Suggestions for cable hanging systems?

[neile]

I'm looking at installing a cable hanging system in the dining room to give some flexibility to art display in the house. My first find was the Arakawa Hanging System (http://arakawagrip.com/) which looks beautiful, can be painted to match the wall, and the track is inexpensive. The hooks, however, are killer. $24 each!

I dug around a bit more and came across http://gallerysystem.com/systems, which looks a little less pretty and refined, but is a bit less expensive (earthquake-safe hooks are only $6.50 each). I also dug up http://www.ashanging.com/, although it wasn't clear to me if they had earthquake-safe hooks.

Anyone got one of these systems installed? What did you wind up going with?

Thanks,

Neil

[OSP]

I actually went with other type of system - Walker display - http://www.walkerdisplay.com/
I had bad experience with very flimsy, perlon wire based systems. The wire tangles if the art piece is not in the correct size  for the wire's length, and hiding it behind pulls the art away from the wall. also, their carry weight is rather small. It looks more like lab specifications than real life, when you see what happens to a cable that supposed to carry 7-10kg with an art piece that weighs 2-3kg on it, IMO.
I chose walker because the carry weight is higher and it is poll based. if you ever tried moving right-left the wire based systems, you'd see it's no a great pleasure. with the poll based you just lift it out and move it to where you want, exactly.

[mfryd]

I went with AS Hanging.

They offer a wide variety of solutions: clear nylon cables, steel cables, even poles.

I chose their "Click Rail" system, because it is easy to install and the track presents a low profile.

I also chose their "Secure Aluminum Fame Hooks" as these attach directly to my aluminum frames.  Once the picture is hanging, it stays level.  AS Hanging was the only supplier I found that had these hooks.


I did a little bit of investigating before deciding on AS Hanging.   It seems that there are a lot of choices, and most companies offer similar products.  I even suspect that there is some interchangeability, and that you can use hooks from one company with the cable from another.


You need to decide how much weight your system needs to be able to hold.  The smaller profile tracks have lower weight limits, but are less noticeable as a distraction.  The heavier duty tracks tend to stand out more, and may not be the right look for your room.


There are a lot of choices when it comes to hooks.  Every system seems to have both cheap and expensive hooks.
I went with the Aluminum Frame Hooks because they attach directly to the frame.  All of my frames are the same size, and they are hung in a grid pattern.  I run two lines for each column, one along the right edge of the frames and one along the left.  In this way I don't worry about the frames being bumped out of level.

I went with the "Perlon" cables (It looks like thick nylon monofilament fishing line).  They tell you that these cables "disappear", but they don't if you have hard lighting on them.  Shine a light at your wall, the Perlon cables cast noticeable shadows.

[bill t.]

IMHO the cable systems are just too fiddly, especially if you need to shove them left and right although a long remote gripper can help.  It's rods for me.

One of the irritating aspects of either system is that the frames tend to lean forward at the top because the support is so far out from the wall.  Among other things the steep angle tends to darken the pieces somewhat depending on the position of the any lights shining on them.  It's much more of a problem with wires.

In the best possible world you would have rods that extend down along the full height of the frame which gives something for the bottom of the frame to rest on, rather than allowing the bottom to swing all the way back against the wall.  Most of the my galleries have rod systems (aka French hangers), so I carry a set of the hanging sliders that I can put on the bottom of the rods to help push out the bottom of the frame...put them on with the tightening screw pointing out against the frame.

The rod support clamps also have a variation with a kind of 6" wide cross beam at the top.  When the wire is draped across the groove on the top of the cross piece the picture stays level.

[neile]

Wow, thanks for all the extremely detailed and thoughtful responses guys. Y'all rock! I will investigate some of the non-cable systems as well.

Neil

[loonsailor]

I just installed a system made by http://www.systematicart.com.  It's quite nice.  I am using the nylon cables, hanging up to three letter-sized photos in simple plexiglass borderless clip frames on each cable, and they're plenty strong for that.  I do find their stabilizers http://www.systematicart.com/AG-SBR-100-sku/32/Picture-Stabilizer---%28For-Cable-System%29---Small-Size.html to be  necessary, at least for most of the photos.

I use their click-track system, with "cobra" cables http://www.systematicart.com/RP225-sku/10/Cobra-Cable---%28Nylon%29---Click-Track-and-Slim-Line-Rail-Systems.html.  These cables are a bit less strong, but have the advantage that they can be attached or removed from the track anywhere, not just the ends.  Again, they seem strong enough for my use with no problem at all.

[mfryd]

Yes, your photo can hang at an angle with cables.  The angle depends on how you hang the piece, and if there are images below.

I chose the hooks that attach to the aluminum frame because I can attach them very close to the top of the frame, which minimizes tilt.

In my system, it's only an issue with the bottom frame in a column, and the nylon wires keep the upper frames from tilting.  I may end up putting a spacer behind the bottom of my lower frames to keep them from tilting.

If you center hang, many companies make stabilizers, or spaces that hold the bottom of the frame away from the wall.

I believe that the rod systems are better in this regard, however a rod system is more visible than a system using thin nylon wires.

As with most things, it's a tradeoff.  You have to find the right balance that works for you.  For me, I needed a system that was minimally intrusive.  AS Hanging's click track system with nylon lines met my needs.  There are lots of choices out there and you should be able to find something that meets your requirements.

My limited research indicated that many copies that offer cable systems, also offer rod systems.

[neile]

The reason I'm drawn to the cable systems is partly asthetics: most of the house is done with antique nickel fixtures, so the stainless steel wires will fit in perfectly. I don't mind that they'll be visible on the wall: in fact, it's an asset.

The lean away from the wall is a concern though. I will have to consider that carefully.

Neil

[alain]

A few more :

They have a system with light on the rail:
http://stas.nl/stas/home/index.shtml?lang=uk 

another one :
http://www.artiteq.com/home_8.html?PHPSESSID=16ca2104454f4ea1ccb8d5accb04eb79

[Gallery System]

Hello, I'm from Gallery System. Several people have mentioned the issue of pictures "leaning" when hung from a cable system; our customer service team has helped a number of our customers with this, and you can find some of our collected wisdom on the subject here. While the illustrations are of our hanging system, the advice should apply to pretty much any cable-based setup.

If you have any specific questions about our system or about hanging systems in general, feel free to e-mail me at laura@gallerysystem.com.

Thanks!

[Rob Reiter]

I also use gear from Walker Display Systems http://www.walkerdisplay.com/

They seem to have a lot of variety and I'm quite happy with it. Their online catalog is extensive, but you must order by phone or FAX. I use the cable hanging system and the only problem with it is when you use their "High Holder" picture hooks, which I have a lot of because of the extra stability. You must thread the hook and the cable between you picture and its picture hanging wire, which wasn't intuitive or made clear, but if you don't, the High Holder tilts forward and drops the picture! Nevertheless, the High Hooks are worth using and you'll quickly figure out the right method with them. Or, you can just use the standard Cable Hooks.

Sure beats nails in the wall!

I'm looking at installing a cable hanging system in the dining room to give some flexibility to art display in the house. My first find was the Arakawa Hanging System (http://arakawagrip.com/) which looks beautiful, can be painted to match the wall, and the track is inexpensive. The hooks, however, are killer. $24 each!

I dug around a bit more and came across http://gallerysystem.com/systems, which looks a little less pretty and refined, but is a bit less expensive (earthquake-safe hooks are only $6.50 each). I also dug up http://www.ashanging.com/, although it wasn't clear to me if they had earthquake-safe hooks.

Anyone got one of these systems installed? What did you wind up going with?

Thanks,

Neil

[neile]

Thanks for the link to tips, Laura! Very helpful.

And Rob, wait until you see my setup I'm taking your idea and swapping out the hook system for system for something else. Oh, and wait until you see the magnets I found!

Neil

[Rob Reiter]

Remember, as Dick Tracy said (paraphrased) "He who controls magnetism controls the world!"

Thanks for the link to tips, Laura! Very helpful.

And Rob, wait until you see my setup I'm taking your idea and swapping out the hook system for system for something else. Oh, and wait until you see the magnets I found!

Neil

[abiggs]

Speaking of magnets, amazingmagnets.com has a great selection of STRONG magnets. I use them on my viewing booth.

[jbn]

@abiggs - Which magnets do you use from that website?  Do they leave any kind of residue on the paper?  I'm making my own viewing-booth and have decided that for speed's sake, magnets are going to be the best way to do this.  I bought some locally, but they mark paper pretty badly, and I don't feel like making some kind of custom cover for each little magnet. 


Thanks.

[abiggs]

I bought mine from Amazingmagnets.com. They came highly recommended, and here is a link to what I bought (you choose your own color. I was boring and chose black):

http://www.amazingmagnets.com/c-8-wb-series-whiteboard-magnets.aspx

[neile]

I'm using basically the same thing, from supermagnetman.com. They're pin magnets: http://www.supermagnetman.net/index.php?cPath=25&osCsid=5aebbd38642246b194d991a34bf674ab. I do find that they're leaving a small bit of residue on the prints. I will try cleaning them first, and if that doesn't help will get some felt furniture pads to attach and see if that fixes it.

By the way you can see my completed hanging system at http://www.ronmartblog.com/2011/01/tour-of-neils-print-studio.html.

Neil

[displayonacrylic]

To install the cable hanging system ,you need to decide how many units for each column and whether to hang them vertically or horizontally.
I think they should send you a instruction guide when you buy these led lightbox,right?
You need to cut the header of wire line when you hang them.

If you still have doubts ,you can refer to this site for the installation. http://www.displayonacrylic.com/product/LED%20Light%20Box/Double%20Sides%20Light%20Boxes/Wire%20Cable%20Hanging%20System%20With%20Lighting.html

Kind regards,
Judeon

[Some Guy]

I've always had problems hanging a lot of stuff at the same height and making it appear level with different sized frames.

This gizmo fixed that. http://www.pictureperfecthanger.com/how-it-works.html

SG

[jferrari]

Aw, c'mon, SG! This guy has resurrected a three year old thread solely to peddle his Hong Kong wares.     - Jim