Need ideas for displaying an upright board

[BlackCatStudio98]

I'm making a 2' x 2 1/2' board to display pendants on, and I'm trying to figure out how to stand it up, and make it wind worthy. I was originally going to put a fold out piece on the back that would be screwed on with a hinge. Like a standing picture frame, but I was going to make it really wide to be supportive. But then I realized my board is only 1/4" thick, so the screws wouldn't be able to go in very far and they would just end up pulling out.

Now I'm thinking of making an L out of two pieces of wood, gluing the upright part of the L onto the back of the board and then the bottom part of the L would sit on the table. It would be wide to give it a good base of support, and I would put rocks or bricks on it to weigh it down. I could also clamp it to the table, but I would only be able to do that on one side.

I'm also trying to figure out the best way to connect the two pieces of wood that form the L. I could use a hinge, I know there are hinges that lock at 45 degrees so that it won't fold, but I don't want it to lean back that far. Maybe there are hinges that lock out at 90 degrees? Or I guess I could nail them together? I could also make it 2' x 1 1/2' if that would make it less likely to blow over.

Does this sound like it would work? Does anyone have any better ideas? Something that would be easier to store?

[ElunaJewelry]

Can you do two boards side by side, hinged like a set of doors?

Second idea, a picture frame holder? I have used those in the past to help hold up pictures and boards.

[BlackCatStudio98]

Ooh, I like the hinged door idea! Do you think that would be sturdy enough?

I'm not sure what you mean by picture holder.

Thank you for your reply April!

[ElunaJewelry]

Here is a picture of my display using a picture holder.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/elunajewelry/10005386023/in/photostream/

[Former_Member]

If it is in deed a "board" you could drill open holes in the corners of the board and hang it from one of the canopy pole that runs along the top.

some nice coated bungee cords loop through nicely and then hang supported by the canopy pole. It also allows some freedom of a wee bit of movement when the wind blows. Your pendants could be attached to the board easily if the board was covered with a sturdy fabric.

[Former_Member]

I use various size L brackets from the hardware store... attach them to the back of the frame with the upper part of the L then the lower part is clamped to the table with clamps from Harbor Freight... this does hold the unit very upright... I have one that is quite large and is hinged so it's two pieces... makes it easier to fold and load in the car... I use three clamps on this one since it is quite large and I have never had an issue with the wind... I have found that bungee cords have to much 'spring' in them and allows to much movement in the wind, not to mention that they just don't look professional...

[BlackCatStudio98]

Shirley, I was just thinking about L brackets. But again they would have to be screwed in and my board isn't thick enough. Also the board is going to be on the end of a table at an angle so I would only be able to clamp one side.

crudeco, I have thought about hanging it. Do you anchor the bottom at all? It seems like it would be able to move too much in a strong wind.

Thank you for the link April. I wonder if I could find some for a larger board.

[CindyTSews]

Think outside the box... Probably one of the most frequent things I see discussed on hear is tables. I see so many jewelers at show who do no even have a table in their booth. You will have to scroll down a little on this site but there is a jewelry display that is very inexpensive but looks like a million dollars http://hugsandkeepsakes.blogspot.com/2012/10/fall-craft-fair-display-ideas.html you could even get shorter shutters and put them on a table?

[andidanie]

Can you put it on a sturdy easel?

[TheSalvagedEdge]

Any sort of flat thin board is like a kite begging for wind. You need something that either has holes or is super heavy. I use old printer drawers for my pendants. There's pics in my about page.
What about a screen window or something similar?

[ElisaAlvarado]

I got an adjustable table top easel at Michael's on clearance. It has a top part that slides down and keeps the board in it from coming out. It has a horizontal cross board in the back that I attach a weight to to keep the whole thing from blowing.

[BlackCatStudio98]

Elisa, I've been wondering about an easel, but am afraid it will blow over. How do you attach a weight to it?

[TigersandDragons]

Put your board inside a thick wooden picture frame, then you can easily screw in L shaped brackets or hinges.

You could build an easel that clamps to the table (with hinges or L brackets) then use some sort of string, like fishing line (which is strong but clear), to secure your board to the easel. I've also seen quite a few jewellers using the clear rubber elastic that is used for bracelets.

[WillowSwitchDesigns]

I just finished creating a new display out of an old upcycled and cannibalized china cabinet. So, maybe an option could be to think about using the L brackets, but you could grab some finished wood trim and make a frame for your board, so that when you use the L brackets you actually kill two birds with one stone and screw the brackets to your board as well the trim. If you buy quarter round or something similar and measure it would end up taking like 3/4" screws to hold everything together.

Also, the trim and brackets would give it more weight so it would be sturdier that way too.

[WillowSwitchDesigns]

Also, to secure it to the table, you can just lay another board over the brackets on the table and clamp to the board. That way you wouldn't matter where you put the board or if you could only clamp one side...

[BlackCatStudio98]

I already have molding to go around the edges of the board to give it a finished look, but I never even thought about screwing the L brackets in along the edges where the trim is. Duh! I'm obviously not very good at building things. I've been dreading this project for awhile now...

That's exactly what I'm going to do and then I'll clamp one bracket to the table, and lay either bricks, rocks or another board across the other bracket to hold it down.

Thanks Jennifer and T and D! And everyone else for their suggestions!

[Former_Member]

I'm relatively new at this and did a farmers market two weeks ago. I covered a piece of foam board with fabric and put in on an easel for my pendants. Well...it got a little gusty and after the fourth time the darn thing fell over, I just laid my pendants on the table. The worst part was the pitying looks I got from neighboring vendors. Yesterday, I put together this - https://www.flickr.com/photos/26032869@N04/14050236736/
I had some stone floor tiles left from my bathroom - they are 13 1/4" square. I bought 12" square cork tiles and glued one on the back (with a 40% coupon from Hobby Lobby). The floor tile is a grayish and green and I didn't want that for background, so I put a layer of lace over it. I have push pins to attach the pendant chains to the cork in back. I like that I can vary the placement and the pendants are not in a line at the bottom. The easel was also from Hobby Lobby (on sale 50% off). The stone tile is pretty heavy and I think it would take pretty strong wind to blow it over but I also have some old hand weights that I am going to take along and attach to the bottom of the easel if gets windy and also figure out a way to anchor the tile to the easel during the show - maybe just duct tape. Anyway, I just put this together yesterday and am pleased with it.

[ElisaAlvarado]

My tabletop easel has a cross board instead of a chain that attaches the 2 A-frame parts of the easel. I wrap plain grey ankle weights around that bar to keep the whole thing from blowing over. It is behind the display board so you don't see them anyway. But, if you could see them I would wrap them in a nice cloth. I got the ankle weights at a garage sale. I also use them to weigh down my print bins. I have a collection of garage sale ankle weights and hand weights that work really well for weighing down displays and tables. I just put them behind the display or cover them with cloth. "L" brackets attached to the back of displays and then clamped to the table work really well too.

[BlackCatStudio98]

That's so clever Susan, great job!

[BlackCatStudio98]

Thank you Elisa, that's a great idea!

[TigersandDragons]

I prefer clamps because with our display, we are usually standing behind the table and have stock and packing supplies behind our display frames & easels. The clamps take up so little of that space, compared to using a weight.

But I can see that one benefit of Weights is that you can place your display farther from the edge of the table. That has been an issue with some frames, when I want to move them farther away from the back table edge& closer to the customer but the size of the clamps limits that. We have bought some Deep throat clamps, and F-clamps that are larger/extend deeper which makes some difference compared to the tiny C clamps we were using previously.