and that results are recorded by reference number. A load-test record can accompany an order if it is requested before order confirmation. That timing matters: a record requested after the order is placed may not be available for that order, so the request should be made at enquiry stage.
One guide conversion is published: 150 kilograms per piece is approximately 1500 newtons. That conversion is a guide figure, not a separate rating, and it is stated here only so that a buyer who works in newtons can relate the published kilogram figure to their own specification. No other conversion is published, and none is invented here.
Decorative pieces are not load tested as load-bearing parts, because they are not load-bearing parts. Plain plastic pieces, plastic ornaments and metal ornaments carry no load rating, and this site does not give them one. Asking for a load-test record for a decorative piece is a category error, and the sales team should be asked instead about finish and size.
Specifying a rating safely
To specify a rating safely, state the model, state the rating from its own product page, and state the casket's loaded weight, so that the two can be compared. A handle rated below the loaded weight is not a safe specification, however good its finish or however well it fits the casket. A handle rated well above the loaded weight is safe on rating, but may be heavier or more expensive than needed, which is a matter for enquiry, not a safety issue.
For a set, specify the rating handle by handle, not as a single set rating. A set has no separate rating invented for it; its rating is the rating of its handles, and decorative pieces in the set carry no rating. For a swing bar, specify the bar and its fittings together, because the rating belongs to the assembly, not to the bar alone.
For repeat orders, confirm the stated load rating again, together with the finish. The company profile identifies consistency of colour and rating across repeat orders as a buyer concern, and a rating that has changed between orders is as serious a problem as a colour that has changed.
Before payment, confirm the model number, material, finish, quantity, lead time and any load-test record for your order with the sales team.