Silicone and french cleat mounting

Now there is a confusing heading for you.

This is in reference to the conversation about mounting enamel wall
panels. I prefer they “float” vs. being mounted in a frame or on a
backer board which is visible on the edge of the piece.

For very small work, say 8" square copper and under I simply use a
diamond bit to rough up the surface of the enamel and use 100%
silicone (I am partial to the GE brand as someone else mentioned they
were too) to attach those sawtoothed hangars to the back of the piece
and they stay great.

The problem arrives with heavier work, I need a larger surface than
the sawtooth hanger has for attaching to the piece. Thanks to Orchid
member Mark for recomending this web site which features a kind of
metal version of a french cleat:

http://www.panelclip.com/panel.htm

This has promise, although I have to make sure to remember to
provide the 2nd part of the hanger to the customer. Anyone have any
wise words on attaching this with silicone to a larger piece? I have
some 12" square 18 gauge enamel panels that have been hanging with
wood backers for 15 years or so. The surface area that is siliconed
is about 9" square on those. I also wonder, if I do try one out, how
long do I let it hang for a test before I decide it is “safe”. As
always, any wisdom you have to offer is welcomed.

Karen

Hi, Karen, Wouldn’t it be pretty simple to rivet your saw-toothed
hanger or the cleat to a piece of metal and glue that to the piece?
That seems like it would give you plenty of surface area-- as much
as you want, really. Or nail/screw it to a wood frame smaller than
the piece, and cement that. To make it even stronger, it seems as
though you could add a thickish piece of copper, smaller than the
piece, to the back, adhering it just with enamel, then adding a wood
framework that framed that, so that there would be minimal
likelihood of both the glue and the enamel letting go. Good luck!

–No�l