The Framers Forum

Im working on a framed wall clock made within a deep box frame. I've included 2 x images of the back of the frame. The clock part lies flush in line with the back board and mould and I was wanting it to sit as flush to a wall as possible. The clock part has a hanging feature on it but these are made of cheap plastic and it doesn't feel overly sturdy as the frame itself is quite heavy. I'd like to offer a customer an alternative method to hang this frame so it can still sit as close to a wall as possible.

The width of the moulding on back is a little over 10mm thick. Is there anything simple that I can either use on the sides of moulding or attach to the mdf backboard? Ideally I don't want anything that takes an awfull long time to put together or is too expensive. Customers need to be able to remove easily so as to replace a battery if required.

Any help greatly appreciated.

We use these from Lion https://www.lionpic.co.uk/p/11799/Keyho ... 100-Pieces
Use them all the time for hanging pictures flush to the wall, we normally use 2 per frame, but you could just use 1 to save money, just fit to the centre of top rail.

I think Steve's idea would work fine - of course the two screws would have to be perfectly level on the wall.

Another option would be to use a pair of Wallbuddies. But mount them "inside out" - I suggest this as I see that you have a large recess behind the moulding so that the Wallbuddies could shape inward rather than outward allowing the frame to hug the wall tighter.



Wallbuddies

John

thank you both for your replies.

I'm interested in the Keyhole plates as per the Lions website but just wondered if these are supplied with the nails or screws to hold the plates in place on the moulding? When reading the lions description it mentions supplied with 2 matching round head screws but I'm confused as to whether these to place into the wall or the screws to hold the plates in place on moulding. If it doesn't come with the insert screws for moulding where do I purchase them?

What it says on the LION site is
"Slotted hole is inverted, so that you can fix this plate in pairs to the top inside edge of the frame, pointing down.

Two matching round head screws into the wall will slot into the keyholes, providing a hidden fixing.

Which means, they recommend you use two plates per frame, then all that is needed is to fit two screws in the wall so the plates will locate on said screws,
you have to provide the 2 screws per plate to fit to the frame, these plates do NOT come with screws, you have to provide them, as LION do not know how wide/thick the moulding is, you should fit the plates with Flat head screws
"

There are times when I use the French cleat technique using suitable chamfered mouldings of slips, where one piece of moulding fit to the wall and the other sits inside the top rail on the frame. I'm not so organised to stock specific mouldings just for this purpose, but I improvise and adapt what ever I have handly to do the job.

More recently, I equiped myself with a fairly good range of woodworking equipment, so I can always reshape something to suit specific requirements. You don't need to have masses of equipment to be able to do quite a lot of different tasks as there are many different ways of tackling any given small task. In days gone by, woodworkers used to tackle almost anything with just a basic set of tools and this principle still holds good.

Although woods like pine don't always cut with a completely smooth finish and can need a little sandpapering to finish, this is not always true of other woods. I have a table saw with a 10" 60 tooth blade and when cutting obeche, it produces a surprisingly smooth finish and although I only need to produce french cleats somewhat infrequently, something from the scrap bin only takes minuites to reshape and re-purpose.

I don't think the French cleat method is applicable in this instance, it looks like a cheap frame from IKEA, for a clock, the customer will want a quick and easy way to fit it to the wall, also the OP will want a quick way to fit to the back of the frame

I like these CWH fittings from Lion - nice and neat and easy to use.
Good luck
Jonathan

Mark, your french cleats would be worth more than the frame Sorry daveym, but it is an Ikea isn't it

Just do what Steve N suggests and you and your customer will be happy Just make sure you get the upside down version (not joking)

Be careful screwing into these frames whenever I've been asked to put hangers on these they just turn to mush when you screw into them.

Thanks everyone and also thank you David for pointing out about the upside down version as I would have never have known this.

I am struggling to find alternative sellers of these as opposed to using Lions as if I purchase a pack of 100 and screws, it won't go over the £50.00 spend mark so wondered if there were alternative online shops that might supply these plates & the flathead/roundhead screws suitable so I can purchase all from the same place at the same time.

I can add them to my order and then post onto you if you want, £16.00 should cover it, including P&P, PayPal fees , my order will be with me on Tuesday afternoon, so could post on Wednesday , just PM me your email address and I'll send you a PayPal invoice for payment, if you want to take me up on my offer, just need to know by the weekend if you want to go ahead

This company has a £5 minimum spend but as they are retail you will pay more for the product.

https://www.ukpictureframingsupplies.co ... s-33-c.asp

https://www.ukpictureframingsupplies.co ... h-42-c.asp

You could also look in DIY sheds or your local hardware shop?

thanks to you all for your advice to far. I was going to go ahead and purchase the upside down keyhole plates today but Dave J mentioned the back could turn to mush so I did some testing over the weekend using certain screws and the frame does turn to mush with minimal screw inserted. It's a very poor quality wood that is described as mdf but I wouldn't say it was. So therefore I'm not at a complete loss as to how to hang these inexpensively now. I can't risk the customer using the hanging feature on the clock part as it's made of plastic and in my opinion the overall frame is too heavy.

The backboard used on this frame is a far stronger piece of mdf that I had custom made for these frames and measures approx 13mm thick. I can nail/screw into areas within this so as to place some kind of hook but it still needs to be relatively flush to the wall. I tried inserting a screw into the corner of the mdf backboard and that too causes issues as the mdf starts to break up slightly but if you move inside the board by approx 20mm-30mm a screw canbe inserted without any damage to the board.

The backboard is 9mm lower than both the height of the frame and the back of the clock part so wondered if anything could be achieved by using the backboard to mount some kind of hanging feature?

I take it that you drilled a pilot hole first in the frame to take the screw and not use a powered screwdriver, but a hand screwdriver to insert the screw

I'm sure DaveJ is absolutely right in saying these frames are not good quality but I do agree that using a pilot hole could solve the problem.

Is this a one off job?

You say your mdf back board is 13mm thick, do you have some D-rings and cord or wire? 13mm thick is plenty to attach some D-rings directly to the back board with good quality 13mm screws like these. Because the back board is below the back of the frame, when hung on a regular picture hook the frame will sit quite flush against the wall, try it and see Just make sure the cord/wire is not too slack.

Another way would be to glue a small strip of wood to the top of the back board so it is flush with the back of the frame. You can then attach the keyhole mirror plate to that.

Whichever method you go for, don't forget to drill a pilot hole first