How to Attach Flat Board to Wall With Hidden Fasteners?

[Steve H Graham]

How would you attach this keychain holder to a wall and keep the fasteners hidden? It's around 20" long and 7/16" thick.

I was wondering if 4 little patches of Velcro would work, but Velcro is a kind of tape, and tape likes to come off of vertical surfaces.

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[Jamie Buxton]

French cleat. You can buy metal ones which are only a sixteenth or two thick.

[glenn bradley]

Recent quilt hanger.

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Years ago wall cabinet.

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[Lee Schierer]

Key hole slots made with a router bit on the back of the board. A couple of pan head screws in dry wall anchor in the wall.

Command makes some heavy duty velcro strips (https://www.amazon.com/Command-Picture-Hanging-Strips-17206-ES/dp/B00404YKZI?th=1) that are rated to hold 16 pounds.

[Steve H Graham]

Thanks for the help.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Alien tape.

(just read and follow directions)

[Steve H Graham]

How does a person make those little cavities in the photo on post 3? If I grabbed a router and tried to freehand those, I would probably destroy the project and end up in the emergency room. Does someone make templates?

[Jim Becker]

I use the little keyhole brackets that Glenn shows...I use them enough that I actually have a file for my CNC machine to cut the recesses, but that's easily done by hand, too. I prefer the metal versions to using a keyhole slot cutter directly in the wood because the can be used in thinner material if necessary and also have some form to them that draws the object being hung tight to the wall when the screw is properly adjusted while allowing the initial push onto the screw(s) to be easier.

[Steve H Graham]

I gave Velcro a shot and found out it doesn't like Danish oil.

[Steve H Graham]

I should add that there are now a lot of fancy products for fastening stuff to walls. I started Googling in desperation, and I found out. Velcro is involved in some of them. It looks like using nails and hooks is a bad idea these days. The 3M company makes a product called the Claw that goes into drywall without a hammer, and they also make a product that uses adhesive strips.

As for my problem, I figured out what to do. I'll use Velcro again and use staples or a few tiny screws to anchor the corners to the wood so the Velcro can't peel off. I'll also clean the wood with a solvent to get rid of the Danish oil which is making Velcro come off. I don't have to have a perfect finish on the back of the wood.

The reason I like Velcro is that it doesn't let things rock. A keychain holder will be touched all the time, so it's not like a picture. It has to be solidly mounted, and you can't use something that will come loose over time because the touching makes it rock.

[Stan Calow]

If you don't have a plunge router, but have the keyhole bit, you can drill holes for the wide part of the bit to start. Then you just move the router a short distance for the slot

[Steve H Graham]

I stuck the key rack on the wall with Velcro, and I made sure the Velcro was stapled to the board. It will be there when the house is torn down.

Nice to know where the keys are.

[Jonathan Jung]

If you find yourself wanting it to be even more secure, use a couple small StripLox.

[Thomas McCurnin]

How does a person make those little cavities in the photo on post 3? If I grabbed a router and tried to freehand those, I would probably destroy the project and end up in the emergency room. Does someone make templates?


Scribe outline; Use 1/8" chisel for outside lines, 1/4" chisel for center portion. Can also simply drill a shallow hole and expand it with 1/8" chisel.

[Alan Lightstone]

If you find yourself wanting it to be even more secure, use a couple small StripLox.
Those Striplox look really interesting.

[Keith Outten]

You can purchase an inexpensive XY vise for your drill press that makes machining keyholes easy and fast.

[John K Jordan]

How does a person make those little cavities in the photo on post 3? If I grabbed a router and tried to freehand those, I would probably destroy the project and end up in the emergency room. Does someone make templates?

I wouldn’t try it freehand!

I’ve made similar (but much larger) controlled cuts with a plunge router by making a quick template from a piece of thin plywood. I was cutting 3/8” deep finger slots in the sides of honey supers for the beehives, cutouts maybe 5”x1” with rounded inside corners. I simply made the template larger than the router base and cut a big rectangle out of the center to give me the desired size and shape. In this case the router bit radius determined the radius of the corners of the finger spots. Very quick to set up and quick to cut, result was perfect.

JKJ

[Roger Feeley]

If you don't have a plunge router, but have the keyhole bit, you can drill holes for the wide part of the bit to start. Then you just move the router a short distance for the slot
+1 on Stan’s suggestion. If you do try to plunge a keyhole bit, the chips will jam it. I would hog out as much as I could with a straight bit and just use the keyhole bit for the undercut part.