The Framers Forum

Hey, just joined this forum to ask if anyone knew what these fixings were called in the attached photos below.

These are on the Ikea picture frames, and they're attached to the backing board and used to screw the backing board to the moulding to prevent the frame from bowing on larger frames. I'm having the issue of frame bowing on my larger frames so I'm either looking to buy something like these fixings, or if anyone has any other solutions it'd be great to hear.

I have several names for them which are not very polite.

I think 'alligator' hangers is the usual term.

They are best left to IKEA. Fine for jobs where you are shaving every penny, but for 'proper' framing there are
better options. You also need a press to apply them properly. And for heavy frames they are a bit risky.

Using bifurcated rivets to fix d-rings to the backboard is better in these circumstances. Cover the tails of the rivets with
aluminium tape to stop any possible rust migration to the art. The back needs to be MDF or Hardboard.

I think you're talking about the hanging fixings and not the fixings to attach the backing board the moulding? I'm trying to fix the MDF backing board to the moulding to prevent bowing. There is a alligator hanger in the first picture, but I'm looking for the name of the fixing above that, the one with the green box around it. Here's some more pictures to make it a little more clear which fixings I'm talking about.

Like these?

https://www.lionpic.co.uk/p/8999/Fletch ... --Box-3000

kartoffelngeist wrote:Like these?

https://www.lionpic.co.uk/p/8999/Fletch ... --Box-3000

Those look perfect, thank you

They are called 'closing the door after the horse has bolted fitting' because the IKEA MDF paper wrapped moulding is not strong to stop bending. so instead of stopping the problem by using real wood, they come up with this cheap fix

Sorry for misunderstanding.

I must admit I've never heard of such gizmos. Sounds like a over-complicated way of making good an iffy situation IMHO.

But if it works.....

prospero wrote:Sorry for misunderstanding.

I must admit I've never heard of such gizmos. Sounds like a over-complicated way of making good an iffy situation IMHO.

But if it works.....

Sounds like how I spend most of my day!

In the US we use double dog leg brackets called offset brackets.

https://888mfgcorp.com/ look at the bottom of the first page of their website.

Fixing like these are for the mass production side of framing. Most of them are supplied on long reels of anything upto 20,000 fixings on one roll and require a large and expensive machine to install them into the backing boards. If you are not producing tens of thousands of frames per month, then these fittings and machines make much less financial sense.

Lion supply various types of fixings that are applied using similar techniques with manually operated tools, the range of these tools appears to more restricted and you do need to purchase the correct top and bottom press tools to suit the fixing, but some of these press tools will work with a range of fixings. I can't tell you very much about any of these, to me they are just fixing I have seen in a catalogue.

Sorry, but you need to find someone who is better accquanted with this sort of thing to get some more meaningful answers. Speaking to someone at Lion may be your next thing to try.

Thanks for all the help guys, greatly appreciate it