Proven Storage and Display Wall

[edbardet]

I've done the following in three different houses and shops and since it is so versatile I thought I'd add the 'Proven' tag.

 

Flexible storage and display space has always been a problem for me. Hanging pictures, displaying antique tools or storing milled woods has created problems in the past. In the 70's I got this idea from a display in a retail store but was stopped (dead) by the cost of materials.

 

I'll describe what I did and then show pictures of my current incarnation.

 

This involves covering a wall, or section of wall with either cedar siding or wide strips of thin wood lain in an overlapping pattern. Whatever wood you use it is installed in the normal manner of siding installation in that it is only nailed across the top of each plank and the plank above it covers the nails in the lower one. Exactly like ship-lap planking. The top most plank gets a covering if you so choose. Do not nail any other place.

 

Now comes the sneaky part. When you are done it is not hard to slightly lift the overlap at the bottom. This is the secret to it's use.

 

The next step is to go into the back of your clothes closet or laundry room, in a dark corner, and sneak up on those hangers that hide there madly reproducing. Before they get a chance to hide, drag them into the light and to your shop. Before they get a chance to reproduce get your pliers and cut them up and bend them as the following picture shows.

 

 

The critical measurement is the little leg at the tip which must be the length of the thickness of the paneling. The length and the bottom leg can be at your pleasure. Some of my small ones only have a little bit protruding for hanging pictures and the larger ones big enough to display an antique plane or auger bit.

 

For this use I made them of a size to hold some of my longer milled strips of Basswood.

 

 

It really works.

 

For a display wall that I hung a bunch of antique hand tools, some of which were quite heavy, I made the hooks of bigger material. To make space for them I placed small washers under the nail head when I fastened the siding to the wall. This gave a larger gap.

 

If you are going to use an unfinished siding, no sweat in the shop, but it will fade and change color due to the light, so you may want to finish the wood before your done.

 

This should also work with hand cut shingles, or any strip wood, for a really unique look. The picture shows a wall made of 1/8" x 5" clear yellow pine. I found it in a veneer wholesaler's warehouse. It had been cut for doing some commercial laminating and they had a lot left over.

 

Have a ball!

 

Ed