Are picture hanging tools worth using?

juliushibert

I’ve got about 20-25 framed images to hang. I’ve seen there is a lot of frame hanging helper devices to help get the exact location of where to put the wall fixing and hooks.

Interested to hear people's experiences and if any are good?

I’ve seen these three main types.

• Yellow Hanging Tool
• doty Picture Hanging Tool
• Winged hanging tool

All advice would be welcomed.

Bigphil1474

Never used one - I usually hammer a nail or fix a screw into the wall (depending on the wall). Use an old fork, prongs down, handle angled away from the wall, and stick into the nail or screw. Slide the picture string/wire over the fork handle until the picture is hanged, then remove fork.

You can usually adjust a picture to get it level just by moving it sideways one way or the other. A spirit level isn't essential as you can usually see with the naked eye whether it's close to level or not.

juliushibert

Those tools I linked are for helping to find where to put the nail or the screw in the first place. 

Section62

juliushibert said:

I’ve got about 20-25 framed images to hang. I’ve seen there is a lot of frame hanging helper devices to help get the exact location of where to put the wall fixing and hooks.

Interested to hear people's experiences and if any are good?

I’ve seen these three main types.

• Yellow Hanging Tool
• doty Picture Hanging Tool
• Winged hanging tool

All advice would be welcomed.

They seem a complicated (and expensive) way to do a simple job.

If the exact position is important I put a small piece of masking tape on the front of the frame where the hanging point is on the back*.  Then offer the frame up to the wall so it is in the right place, and put a finger/pencil over the mark on the masking tape. Take the frame away (without moving the finger/pencil) and the finger/pencil is now marking the point on the wall where the hole/fixing needs to go. (*this can be done roughly or precisely according to preference)

The levelling tools don't seem to have much point - as Bigphil says, you can do the levelling by eye. In fact sometimes the frame needs to be 'unlevel' to look right on a wall where there is some other feature which isn't perfectly vertical or horizontal.

juliushibert

Section62 said:

If the exact position is important I put a small piece of masking tape on the front of the frame where the hanging point is on the back*.  Then offer the frame up to the wall so it is in the right place, and put a finger/pencil over the mark on the masking tape. Take the frame away (without moving the finger/pencil) and the finger/pencil is now marking the point on the wall where the hole/fixing needs to go. (*this can be done roughly or precisely according to preference)

Thanks for the tip. Does this work for pictures with hanging cords or wires on the back? Rather than fixed points like a hook or saw tooth hook on the back of the frame? 

tacpot12

I've got one of the Yellow Hanging tools and find it useful. 

Bookworm105

juliushibert said:

I’ve got about 20-25 framed images to hang. I’ve seen there is a lot of frame hanging helper devices to help get the exact location of where to put the wall fixing and hooks.

Interested to hear people's experiences and if any are good?

I’ve seen these three main types.

• Yellow Hanging Tool
• doty Picture Hanging Tool
• Winged hanging tool

All advice would be welcomed.

yellow - I have one of these. Fine for a picture whose hanging point is close enough to the top to fit within its handle to pin length. Irritatingly the pin mark on wall is slightly below the centre point of where the wire hangs, so if position needs to be mm perfect make some allowance for that when finally nailing/screwing the actual fixture.
Handle means if hanging picture with wire/string then has the advantage that you can find the centre of gravity of the picture with it hanging from the hook on the device so aiding precise centring. Inbuilt spirit level OK for approx. horizontal and plumb, but if fixing requires >1 nail/screw always best to check if pin marks are "true" with a proper spirit level before hammering/ drilling home.
Fiddly to use where picture has the "teeth" type fixings on the frame as the lip on the fixing may not have enough depth to sit behind the lip on the "pin" meaning once again you have to allow for a mm or two of offset = assuming of course you can get the pic to balance on the teeth in the first place!

doty - not used this but obviously does not have the size limitations of the yellow. Same issue though with mm perfect final position given how tick that bit of plastic is. No ability to test hang wire/string pictures as no way to support weight of picture unless you have a helper who can find the exact position of the pic under its own drooping weight.  Will eventually need to replace sticky pads and certainly would 

winged - same as yellow but obviously better able to accommodate bigger pictures with "spread apart" fixing points. If I was doing the job again I'd have bought this rather than yellow (I bought yellow from Lidl for £4.99 so am not losing sleep over its inferior comparison)

bear in mind doty means you have a mark on the wall whilst the picture is in place
both yellow and wing require picture to be removed from the devices before you can press the pin in to mark the wall. For heavy pictures it can be very fiddly lifting off the pic one handed without the device moving at all on the wall, if you have a helper that solves that issue, but if working alone it can be very frustrating leading to repeat attempts!

Bookworm105

juliushibert said:

Section62 said:

If the exact position is important I put a small piece of masking tape on the front of the frame where the hanging point is on the back*.  Then offer the frame up to the wall so it is in the right place, and put a finger/pencil over the mark on the masking tape. Take the frame away (without moving the finger/pencil) and the finger/pencil is now marking the point on the wall where the hole/fixing needs to go. (*this can be done roughly or precisely according to preference)

Thanks for the tip. Does this work for pictures with hanging cords or wires on the back? Rather than fixed points like a hook or saw tooth hook on the back of the frame? 

since the final position of those is unknown until the full extent of droop under their own weight is known these tools are useful for those sort of picture

Section62

juliushibert said:

Section62 said:

If the exact position is important I put a small piece of masking tape on the front of the frame where the hanging point is on the back*.  Then offer the frame up to the wall so it is in the right place, and put a finger/pencil over the mark on the masking tape. Take the frame away (without moving the finger/pencil) and the finger/pencil is now marking the point on the wall where the hole/fixing needs to go. (*this can be done roughly or precisely according to preference)

Thanks for the tip. Does this work for pictures with hanging cords or wires on the back? Rather than fixed points like a hook or saw tooth hook on the back of the frame? 

Yes. If you work out where the 'hanging point' of the frame is by hanging it on something (e.g. a finger) to see where it settles under its own weight and level. Using the finger of one hand on the back and one from the other hand on the front works well because most people can align their fingertips quite accurately even with a solid object between them.

juliushibert

Bookworm105 said:

juliushibert said:

I’ve got about 20-25 framed images to hang. I’ve seen there is a lot of frame hanging helper devices to help get the exact location of where to put the wall fixing and hooks.

Interested to hear people's experiences and if any are good?

I’ve seen these three main types.

• Yellow Hanging Tool
• doty Picture Hanging Tool
• Winged hanging tool

All advice would be welcomed.

yellow - I have one of these. Fine for a picture whose hanging point is close enough to the top to fit within its handle to pin length. Irritatingly the pin mark on wall is slightly below the centre point of where the wire hangs, so if position needs to be mm perfect make some allowance for that when finally nailing/screwing the actual fixture.
Handle means if hanging picture with wire/string then has the advantage that you can find the centre of gravity of the picture with it hanging from the hook on the device so aiding precise centring. Inbuilt spirit level OK for approx. horizontal and plumb, but if fixing requires >1 nail/screw always best to check if pin marks are "true" with a proper spirit level before hammering/ drilling home.
Fiddly to use where picture has the "teeth" type fixings on the frame as the lip on the fixing may not have enough depth to sit behind the lip on the "pin" meaning once again you have to allow for a mm or two of offset = assuming of course you can get the pic to balance on the teeth in the first place!

doty - not used this but obviously does not have the size limitations of the yellow. Same issue though with mm perfect final position given how tick that bit of plastic is. No ability to test hang wire/string pictures as no way to support weight of picture unless you have a helper who can find the exact position of the pic under its own drooping weight.  Will eventually need to replace sticky pads and certainly would 

winged - same as yellow but obviously better able to accommodate bigger pictures with "spread apart" fixing points. If I was doing the job again I'd have bought this rather than yellow (I bought yellow from Lidl for £4.99 so am not losing sleep over its inferior comparison)

bear in mind doty means you have a mark on the wall whilst the picture is in place
both yellow and wing require picture to be removed from the devices before you can press the pin in to mark the wall. For heavy pictures it can be very fiddly lifting off the pic one handed without the device moving at all on the wall, if you have a helper that solves that issue, but if working alone it can be very frustrating leading to repeat attempts!

Thanks @bookworm105 this is exactly what I was after. 

FreeBear

Bigphil1474 said: You can usually adjust a picture to get it level just by moving it sideways one way or the other. A spirit level isn't essential as you can usually see with the naked eye whether it's close to level or not.

Place a marble on the top of the frame - It will roll towards the low side. Adjust the frame until the marble stays in place. If you have an ornate frame, a strip of plain smooth wood on top may be needed.