Scott,

Finding the studs is the best route. Sell them a nice stud finder from Ace. When you are going into heavier weights, I would avoid the wire if possible and hang the work of art directly on the nails or screws that are in the studs with some sturdy D-ring hooks. That way, you won't have to worry about the wire snapping or giving way over time. Another way would be to use some hinges that are long and narrow. Screw in one part to the frame and the other part of the hinge into the stud. A thin steel shelf in an "L" shape can also be used in a somewhat concealed way to distribute the weight at the bottom and just use regular hangers up top to stabilize it. That is pretty much what I did just yesterday with a School of Rubens "Nativity" painting that we had to hang 20 ft. high and weighed about 500-600 pounds! Boy was that interesting.

Best, 

John



John Nolan
Curator

BJU M&G
1700 Wade Hampton Blvd.
Greenville, SC 29614
T: 864.770.1331
F: 864.770.1306
http://www.bjumg.org

Opinions expressed are my own.

>>> [log in to unmask] 11/15/04 05:41PM >>>
I know this might seem like an oddball question, but I'm hoping someone on the list could provide some practical advice on hanging heavier (over 100 lbs.) framed objects. This would be in a residential situation, so house museum curators would be especially worth hearing from. At the moment I am "out of the field" and working in a hardware store. I have some curatorial experience, but most of museum work was in interpretation, education and archival collection management. 
Over the past few days, we have had a number of customers asking for advice on hanging items framed pieces that are over 100 lbs. Some well over 100 lbs. We do not carry wire that tests at more than 100 lbs and the guys in our lumber department, who are knowledgeable about most such things aren't too sure about how to go about hanging these items other than going into the studs. From my experience, the key to hanging such items is to secure two hangers to the studs and, using heavy test braided wire, hang the work on the wire so that the wire hangs as parallel as possible. This distributes the load evenly with little in the way of stress points that would cause the wire to weaken. And the majority of the load is absorbed by the studs.

Can anyone verify if that is true, or recommend a preferred method that i can pass along to our customers and to my co-workers? 

Thanks in advance. 

Scott D. Peters
Historically Speaking
(for the time being working for Millhurst Mills / Ace Hardware)

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