Mounting?

[Synon]

Hello all! I'm just getting started with woodworking and I've created my first piece, a wall mounted coat rack. I'm big into re-using materials so this is actually a piece of pallet wood (oak maybe?), it's definitely harder that most of the other pallet wood I come across. I found a Celtic knot on the web and printed it out for a template. It's just about done, I couldn't find any coat hooks that I liked, most were too big, so I ended up using some larger cup hooks (1/2" I believe)... unless I find some better hooks that I like!

I have one step left before I move on to my next project, and that's mounting this thing on the wall. I don't expect this to hold a ton of weight, maybe a couple coats and a camelbak with a few pounds of stuff. Should I find a stud for this? Maybe these don't go well together, but what's the easiest way to mount this without taking away from the aesthetics? Thanks all!

[Ben H]

Absolutely find a stud(s). It's hard to tell from the pic, but your studs should 16" in spacing. One on each end should do the trick.

If it were me, I'd find a larger hook, screw the wood to the wall, then install my outer two hooks in the same hole the screws are in, hiding the head of the screws by the hook.

[Onboard]

Synon, I don’t see where you’re located in the world, but assuming your in America or Canada, I’ll go with Ben’s advice. If your coat rack is not long enough to span 16” centers, and assuming you don’t have some other wall structure (like lath and plaster), you could anchor one end to a stud and the other end with a toggle bolt through the sheet rock.

As far as the coat hooks go, you might check out these, or maybe these. Rockler is just an example. Many other suppliers have these including Lee Valley in Canada.

By the way, with the hooks you have, I've found that I have to hang the coat by the coat label or loop which can eventually tear it out with heavier coats. I also find that with a peg, or a larger smoother hook, I can hang the coat by the collar and don't have to think about getting the coat label or loop over the hook. Just my experience.

[Larry Marshall]

As others have suggested, it's hard to know from the photo how long this piece is. My guess is that it's not very long.

Hanging such a thing needs to achieve two goals. First is that you don't want it to fall off the wall. The second is that you don't want it to rotate if someone hangs a coat on the end of it.

For those reasons, I'd suggest you use a French cleat to hold it on the wall. If it'd been me I would have built one into the piece itself. French cleats have many virtues but the big deal is that they are easy to do and, because they are a relatively long hanger (it can be as long as your piece), you attach the cleat piece that mounts on the wall using several toggle bolts, eliminating the dependence upon studs being the right place. Also, their nature allows you to remove the piece easily.

For this piece I'd use 1/4" stock and size it to hide behind the top of your piece. I'd cut a couple other 1/4" pieces that I'd glue to the bottom corners just to keep the piece parallel to the wall.

Cheers --- Larry

[Synon]

Thanks guys! Unfortuntely the piece is only a bit over 14", just short! I should have spent more time with the planning phase, I hadn't thought this part out.

Thanks Ben for the suggestion, that's a great idea, I'll start looking at some different hooks that may be able to hide a screw/toggle.

Onboard thanks for the link with the hooks, I think one of those will be much better than the cup hooks.

Larry, the french cleat looks like an interesting solution! I'm wondering though since this is so light if it will have problems with accidently being knocked up and out of place or even off the wall, maybe I'm not visualizing the idea right.