OK - I need some good ideas for a flexible picture
hanging system...

Requirements
============
I want to be able to hang some pictures on a wall
(plastered breeze block), but to have the ability
to remove the picture and the hanging mechanism and
have a nice blank wall left behind. Then some time
later to hang some pictures again, but in different
positions...

for example see

www.gillandroy.com/diy/pichang

Current thoughts
================
It seems to me that I'm not going to manage to get
a completely blank wall left behind when I remove
a pictures. So the question is how to minimise the
"damage"...

One plan is to embed some sort of screw threads into
the wall in a grid across the wall, that can be
blanked off when not in use. This will enable me
to attach/detach whatever hanging mechanism I choose.
When detatched I'm left with a hole in the wall that
needs to be covered in some fashion. Perhaps something
along the lines of the mushroom thingies like these...

www.gillandroy.com/diy/mushrooms

Not sure exactly how to implement/procure all
this - ho hum...

Any ideas/problems/guidance/thoughts would be
appreciated...

Thanks,
Roy

Any ideas/problems/guidance/thoughts would be
appreciated...

Shops often suspend pictures by wires that run from ceiling to floor -
would it be possible to adapt something like this ?

....something like a small channel iron hard up against where the ceiling
and wall meet - you could vary the width by sliding the "hanger" drops
to suit...

The fixing in the channel iron could be something as simple as a washer
or coin with a hole drilled in it (anything wide enough to stop it
sliding out of its own accord) with a length of cord knotted on one side

Forgive the crap ascii art below, but it might give you an idea what I
mean... (the hanger

_________CEILING_______
|| _&_ |
||_ { _| - channel iron
| }
| {
W }
A {
L O - drop and picture fixing
L
|
|

RzB wrote:

OK - I need some good ideas for a flexible picture
hanging system...

Check most victorian properties - handy thing called a picture rail!
Stick hook on it where you want and susspend piccie from it.

The modern equivilent would probably be track and vertical wire system.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

The modern equivilent would probably be track and vertical wire system.

(that`s what I was trying to describe :-} )

John Rumm wrote:
RzB wrote:

OK - I need some good ideas for a flexible picture
hanging system...

Check most victorian properties - handy thing called a picture rail!
Stick hook on it where you want and susspend piccie from it.

The modern equivilent would probably be track and vertical wire system.

picture rail, horizontal strip of velcro round the room, blutack, etc.
If youre more determined you could embed some steel in the plaster and
fit the pics with magnets. Depends on the app really, you dont say why
and therefore how much effort is worthwhile to achieve your ends.
Pegboard is a butt ugly option.


NT

Colin/John,
Thanks for your responses..
I was trying to do without the rail - sort of magic levitation stuff :-)

Normally when I hang pictures that don't need to be changed
occasionally, I would hide the hanging apparatus behind the
picture. That's the look I want to create, but I also want the
flexibility to change.

Hence my thoughts of having a small button on the wall that
is removed to reveal a threaded hole. I can then attach some
hanging mechanism that will end up behind the new picture.

Wall has got to be plastered in the near future so I can hack
about at will. I was considering burrying a small stainless
steel bar into the length of the wall with tapped holes in it a
regular intervals. This would be screwed to the breeze block
then covered with plaster but with the tapped holes clear.
Then there would just be a row of small buttons showing
along the wall. Might be an interesting feature in itself :-)
I wonder if I could manufacture some square headed buttons...

I wonder if the plaster would crack as the temp went up and down?

As you can see I'm going off into all kinds of weird fantasies :-)
I suppose a rail would be easier...

Hmmm...
Roy

picture rail, horizontal strip of velcro round the room, blutack, etc.
If youre more determined you could embed some steel in the plaster and
fit the pics with magnets. Depends on the app really, you dont say why
and therefore how much effort is worthwhile to achieve your ends.
Pegboard is a butt ugly option.



Ahh - our posts crossed...

Magnets - now there's a thought...

I would need to do some calculations re the pull offered up by these
rare earth magnets vs. the heaviest picture I might hang...

Excellent idea - thanks very much.

I will investigate and fantasize a little more :-)

Roy

In article ,
Owain writes:
RzB wrote:
Magnets - now there's a thought...
I would need to do some calculations re the pull offered up by these
rare earth magnets vs. the heaviest picture I might hang...

Just clad the walls in stainless steel (very fashionable, wipe-clean,
and means the l33t script kiddi3 next door can't watch what you're
watching on telly with a Tempest scanner) and get your pictures printed
on magnetic vinyl by a signprinter.

Wouldn't it be funny if someone really went to all this effort,
only then to discover stainless steel isn't magnetic ;-)

--
Andrew Gabriel

Andrew Gabriel wrote:

Just clad the walls in stainless steel (very fashionable, wipe-clean,
and means the l33t script kiddi3 next door can't watch what you're
watching on telly with a Tempest scanner) and get your pictures printed
on magnetic vinyl by a signprinter.


Wouldn't it be funny if someone really went to all this effort,
only then to discover stainless steel isn't magnetic ;-)

No but it can be smooth, so rubber suckers on the back of the piccies
ought to work! ;-)

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

In article ,
Owain writes:
Andrew Gabriel wrote:
Just clad the walls in stainless steel ... get your pictures printed
on magnetic vinyl by a signprinter.
Wouldn't it be funny if someone really went to all this effort,
only then to discover stainless steel isn't magnetic ;-)

Oh, arse!

A quick test with a 1" dia. magnet reveals that (compared to the fridge
door) "stainless steel" saucepan is 50% magnetic, "stainless steel"
cutlery is 100% magnetic, and "stainless steel" sink is maybe 5% magnetic.

Depends on the alloy. Good quality stainless steel isn't magnetic,
except for knife blades which have to use a different alloy to
avoid rapidly going blunt. Just did a quick check around my kitchen
of all the stainless steel (hob, oven, sink, cutlery, microwave),
and except for the knife blades and microwave liner, none of it is
magnetic.

--
Andrew Gabriel

On Fri, 4 Aug 2006 21:12:49 UTC, "RzB"
wrote:

OK - I need some good ideas for a flexible picture
hanging system...

We had this problem at work...two piece solution..

1) Fit a nice wooden strip to the wall (about 5cm wide, perhaps) running
horizontally. But fix it so that it's packed out about (say) 2.5cm from
the wall, and densely populate the reverse size with small cup hooks.

2) There is a hanging system you can buy for this, but basically thin
metal rods or wires, loop in the top end, varying lengths. Clamps on the
wires to hold anything you like (hooks, cords) for the pictures; clamps
can be moved to accommodate a particular picture. Or use very thin cord.

--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
Avenue Supplies, http://avenuesupplies.co.uk

Or use very thin cord.

I suppose fishing line is about as close as you can get to invisible if
you're suspending from above - and it is quite fine relative to the
breaking strength...

The hardest thing with that would likely be how to fine-tune the drops
to the pics hang properly level, but it could probably be done quite
well by simply wrapping a few turns around a matchstick behind the
picture...

Colin Wilson wrote:

Or use very thin cord.

I suppose fishing line is about as close as you can get to invisible if
you're suspending from above - and it is quite fine relative to the
breaking strength...

The hardest thing with that would likely be how to fine-tune the drops
to the pics hang properly level, but it could probably be done quite
well by simply wrapping a few turns around a matchstick behind the
picture...

fine clear fishing line or invisible sewing thread could be used with a
Victorian style piture rail, or a simple rectangular section wood rail
higher up. Staple into it on the top side and those staples arent seen,
and nor is the nylon.

NT

wrote in message
fine clear fishing line or invisible sewing thread could be used with a
Victorian style piture rail, or a simple rectangular section wood rail
higher up. Staple into it on the top side and those staples arent seen,
and nor is the nylon.


hmm.. that's interesting... as I said before I am trying to do
this somehow without the rail.

However this has sparked something in my mind, because I have
been considering having "coving" at the wall/ceiling join. Not the
normal quarter round coving, a sort of contemporary stepped
section. Perhaps this could somehow be used as a picture rail...

There must be a good way to fasten the picture to the fishing
line. This I see as the biggest problem here..

Some of the pictures might be quite heavy. Probably max 10kg.
Any idea what sort of static weight, a lightweight near invisible
fishing line will carry?

I feel some experiments coming on!!

Many thanks for the thoughts...

Roy

On Sat, 5 Aug 2006 21:09:59 UTC, Colin Wilson
wrote:

Or use very thin cord.

I suppose fishing line is about as close as you can get to invisible if
you're suspending from above - and it is quite fine relative to the
breaking strength...

The hardest thing with that would likely be how to fine-tune the drops
to the pics hang properly level, but it could probably be done quite
well by simply wrapping a few turns around a matchstick behind the
picture...

That's the attraction of the clamps and rods - the rods are very thin
and, although not invisible, look reasonable.
--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
Avenue Supplies, http://avenuesupplies.co.uk

Some of the pictures might be quite heavy. Probably max 10kg.
Any idea what sort of static weight, a lightweight near invisible
fishing line will carry?

http://www.sportfish.co.uk/product/3...lon_27.5m.html

Looks like 26lb line is 0.56mm thick or thereabouts

RzB wrote:
wrote in message
fine clear fishing line or invisible sewing thread could be used with a
Victorian style piture rail, or a simple rectangular section wood rail
higher up. Staple into it on the top side and those staples arent seen,
and nor is the nylon.


hmm.. that's interesting... as I said before I am trying to do
this somehow without the rail.

you could always embed a wood rail in the plaster, flush, and have some
wall-coloured emulsion mixed with lime as a filler in an airtight tube,
just rub a little on over any staple holes. Ensure the wood's stable
though.


Some of the pictures might be quite heavy. Probably max 10kg.
Any idea what sort of static weight, a lightweight near invisible
fishing line will carry?

fishing line is weight rated. You need clear for light walls, smokey
for dark.


NT