Thread: Secret fixing for Plywood wall panel

They will be super strong as a piece of 18mm ply will be super heavy.

The only aesthetic hassle will be a gap at the top the height of the cleats angle.

ev

Originally Posted by Evanism

They will be super strong as a piece of 18mm ply will be super heavy.

The only aesthetic hassle will be a gap at the top the height of the cleats angle.

ev

Thats what I was describing two pieces of timber with a 45deg angle cut on each edge - french cleats did not know the name.
Will not be using full sheets for each panel perhaps full length but only say 500mm wide with gaps where the perspex is then another ply panel etc etc.

I was thinking about this a bit more. 3 possibilities from a design perspective:

1 - If you have the cleat on only very shallow angle and mount it very close to the top, I could imagine the "drop" necessary could be as low as 4mm.

2 - Make the gap along the top into a feature. It would be cool to mount a coloured EFL tube, LED strip or fluro behind it so it acts as a trendy back light that illuminates from the gap. mmmm, trendy.

3 - Suppose you could use a sufficiently long "bolt" into the BACK of the board (say, screw it into the rear) and then drill a shaft hole to push the bolt into. It the bolt were 3 inches long, then it would be highly unlikely to slide out by itself... even more so if it were a nice friction fit. Imagine, if you will, a bolt/screw where 15mm is a mighty screw with a nut (you would pre-drill a slightly smaller hole in the board) and the remaining shaft is a smooth bolt. This is SORT of like what I was thinking, but imagine if the shaft were smooth.... the advantage of the removable nuts in this product (I assume you torque them together to give your spanner something to grip while winding it in) would be the panel would be flush fit to the surface....

screwbolt.jpg

I was also thinking of how kitchen panels, cupboards, etc are hung and all work from pretty much the same feature.... whether a captured hook/knob/button or even a keyhole routed into the back, they all require a "drop" to fit in. Simply pressing them in is a recipe for disaster... such as push-lock draws, but this wont hold a 20kg panel.

I went to thinking of how stone masons might do the job... something like this Stone Clip | Ultimate Support & Restraint of Stone Panels | John Redhead m +614 1444 1289 might work.

Originally Posted by Dermeee

Hi All
My first post.
I am seeking a way of fixing plywood ( 18 mm Beech) panels to interior 90mm pine studs. The panels will be spaced apart, by perhaps 100 - 200mm and in between the panels will be opaque/frosted perspex to allow the light from led lights to show through.
The perspex will be screwed onto the studs to allow for removal & maintenance or globe changes. The ply panels will have to overlap the perspex to hide the screws, but I do not want to fix through the face of the ply.
I could rip down some timber with a 45deg angle & fix one to the back of the ply & one to the wall studs, but it will be fiddly to get the panels to sit well.
I am hoping to find metal fixings that readily screw onto the panels & studs & hopefully will be a more accurate system.
All and any advise will be gratefully accepted.

If the ply is fixed to the wall, and the ply covers the screws for the perspex, then how do you remove the ply panel to unscrew the perspex light covers?

That aside, here are a few ideas:

1. How are the sheets arranged ? Is the room a 2.4m ceiling and you are using sheets standing on end? If so you can fix through the face at top and bottom and cover with skirting and cornice.

2. I installed my ply ceiling using 16 gauge pins and Sikaflex. The pins are very hard to see on a high ceiling, but they might be too unsightly for wall panels.

3. Glue to the wall. Use several lengths of timber as cauls across the face of the ply. Make them longer than the sheet and temporarily screw cauls to adjacent studs until the glue is dry. Might be impractical in corners.

Are you packing out the studs to match the thickness of the perspex?

Have you thought of magnetic catches? I made a door for access into the return central heating duct, used one either side just above centre line. Door dimension 600 x 600. 12mm mdf base and 18mm timber floorboard as face. I know it rests on the floor so it is not carrying the total weight but it certainly is hard to remove. I do remember the packet had weight capacity but packet has gone to recycling. Could be a solution
cheers
found link
Magnetic Latch - Aussie Magnets
10kg pull capacity and if you put four or five each panel will only cost less than $20