How to attach stuff to the wall without drilling a hole

I didn't want to ruin my kitchen tiles and wall by drilling a giant hole through it, but I did want to hang my knife and paper/foil thing to the wall. Solution: superglue and magnets.

Step 1 Stuff you need.

*magnets (I got 250 rare earth magnets on Ebay quite cheap. diameter 0.5mm/0.25 inch but you might want slightly larger ones)
*superglue
*stuff to put on your wall.

Comments

[19samman98]

i want that cat!!!! :)

[highwaykind]

*wide grin* MINE!

[19samman98]

dang it but he/she is so cute

[cyberian]

Let me understand. You didn't want to drill, but super glue and acetone are OK? Are there any pictures of what the wall looked like after? You have got to be a renter! No home owner would ruin paneling like you did.

[highwaykind]

Picture of the wall 'after' uploaded to step 5, no damage at all.

[highwaykind]

Remember : *tiny* magnets! The mess you see is not that much bigger than a hole in the wall. Drilling through tiles that big doesn't always go too well (the pro who put them on cracked a lot, and warned me about it).
And if I want to get rid of them again, apparently a little acetone erases all traces. Haven't tried it yet, but will post a picture when I've cleaned up the excess glue. Try that with a drilled hole :)
Also: I don't have a drill.
Home owner by the way.

[pyper]

Tile glaze is quite hard (in the material science sense) and you should be able to happily scrape away with a steel scraper without worrying about scratching the tiles. The trapezoid shaped utility knife blades are a tradesman favourite for scrapping stuff off tiles / glass etc, just don't get anything too expensive or use a chisel because hard tool steels can scratch glass.

[Matt4_16]

um ya so instead of a hole you just have a glob of super glue and some magnets i don't see how that solves the problem of not damaging the walls?

[highwaykind]

Just removed the lot, zero damage to the tile :)

[illdoyourdrugs]

Now what do you do when you want to take it down. the glue will probably be all stuck to your tile. scraping it off will scratch it up and leave a rough looking mess.

[ItsTheHobbs]

ummmm.. yeah, I'm gonna go with scary.

[highwaykind]

check updated step 4, gotta defend the furball here.

[ItsTheHobbs]

ummm..... yeah still scary

[mcgurk]

I would NOT recommend super glue. It doesn't stand up well to shearing forces and is brittle. I'd go with a nice polyurethane glue or an epoxy. Since you're gluing to tile (and don't want to scuff the surface) poly is probably better. Its slightly flexible, which is nice when glueing two ridgid things like magnets and tile together, and adheres well to smooth surfaces (a variant of poly is used on car windshields, which requires both of these properties).

[highwaykind]

Thank you very much!! I will see if I can find that in the store (together with some acetone), superglue was the only thing I had here. So far everything is holding perfectly fine, but I wouldn't want the knife to come crashing down on, say, my foot, someday! Would polyurethane be solvable with something (like the acetone/superglue)? And how long does that have to dry? (I can probably tape it to the wall?)

[mcgurk]

Poly is pretty much resistant to anything. You might get it off with naptha or gas. But, if you want to get it off of tile, all you need is a razor. Poly glues (like gorilla glue) actually require moisture to cure. They can take anywhere from ten minutes to a few hours to cure, depending on the humidity. They also expand as they cure, so you don't want to use too much. Use a little more poly as superglue to start with. Use tape to hold the magnets down while the poly sets. After it is taped, use a spray bottle to mist the parts . After it sets, add a little more around the outside to reinforce. Follow the directions on the glue you buy for more help. Good luck!

[jespo0o]

Your cat ís cute,it;s a persian right (or something) But you have to groom him/her every day?

[shooby]

Hey, this is a really good idea. How much did you get the rare earth magnets for?

[killbox]

Best cheap source for magnets i have found is DealExtreme, free shipping rocks too, takes a while but cheap.
magets at DX

[highwaykind]

18 dollars plus shipping

[shooby]

Wow, not bad.

[snoyes]

How many magnets did it take to hold your cat on the wall?

[ac1D]

scaary and cute at teh same time!

[indivara]

*this* is scary. ;-p

[dosadi]

Acetone dissolves super glue, by the way.

[highwaykind]

Thanks! Will try that on the knife, and wall!