“The trains I ride in my dreams run on the pressure of the steam, 

Lord, I could pull one a mile long ’cause the pressure is on.”

—Hank Williams Jr.

 

Once that big beautiful graphic panel is printed, it needs to get mounted onto the client’s location of choice. And now the pressure is on. This is the finishing touch that can make or break the whole thing. Even the most beautiful display piece looks shabby when the installation is not perfect.

 

The most common place to mount these graphics is on walls. And the most practical method is to use cleats. Cleats are two pieces of substrate that lock into each other. One piece is mounted to the back of the graphic, and the other is mounted to the wall. Cleats are low-profile and almost invisible. They make the graphic stand proud of the wall, which adds an extra dimensional feeling to the installation as well. And they are very secure.

 

Best practices for cleats means that they should often be made from the same material as the graphic substrate. This provides a stable mounting platform. But every substrate also has its own peculiarities and preferences.

 

Plywood is a tough material. It can handle a lot of stress and strain, so we use threaded inserts in the back of the graphic substrate for mounting the cleats. Particle boards like MDF are popular graphic substrates because of their easy edge finishing, but they lack strength. Generally we glue the cleats onto the graphic back, then bolt through the substrate for strength. This means that the bolt holes have to be filled and sanded before the graphic is applied, but since the whole thing should be painted at one time (cleats and substrate), this is not a big issue.

 

Aluminum is a favorite graphic substrate for its extreme durability and light weight. It also accepts welding nicely, so that is a good method for attaching threaded studs to the back of the sign panel. Metal j-rails are available at most building supply stores. These can be simply bolted onto the back of the sign using the studs. 

 

Plastics are always a joy to work with. They cut and shape easily, and liquid glues work extremely well for holding things together permanently. Each type of plastic has its own specialty glue, many of which form chemical bonds for ultimate strength.

 

Some installations, such as shaped objects or 3-D letters, look better attached flat to the wall. This can be accomplished with studs attached to the back of the panel to be mounted. These studs are covered with a liquid construction adhesive and pushed into holes predrilled in the wall. Simple and effective. The studs can be attached to the substrate with welding (in the case of metal), threading (with a thick enough substrate), adhesives (when the substrates are compatible) or through-bolting (when all else fails).

 

When changeability is a key factor, frames are useful devices. Often these feature invisible fastening methods. One of the most popular is the flat-headed screw that fits into a track on the back of the frame. These screws are mounted into the wall using a paper pattern so they line up with the frame. Then the frame is placed over them and the screws are tightened up using a special flat wrench that slides between the frame and the wall.

 

On other occasions, visible fasteners might be the aesthetic that is required. Offset studs or stand-offs are available in a huge variety of very attractive styles for this purpose. Similar hardware is also available for hanging graphics. Generally these are composed of two-piece units that hold the hanging cable securely in place by locking a balled end of the cable into place between the two pieces. Studs out the back of the device allow attachment to the ceiling and set screws attach the device on the other end to the graphic panel.

 

Outdoors, poles are a common choice for signage mounting. There are a lot of products available to accomplish this task. One popular option for standard round poles involves a metal plate that bolts to the back of the sign. This plate also contains circular brackets that are then tightened around the post. For posts that are too large for this option or of an unusual size, banding is a good method. The plate that attaches to the sign is similar to the first option, but instead of built-in clamps, it has attachment points for sliding the metal banding through. A special tool tightens the bands around the pole and a fastener holds it all together.

 

A third method for extruded sign posts uses vandal resistant nuts bolted through the sign and post with a stove bolt. The nuts can only be removed by placing another similar nut upside on top of the existing nut. These days one can never be too careful.

 

Just remember, whether you glue it or screw it, neatness counts. A project is judged by the completed appearance, not how pretty it looked in the shop.