Hanging a Monitor on a Wall

Ever wanted to add a second monitor to your laptop without taking up valuable real estate on your desk? In this instructable I'll demonstrate how to hang a flat panel monitor from a wall with a minimum of hardware.

The materials used were bought at a hardware store for less than $4.50. In clockwise order:

2 feet of 1/16th inch uncoated cable
a #10 x 2 inch long wood screw
a 1/8th inch cable clamp
2 M4-0.70 x 16 mm machine screws (you may require different screws)
4 1/8th inch x 3/4th inch diameter washers (matches the machine screws)

These materials were already available:

dental floss
socks

The tools used in clockwise order:

a weight (keys)
a drill
two pairs of pliers
a marker
a screwdriver (not absolutely necessary)
a matching bit for driving the wood screw
a set of drill bits

Of utmost importance is to have a sturdy fixture to hang the monitor from. In this case a stud was found behind the wall by drilling bellow an electrical outlet. The outlet was used as a starting point for the drilling. Ideally the drilling should be done just above the base board to both avoid wires behind the wall and to hide the holes where no one will look.

NOTE: Care must be taken when placing anything that can conduct electricity into a wall. From nails and screws to drill bits, damaging wires behind your wall will at the least cost you to fix and at worse could burn down your dwelling. Again, do this step with care.

Using the smallest drill bit, drill straight into the wall. Drilling through drywall is easy. If there is nothing behind the drywall, the drill will suddenly move forward with little resistance. If this is the case drill about 3/4th on an inch to either side of the first hole. Continue the pattern until you drill through the drywall and encounter resistance and need to force the drill forward. Chances are good that you've found a stud. You can check by gently backing the drill bit out and checking the tip for any signs of wood.

To find another stud closer to where you want to place the monitor, measure a set distance to either side of the drill hole where you found the stud. This distance is often 16 inches, however it can be either 12 inches in older homes or 24 inches in modern homes.

For practice on what it will feel like to drill into a stud, try drilling into a piece of wood that is out of sight, say the bottom shelf of a set of shelves or a bottom drawer of a set of drawers.

After finding the stud, translate the stud up to the level you wish to hang the monitor by using a weight and a piece of string. After tying the string to the weight, dangle the weight over the hole where you found the stud and place a small mark where you will drill the pilot hole. It helps to align the weight to the hole by first aligning an object to the hole on the floor and aligning the weight to that object.

Take the monitor and hold it up in the general area you want to hang it. Verify that it is more or less centered on the mark and that this position fits your mental image of where you want the monitor.

Next select a drill bit that is smaller than the diameter of the shaft of the wood screw. For a #10 wood screw, I chose a 7/64th inch bit. Drill a hole on the mark in a downward angle. The angle ensures that the monitor will tend to slide down and against the wall and will decrease the risk of it falling(!).

Nothing more now but to insert the screw.

Now remove the base from the monitor. Next place a pair of washers and a machine screw in the top two mounting holes of the monitor. Leave them lose.

Overlap the ends of the cable making a loop. Size the loop by placing the bottom of the loop around the mounting while keeping the loop from exceeding the top of the monitor. This ensures that the cable is hidden from view when it is hung.

Place a mark on both legs of the cable far from either end and at some point where it overlaps. Next fold over both ends of the cable by about 1 and 1/2 inch with a mark centered in each fold without changing the size of the loop. These folds increase the diameter of the cable making it more likely to be engaged by the clamp and decreases the chance of slipping.

Cut off any excess cable using the large pair of pliers.

Now insert both ends of the cable into the clamp from either side, line up the markings, place the clamp on the markings and hand tighten the nuts. Next use the two pliers to tighten each nut as securely and evenly as possible. The tighter the clamp is, the less chance of the monitor has for falling and breaking!

Place the bottom of the the loop threw the washers on each screw on the back of the monitor. Use a pair of pliers to tighten the screws, but be careful not to over tighten the screws and strip out the threading.

Finally! My long winded instructable is almost over.

Place the top of the loop over the support screw and slowly remove your support from the monitor to ensure that the screw can take the weight and then some. With a hand under the monitor, try pushing down on the top of the monitor or the screw and judge if the screw needs any correcting.

Next take the socks and fold them over. Place them at the lower corners of the monitor. Now orientate the monitor as you see fit. Plug in the cables and its ready to go!

Lastly, if you are using your monitor to extend your desktop in Windows, navigate to the desktop, right click, go to Properties then the Settings tab. After extending the desktop to the second monitor you can click on its representation and move it to orientate it relative to your primary monitor.

I hope this instructable helps in your attempt at hanging a monitor or anything else you could put on a wall.

I would like to thank everyone who has submitted an instructable. Your instructables have helped me in my unique endeavors and have shown me just how easy it is to contribute my own.

I would also like to thank instructables.com for providing such an easy way of compiling and adding my contribution to the Internet. If you haven't made your own instructable yet, I recommend giving it a try.