I'm stumped!

[Lee Schierer]

Okay, I'll admit it I have no idea how to make what I need. My daughter in law has some plates that she wants to hang on the wall to display. These plates are semi valuable but very dear to her. All the antique shows say that the spring loaded clamp things for hanging plates are very bad for the plate and cause stresses that can crack or break the plates over time, so those are definitely out.

What she want me to make a plate display that can hang on the wall, is made of wood, that will hold her plates individually. They need to grasp the plate so that it can't accidently be bumped and knocked to the floor or other wise be easily dislodged from the holder.

Does anyone have any ideas or have you seen such a plate support hanger? I can work from photos, sketches or plans.

Thanks,

[Jim Becker]

Are the plates all the same size, Lee? If so, you may be able to capture both the bottom and top in grooves, making some form of top rail that is adjustable to "lock" things together when it's hanging. 'Kinda like a double shelf, narrow in depth where the top shelf stablizes the art. If you use relatively thin material for the top rail, it should be somewhat unobtrusive.

I don't envy you on this one!

[Ray Thompson]

Hi Lee, How about a back plate with four dowels sticking out with grooves to capture the edge. Ray

[Dave Arbuckle]

A former employer gave me a collectible plate (this one by Ozz Franca (http://www.candlelightgallery.com/artists_2/Ozz_Franca/set_1/PlateFeathered_Hair_Ties.htm)) that has been professionally and very expensively framed.

The frame itself is a picture box design, deep enough that the plate rim is about 3/8" from the glass. The backing of the frame appears to be a very heavy matboard, covered in linen. A hole has been cut through the backing so that the "foot" of the plate rests on the edge of the hole. The plate is held in place with silicone rubber, of all things. The hole is to allow the marks on the bottom of the plate to be seen.

I did consulting work for the gallery that did the framing, it was about a $250 job a dozen or more years ago. Unless prevailing opinion about the suitability has changed, I would be willing to bet that it is a "recognized" way to mount a plate.

Dave

[Mark Singer]

The least amount of stress is for them to lie flat in a display cabinet with a glass top. I have designed case work like this for galleries, etc. The lighting is best at front along the top edge. It is a commonly used in museums for display of archilogical finds.

[Stan Smith]

Hi Lee. Here's one that you might try. Picture an "X". The plate would be on the front side. There would be a crook at the end of each leg of the X. Since the circumference of the plate would be bigger than the X, it would not slip out. Picture wire could be used to hang it from the back. I would make a prototype and try a cheapo plate just in case and go from there. What wood to use? Obviously not pine....

Stan

[Wayne Swindlehurst]

I would make a somewhat regular plate shelf with shelf bottom having a routed grove the length of the shelf. On the sides, drill hole about one inch above the shelf and incert a matching dowell running the length, do the same thing along the top just down about onw inch from the top of the plate. This way the plate stands in the grove and the dowells hold the plates from falling out either from the top or the bottom. The dowell would not have to be that big, depending on the length of the shelf, I would say from 1/4 to 1/2 inch.

Wayne Swindlehurst

[Daniel Rabinovitz]

Lee
Just daydreaming and visualizing what everyone has suggested so far, and like two from Stan Smith and Ray Thompson, with my obviously terrific modification that ends all modifications. Ah! hum!

An X made out of wood with machine screw or binding head screw in center.
Four dowells, one (horizontal) from each end of an X (vertical)
Notches in dowells to fit plate rims.

Now the gimmick to make it work
A picture wire loop - attached to the lower leg of one X
Up through a hole in the upper X above the attachment point.
Down through a hole in the upper X opposite the other hole
And attached to the lower X opposite the lower attachment.

As you hang the plate, the lower dowells (left & right) hold the bottom of the plate in their notches.
Since the picture wire is pulling up on the lower X legs,
it (the wire) is also pulling down on X by virtue of the pivot, and clamping the top of the plate in the upper notches.

Todd - I need a picture.

Well? I ain't pretty, but I can sure daydream.
Daniel :rolleyes:

[Chris Padilla]

I think Mark is right on this one. If the plate is very special, very expensive, very rare, then doing anything to mount it that supports it on the edge of the plate is asking for trouble in the long run.

I know zero about plates but their edges seem to be the most fragile point of them. All mine at home that have chips or cracks are along the edge.

That said, it needs to be supported on its bottom (for lack of a better word) somehow and not its edge. Is this possible with the design of the plate? It may need to tilt at something like 45-degrees, possibly. This would make it stick out from a wall much further and it would need to be lower on a wall to see if a shadow box idea is the way to go.

I think a display case is probably the safest route but a shadow box might be the next best thing...it would just be a tad bulky/thick and need to hang a bit low to see on a wall unfortunately.

[Ken Wright]

I believe David Marks had a show about 6 months ago where he made a plate rack that included a french cleat for hanging it ..... I remember not too much about it other than I thought it was pretty neat at the time .

You might check his web site and see if that is something that would work.