How to wall mount virtually anything!
One essential skill of being able to organize computer equipment is the ability to properly wall-mount things. For example, you may want to wall-mount a power strip, or a cable modem, or – believe it or not – I’ve even wall-mounted Mac Minis before. It is possible. Watch, and I’ll show you how. I essentially use two different methods depending upon whether the object to be mounted is designed to be wall-mounted or not. I’m going to show you both methods. First we’ll start with this power strip. This was actually designed to be wall-mounted, as is evident by the wall mounting holes present on the bottom. Here’s the trick I learned to make this a piece of cake. First: lay the object on a piece of paper and trace around it with a pen. Then use scissors and cut out the template.
Next: we need to get an outline of the mounting holes. Now, there are two ways to accomplish this. One is with your fingernails or another flat object. This will create a nice outline of the hole. Another method is using a pencil. Once you get the outlines created, you can figure out exactly where you’re going to mount it. For this demonstration, I’m going to use a scrap piece of wood. Use some tape, and secure the template down exactly where it needs to go. You can drill your holes now. Obviously the hole should be slightly smaller than the screw. Of course, you should already have some screws picked out that fit properly in the holes you’re going to be using. Once the screws are in, you can remove the template by ripping it off. Then you can test out your fit. It is common to need to adjust the screws by tightening or loosening. Okay, so what about objects that are not designed to be wall mounted, such as this power adapter for a laptop? Here’s the way I tackle the situation. I use these little aluminum ties that are sold at the hardware store primarily for chain-link fences. They’re strong yet flexible. I essentially work the metal wire into a shape that fits perfectly over the item to be mounted, leaving a little extra at each end. Then, I roll the ends around the pliers to create a loop. This is how it looks when it’s done. The next thing I do is attach some double-sided tape to the bottom of the power adapter.
The tape won’t really hold it in place by itself more than a day or two, but it will keep it from sliding around once the bracket is installed. The last step is to tighten down the bracket. I’ve used this method on all kinds of things including Mac Mini power adapters, network switch power adapters, and even USB hubs to keep them in place on top of a desk. If you’re going to be working with drywall, you’ll of course need to use drywall anchors like these if you want your screws to stay in. Here’s another little bonus tip that I’ll throw in. If you’re trying to mount wires to these little brackets that are used for wall shelving, then the way to do that is to take your zip tie and try to curl up the end of it until you can create a hook like structure. Then, you should be able to insert it into the bracket and pull it through the other side. Those aluminum tie wraps that I was talking about, those can be bought in the hardware store where they sell the chain link fences. Now, those will only work for small things. Now what if you have something big to mount, like this? Well, something that works almost as good if not better is actually electrical wire. If you get thick enough electrical wire, the heavy gauge stuff, you can slice it out and then you can use it to bend up and pretty much the same way I did. Now, what if you had something even bigger than this? As long as it’s flat you could actually run over each corner. Instead of going, you know, all the way across. So that’s another little trick you can use. I don’t have anything currently I can show you, but I have done it before, and it works pretty well. Thanks for watching.
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