5

I built this wall mount thing (~ 3ft wide, 1/2" poplar) hung with a cleat (oak):

enter image description here

The problem is, I don't like the way the cleat looks. I think it looks sloppy. But, I want the piece to be backless, and flush to the wall. I also don't want to paint the cleat to match the wall -- I don't mind painting the wall side of it, but I don't want to paint the side attached to the piece.

I don't see myself putting more than 15 lbs of stuff on here but I'd like it to support 50 if possible.

Are there any wall mount options that aren't visible?

I'm not necessarily limited to modifying this piece, I'm also looking for options for future reference in new pieces.

Jason C
  • 5,603
  • 14
  • 44
  • 90
  • 1
    Reinforced keyhole slits in the uprights, slipped over VERY precisely located fasteners? Multiple rod-style invisible shelf supports (websearch should find these)? Toe-nailing into studs? – keshlam Oct 30 '16 at 03:27
  • @keshlam Oh neat, like these? I didn't know that was a thing. I wonder if I can find some really narrow ones. It'll be a challenge to drill that deep without ripping up the wood though. Keyholes, maybe... my keyhole router bit is too wide but I could just cut a slot and maybe find some metal keyhole plates or something. Good ideas. – Jason C Oct 30 '16 at 04:16

2 Answers2

3

If your sides are approximately 3/4", as they appear to be, you could use these Starhanger Green Glide inserts routed into the back edge of the sides, and then hang them on these Mount Bolts for a completely concealed look. It is a keyhole slot hardware, but it is compression fit, so you just mortise a hole to the specified size, and then just put it in with a mallet for a tight fit, and you are ready to hang.

enter image description here

We use their products a good bit in our shop for hanging panels, or anything that needs a concealed mounting system, and they have been great.

Jacob Edmond
  • 1,838
  • 9
  • 10
1

Good job on the case, it looks neat and solid.

The problem is, I don't like the way the cleat looks. I think it looks sloppy.

Agreed. I think the ideal ways to mount something like this invisibly are to hide the mounting cleats/battens within the overall design, or to use mounts that hide within the vertical parts of the case.

For the latter option there are a few alternatives, but possibly the simplest are keyhole hangers. They are unfortunately not a perfect solution because if you don't get your screws aligned dead on the thing won't hang at all, so you need to be very careful when drilling and driving your screws/hanger bolts because you may have just the one shot to get it right.

Because of this I think keyhole hangers aren't as useful as they seem initially for things that require more than one hanging point.

So back to cleats/battens, they'd look much better if they fit the bookcase perfectly, so no gaps at the sides advertising that it's a cleat and not part of the piece itself, and if the screws weren't on display. So in addition to cutting a new cleat to match the case counterbore your holes and plug 'em!

Graphus
  • 65,691
  • 3
  • 50
  • 139
  • For this particular piece, at the end of the day I did the following: Widen the wall side cleat to eliminate gaps, paint the wall side cleat the color of the wall, and shortened the piece side cleat vertically, so that the bevel started flush with the inside top of the piece and let the wall side hide the whole thing. I also counterbored the screws and plugged with plastic caps. In the future, my next attempt will be with these things I found: http://www.rockler.com/adjustable-flush-mount. I think with proper insets on the horizontals I can keep a piece flush to the wall. – Jason C Nov 11 '16 at 05:32
  • I agree that keyholes will be hard to place precisely. And I actually have a feeling I may finally settle on the "hidden" cleat I just described anyways, even after trying the flush mounts. Its the easiest way to align screws with studs. – Jason C Nov 11 '16 at 05:32