How to build a flat panel wall mount

Has anyone ever attempted to build a flat panel wall mount from scratch?

Does anyone know of any online instructions on how to build one.

 

Why would you do that when they sell the mounts that directly bolt to your TV?

That would be time consuming and a hassle to build something like this that doesn't get seen.

 

Because I think that they are over priced...

 

Well, everything is overpriced, specially the flat panel that you have to put on the mount. It comes along with owning a flat panel.

Only thing you can try and do is purchase a mount and reverse engineer it.

 

Over-priced? You really don't appreciate the weight they have to support. You're not going to construct one out of wood that would be strong enough. Ya gotta use steel.

So - go to Circuit City or Best Buy and look at one of the mounts. Make sure its one that is for the size of your TV. Take some measurements. Then go price the steel. I think you'll find that the mfg and store are making a fair profit, not a fat profit.

 

Wood can hold a surprising amount of weight, but so can plastic. And aluminum. I've never seen any TV mounts made out of any of those materials.

Mounts have to be unforgiving at only four or six fly points, and they have to have a very small footprint on the back of the TV.

That ain't easy with anything but heavy-gauge steel, lots of engineering, and rental time on a stamping machine.

 

Ok, nobody seems to want to help you. Here's what you do. Find out the thread size of the holes in the back of the tv. The ones the mount would go into. Then get some machine thread eye bolts that will thread into them. Then get some lag thread eye bolts. 1/4 in will probably do, 5/16 would be better. Then get some chain. Again 1/4 inch or 5/16 inch.

Of course, this assumes you have a 42 inch or smaller. You would want to move up to 3/8 inch if you had a 50 or 60 inch.

So anyway, use a stud finder to locate the ceiling joists. Thread the lag eye bolts in (did I mention to get 2 1/2 inch long minimum) to the ceiling joist. Attach the chain with a special link. Then use the same kind of link to attach the other end of the chain to the eyebolts in the back of the flat panel display.

Now you have saved, oh, $40 bucks or so. And you have a cool hi-tec flat panel, with an industrial factory mounting style. Use rusty chain if you want that backwoods hi-tec look.

All in fun.

 

Ooops. Just saw a Peerless mount on Tiger Direct for 23"-46" for $49.99. Your only gonna save, oh, ten or fifteen bucks. Sorry.

 

The general consensus is that Monoprice has the best price/selection on line with reasonable shipping, which is a big plus these days.
http://www.monoprice.com/home/index.asp

 

I think some of these guys were a little short with you. Some of us like to make things for ourselves even if they are redialy available for purchase.

I obtained an aluminum plate about 6 x 6 inches by .080 inches thick, mounted it to the back of the TV. Then mounted a piece of tongue and groove hardwood flooring to the aluminum plate. Then mounted the opposite piece of tongue and groove to the wall and hang TV on wall.

I had scrap material on hand. I had to buy four bolts for a grand total of $.85 and "wasted" about 30 minutes.

 

Some times doing it your self is better. I looked for months for a reasonable screen mount. I was going to build my own. Then I thought about what I paid for the flat screen, and what I was going to save making my own, and how much I was going to spend again if it didn't work. And the real deal breaker was, how long would I have to listen to my wife after. Well don't you know, waiting and looking paid off. I found one at walmart.com for under 40ty bucks. And it works better then I planned. You can get extra wall mounts for, and move the flat screen. I have a mount in the living room, and one on my deck. You just pull a pin on the side, and lift the screen. 2 locations 1 screen.

 

Well, a great reason to make your own mount is that the metal ones are not very attractive when viewed from the side. Here's a strong and simple solution which has a minimal 3/4" profile. It is horizontally adjustable, too.

Rip a piece of 4" wide 3/4" thick oak down the middle at a 45 degree angle. Drill holes in one piece that match the top VESA holes on the back of your TV. In the other piece drill holes that match the studs in your wall, wall anchors, etc. Fasten the wall piece to the wall so that the angled edge points up and is away from the wall. The TV section should now be able to rest securely on top of the wall mounted piece so that applying downward force actually wedges it tightly to the wall. Now, simply fasten the TV section to the back of the TV with the angled edge down and away from the TV. Add spacers between the TV and the wooden strip if needed.

This system allows you to easily slide the TV left and right to center it on the wall. For additional strength you can add a second system like this for the bottom VESA holes.

 

I for one am someone who would much rather build my own wall
mount than buy one. I just completed mounting my 32" lcd on my bed room wall but would definitely trust this design with a bigger tv. (LETS ALL FACE THE FACTS, THIS BLOG IS FOR DIY'ers NOT PPL WHO FEEL THE NEED TO CRITICIZE THE DIY'ers) So back to business, I took 2 16'' pieces of 1-5/8 unistrut, (chanel facing up) cut slits on the front side to slide the tv right in. (of course found my bolt thread and used fender washers.) then cut a window on the front side of the strut to drill into the stud and a solid drywall anchor for the other side! this worked great for me! of course it doesn't lock it in place but as a diy'er its more than suffieient for its purpose!!

 

I've hung 4 LCD's by cable. Two I did like a picture frame.....a strong cable strung between the two top 'mounting bracket' bolts on the tv, and then a couple heavy bolts drilled into 2 studs in the wall. You have to be pretty accurate with the bolts in the wall to make sure they are very level or the whole thing will be cockeyed. The other two tv's were hung in a room with vaulted ceilings. With those I attached 2 cables to the 'mounting bracket' bolts on the back of the tv and then ran the cables up through the drywall in the ceiling and fastened them to the trusses in the attic. Everyone liked the suspended tv look. Since cable is so strong I was able to use some fairly thin cable so it didn't detract from the look.

 

So I usually just lurk here but this thread actually made me register. It sickens me to hear all the negativity from people in response to someone wanting to make their own mount. I thought that'd what this site is all about...

And while you can buy panel mounts for 40 bucks, what if you want it to articulate? What if you want it to adjust? What if you live 30 miles from anywhere you can buy one which means a 2 hour trip plus gas? And what if you already have most of the materials laying around?

Enough with the rant... I'll be building mine out of unistrut and aircraft cable. It will never fall and will accomplish the same thing the $350 mounts do. It will fit the atypical space in which I plan to put it and I wont have to buy anything except a handful of bolts and washers from the local hardware store.

So please,if you're just here to hate on diy'ers... do it elsewhere.

 

Glad you finally registered rather than sitting on the sidelines watching us play ball. One main purpose of this forum is to ensure the advice we give is spot on, is safe to use and ultimately will work for the application the poster wants. We aren't negative about DIY situations, only those that pose a risk to property or personnel, or that will be counterproductive, material wise or cost wise. Not sure where you priced your $350 stand, but the last one I priced for a client was totally articulating, ran about $125. Making a TV bracket may be fine and hanging it successful. That's fine. Just do it safely. Oh, the OP or some one else did mention they had no safety built in, so you have to factor that in your design.
Hey, glad you are on board. Come on back!

 

People offer advice here - not hate. If that advice is different than what you would give, fine. Don't lurk, post your opinion. However, don't post "do it elsewhere" as your first contribution to the forum.

I found it interesting that the comments criticizing posters that recommended a store bought mount were all from first time posters in a thread 5 years old.

 

The post that suggested the strips of wood cut at 45 degrees is a good one.

Personally I use just 60 degrees as a system for hanging cabinets. I have one strip entirely around my shop and I hang cabinets, pegboard tool panels, etc. this way. I attach two strips on the cabinets - one top and one bottom so that the cabinet stays vertical and I can move things whenever I want.

I can support about 80 lbs per ft of wall using this system - in fact, it's really just limited by the shear force capability of the screws attaching the strips to the wall studs and to the back of the cabinets.

BTW, if you attach a 36"x24" plywood panel to the wall it will give you more places to attach screws so that it will support more than if you are only using 1 screw at each stud.

 

I used that method (@ 60 degrees) to hold a scaffold platform over the stairs between the walls in my two-story entry foyer so I could paint the walls & ceiling up there. Worked like a champ. If it will hold this 200-pound body, it will certainly hold a TV. I used 4" x 3/8" lags into the studs.

Still, the wood, materials, time, and effort will cost more than just buying a TV mount that's designed for the purpose. Jus' sayin'.

 

"You really don't appreciate the weight they have to support. You're not going to construct one out of wood that would be strong enough. Ya gotta use steel."

this is completely inaccurate. i built one that held the 32" set 12" out from the wall.
and it worked just fine.

 

ok, just just finished reading this thread.

here is another excellent method. it think its the same as a few others have said.
https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...C4K_gAf-3tD2Aw

 

This thread is from 2007, at the tail end of the days when TVs -- flat screen or CRT -- typically weighed well over 100 pounds. My 2011 Sony 46" Bravia LCD weighs 50.