Hung Ho
December 10, 2006
Best Ever Picture Screw
Ever since I re-painted most of the rooms in the house, all of our framed art has been stacked against a wall. When houseguests come I tell them to look through the pictures and imagine the art hung according to their own taste. This exercise offers them some control over their experience of visiting my home, whereas being forced to stack firewood just doesn’t.
But since Houseguest Season is officially over (nobody can get up our driveway in the winter), it’s time to hang those paintings. And this time, I’m going to do it right. I know what you’re thinking; Why promise what I can’t deliver? But I’ve got a secret weapon; the Best-Ever Picture Screw.
Canada 
When the world’s finest tool company (
“We were thrilled. That description sent us over the moon,” says Anne Sedgwick, the female half of the Indian River couple that invented the Innofast picture hanger and offered it to Lee Valley
“Len and I were hanging things a few years ago. I was lamenting the complexities of installing anchors. Why did it have to be so difficult?”
So Len and Anne sat down at the kitchen table and started drawing designs for improving the anchor-and-screw system that we all know and resent.
“The design just dropped out of the sky. It was a gift. Then Len whittled our first prototype out of zinc. We did everything ourselves. We had to figure out how to get it patented, die-cast, tested, plated, bar-coded, packaged and sold to retailers. I designed the packaging in Microsoft Word. The whole project was like giving birth. And we’re a mature couple!”
The Innofast picture hanger is designed for both slot-head and Robertson (square-head) drivers, so it can be installed with a butter knife, a nail file, or a screwdriver if you’re a purist. No drilling, no hammering, no cheesy plastic plugs, no unsightly hooks; just a pretty brass button with a collar that secures the wire of your picture.
Innofast screws install in seconds and can also be used for hanging objects that have keyhole-style perforations (like telephones and clocks). The sharp flanges on the screw-shaft cut deep into drywall and hold like stink.
“It’s such a small, simple thing,” says Anne, “but it has that feeling of being a gift. We love that.”
If Anne’s attitude doesn’t make you want to hug an inventor I don’t know what will.
Anne and Len Sedgwick’s “Best-Ever” Innofast screw is available at your local Home Hardware and at Lee Valley Tools (www.leevalley.com).
My name is Janice. Your web site is great. My husband and I have been drywalling for 20+ years. I have just found your site and just by the picture of the Hung HO it will work! If anyone is interested we have a seires of How to Drywall e-books (downloadables) Book 1 Getting started is free so come and visit us.
Jan
Posted by: Janice Kranz | February 15, 2007 at 06:21 PM
... then they'll be in my shopping cart tomorrow. Sounds great. Thanks Mag.
Man, I just re-read my first post. I'm glad you understood I was talking about screw-in plastic anchors. God knows what a "screw-in drywall stud" is. I guess that's what the "Preview" button is for.
Posted by: | January 26, 2007 at 10:47 PM
Bite? Like a rabid badger!
If you're currently using plastic screw-in anchors I know what you're talking about. They work brilliantly in drywall, but they're not made to penetrate wood.
However, Innofast picture-hangers bury themselves in studs faster than a toddler can spit out a piece of Limberger.
Posted by: Mag | January 19, 2007 at 11:30 PM