... and, Hey, don't obsess too much about the criticisms that sound a little rough from this group. Most of us have been there and have had a big Fall Off The Wall lesson.
That's a good point, Ellen. Commentary about screweyes should not be taken personally. The reason we have boxes under the fitting table is that we've learned the hard way.
My screweye pull-out problem was on a large frame for a compatriot in my former career. He vacationed in Hawaii and brought back this framed print in a frame made of strange wood -- could it have been Koa? I'm not sure, it was so long ago, but it was rather splintery, like cedar. Yes, it sure did splinter under side-force from the screweyes, and the wire fell off. I blubbered apologies and fixed it free, but I never saw that customer again. Lesson learned.
Thing with screw eyes is, because they protrude a distance from the frame, they tend to act like a lever....
With D-rings the leverage effect is virtually zero....
Absolutely right, prospero. Framers, if this concept of natural physics seems hard to understand, try this little experiment:
1. Drill holes as you would for hanging hardware in a scrap stick of thin-profile moulding. Drill two, about 6" apart.
2. Stick a 1-1/2" brad in one hole, and push toward the inside, simulating the side-force imposed by a wire under tension, pulling on a screweye. You probably can't splinter the wood this way.
3. Next, stick a 6" nail, awl, or screwdriver in the other hole, and repeat the motion. You can easily splinter the wood using the longer tool. That's the lever effect prospero described.
In our shop, when we need to use wire we use Infinity hangers, the small figure-eight-shaped (like the infinity sign) steel devices, with whatever length of #4 or #6 screw is appropriate for the wood/poly moulding. We
always drill full-depth holes first. Infinity hangers, like D-rings, place the pulling force of the wire
as close as possible to the surface of the wood, minimizing the lever effect prospero described.
...Also, people will stack frames back-to-face so that the eyes put a nice ding into the one behind.
Actually, this caution applies to all kinds of hanging hardware. Our "Thank You" brochure includes the "Keep frames face-to-face or back-to-back" admonishment. After we show customers the frames they came to pickup, we properly stack them and then use 6" wide stretch-wrap to quickly lash them together for easier handling by customers. In the time it takes to explain why we do that, it's done, and then we carry them to ther car...just one more reason to buy here instead of there.
Rick
