how can i fancy up this simple board?

February 9, 2013 11:49 AM

i'm trying to hang guitars and basses on a brick wall. i have instrument hangers already, but drilling a million holes into brick seems like A BAD IDEA so i thought i would hang a board (cedar, i ALSO already have it) on the wall (many fewer screw-holes) and then just screw the guitar holders to the plank. the plank is 5.5" wide and 1 1/4" deep (and 6 feet long) and really pretty, so i'm ALMOST happy. The ends are really roughly cut though (despite my best sanding job), and i was hoping to cover them up with something (copper? silk?) so it looks a bit less like i, um, hung a plank on the wall, and more like i'm incredibly crafty and awesome. what should i use for the ends of these boards? google is not helping, but maybe i'm searching using the wrong words(?). thank you!
posted by andreapandrea to Home & Garden (6 answers total)

I would probably just re-cut the ends more carefully and using a much finer-toothed blade, if I had that option. Alternatively, I like your copper idea. You could definitely get some copper flashing and copper nails and wrap the ends. Just figure out a way to cut it and fold it over so that it looks nice.
posted by Scientist at 11:55 AM on February 9, 2013 [1 favorite]

You mention wanting to cover the ends in copper, which seems pretty doable to me.If you go to an art store, they should have thick copper foil designed for embossing. Or apparently you could just order it from Amazon. It's thin enough that you can cut it with heavy scissors, and it bends quite easily.

You could trace the end of the plank onto the foil, cut it out with flaps on each edge, then bend those flaps around the end of the plank. Here's a diagram of how I would lay it out. The center rectangle should be the traced end of the plank. Cut out along the black lines, put it against the end of the plank, then fold along the gray lines in numerical order. This will leave you with the front face of the plank nice and clean, and a seam along the narrow faces. You can then use decorative tacks along the seam (and anywhere else you think would look nice) to hold everything in place.
posted by duien at 12:17 PM on February 9, 2013 [1 favorite]

You could also get some corner molding and cover the ends. Your local home improvement store would have a variety of styles. cheap and would look nice. (heck, you could frame the whole plank, all four sides, with it).
posted by HuronBob at 1:50 PM on February 9, 2013

A pass around the edges with a router will give you a clean decorative edge.
posted by blaneyphoto at 2:23 PM on February 9, 2013

This is a silly idea, but I'd use a scroll saw to cut each end to be similar to a guitar head stock. (Just don't narrow it down where is goes to neck width.)

Going back to copper, it's really malleable stuff, really easy to hammer thin and then easy to cut so you have lots of design options. Lots of room to be creative.

Have fun!
posted by snsranch at 3:50 PM on February 9, 2013

Paint it dark to hide the flaws and put copper pipe around the edges connected with elbows. You don’t need to weld or anything, just stick them together.
posted by bongo_x at 7:43 PM on February 9, 2013