TrussMetal is a metal fabrication shop in North Vancouver that works across Metro Vancouver. This page is for shop owners, showrooms, galleries and retail designers who need display fixtures made to a floor plan: garment rails, display tables, retail shelving, rug and sample displays, and supports shaped around a particular product. Send the plan and what the fixtures need to hold, and we will confirm what we can fabricate, what needs other trades, and what the quote covers.
One fixture or a full set can be quoted, with sizes, profiles and finish matched across the set.
Fixture Types
Garment rails
Floor-standing two-post rails, rails on wall brackets and ceiling-hung rails for clothing display. Bar size and span are set by what hangs on them.
Display tables and nesting sets
Tables at stepped heights that nest together. Timber, stone or glass tops come from specialists, or the frame is made for your own top.
Custom risers and platforms
Risers and low platforms for windows and tabletops. For standard sizes you can buy online, see display pedestals and plinths.
Retail wall shelving
Shelf runs and bays for merchandise on a shop wall or behind a cash desk, sized to the wall you are filling.
Rug and material-sample displays
Wall-mounted rod grids that rugs and textiles drape over, and floor stands for flooring, tile, stone and fabric samples. Rods and fixings are sized to your largest and heaviest item.
Product-specific supports
Stands and holders made around one product line, such as footwear or bags. Guitar, bass, ukulele and violin displays are described under instrument displays, and small folded holders for bottles and similar products under bottle and product holders, below.
Three fixtures from a typical set:
Concept drawing
Concept drawing
Concept drawing
Conceptual drawing for planning only. Not a photograph or record of completed TrussMetal work; final detailing is drawn for each project.
Rug and Material Sample Displays
Showrooms for rugs, flooring, tile, stone, fabric and panels need samples customers can browse without unrolling or lifting them. A rod grid on the wall suits rugs and textiles that can be draped; a floor stand suits rigid boards and tiles. Which one fits depends on sample size, weight, count and the wall or floor available.
Concept drawing
Concept drawing
Conceptual drawing for planning only. Not a photograph or record of completed TrussMetal work; final detailing is drawn for each project.
Tell us the largest sample size, its weight and how many you want on display. A wall-mounted unit needs a wall or structure that can carry it, so the fixing is confirmed with you, your landlord or your contractor before fabrication.
Bottle and Product Holders
Cosmetics, soap, wine and specialty shops often need to show one product at a time on a wall, a shelf edge or a counter, so customers can see the label and lift the product out easily. Small folded holders do this: a strip of sheet metal folded to an L or a tray with a cut-out sized to the bottle or product.
Concept drawing
Concept drawing
Conceptual drawing for planning only. Not a photograph or record of completed TrussMetal work; final detailing is drawn for each project.
Configurations
Single wall holders; several holders spaced along one plate; holders that fix to a shelf edge; and small freestanding counter stands.
Materials
Brushed stainless steel or powder-coated steel. Aluminum where weight matters.
How they are made
Cut and folded from thin sheet, usually without welding. Cutting and folding are done by our partners; we check the drawing and arrange the finish and fixings.
Fixing
Screwed to the wall, a slatwall or a shelf. In a leased unit, check with the landlord before fixing into walls.
What they are not
Display holders only. They do not lock, and they are not anti-theft or tamper-resistant fixtures. Holders do not catch spills from testers or open bottles.
Cut-outs are sized from the actual product with a small clearance, so it lifts out without catching. For a batch, one sample holder can be quoted first to check the fit with your product before the rest are made.
For a quote, send a sample of the product, or its exact diameter or footprint where it sits in the holder, its full weight, how many holders you need and how they are laid out, what they fix to, and the finish. Your own drawing or DWG file can be quoted as drawn once we have checked it with you.
Instrument Displays
Music shops and showrooms hang or stand guitars, basses, ukuleles and violins so customers can see them and lift them down. A display made for the shop sets the hangers out on a steel rail or frame sized to the wall or floor, spaced from your widest instrument and finished to match your other fixtures. The parts that touch the instrument are bought in from instrument-support makers; the steel carries them.
Concept drawing
Concept drawing
Concept drawing
Conceptual drawing for planning only. Not a photograph or record of completed TrussMetal work; final detailing is drawn for each project.
Configurations
Wall runs of hangers on a steel rail, in one or more rows; double-sided floor towers for the middle of the shop; single feature stands for a window or counter; and shorter runs for ukuleles, mandolins, violins and violas.
Parts that touch the instrument
Hangers, yokes, cradles and their padding are bought in from instrument-support makers. The exact support is selected for each instrument model, its finish and how the display is used, for example whether customers lift instruments down themselves, before the order is accepted. Neck width and headstock shape matter, and violins and violas need a cradle that holds the scroll. We do not line steel with general-purpose rubber or foam. Headless guitars and some headstock shapes may need a stand or a different support instead of a hanger.
Instrument finishes
Some rubber, vinyl and foam can mark or soften nitrocellulose lacquer, and no support is treated as safe for every lacquer finish. Support makers’ statements differ, and where the instrument maker’s care advice is more restrictive than the support maker’s statement, the instrument maker’s advice is followed. Tell us which instruments have lacquer or vintage finishes; where no suitable support is confirmed for a model and finish, we say so before the order is accepted.
Holding the instrument
Hangers with a self-closing yoke, which closes around the neck when an instrument is hung, can be fitted where you want them. They keep an instrument seated in the hanger; they are not locks.
Spacing and heights
Hanger spacing is set from the widest body you will hang and row heights from the longest instrument, so bodies clear each other and the floor, and the top row stays within reach of staff.
Fixing and stability
Wall runs fix into studs, blocking or masonry confirmed with you and your landlord. Floor towers are drawn for your layout; their stability, including with one side full and the other empty, is settled for the actual tower before the order is accepted, and they are fixed to the floor where the landlord allows. The fixing, the attachment of the bought-in parts and the stability are checked for every order, whether or not a sample is made. The wall run and tower drawn above are concepts, not tested designs.
What they are not
Display fixtures, not security fixtures: they do not lock instruments away, and cables, alarms and lockable cases are not part of this offer. Humidity control, keyboard stands, drum displays and stands for wind and brass instruments are also outside it.
Strings, pedals, cables and books go on ordinary retail wall shelving or hooks; the instrument-specific parts above are for the instruments themselves.
For a quote, send the instrument types and the largest and heaviest models you will display, how many of each, which have lacquer or vintage finishes, any hanger make you already use, the wall length and what it is built from or the floor area, whether customers lift instruments down themselves, and the fixture finish. Bought-in hangers and cradles are selected and confirmed before the order is accepted. A first-bay sample for your approval is optional: it is made only when it is agreed in the quote, which sets out its cost and schedule.
Materials and Finishes
Steel
Tube, flat bar and sheet for rails, frames and shelving, finished with powder coat or blackening. See steel fabrication.
Brass
Solid brass and brass-coloured finishes are different products: solid brass is the metal throughout and, unless lacquered, darkens with handling; a brass-coloured powder coat, plating or PVD finish is a surface layer whose wear depends on the coating and how much it is touched. If a hanging bar or detail must be solid brass, say so and the quote will state it. See the brass guide.
Stainless steel
Where fixtures are cleaned daily or used near food and drink. See stainless steel.
Aluminum
Fixtures that are moved often, where weight matters. See aluminum.
Tops
Timber, stone or glass tops come from specialist suppliers, or frames are made for your own tops. See wood and metal.
Finishes
Powder coat, blackened steel, patina, brushed or polished metal. Compare options in the metal finishes guide.
Who makes what
Fabrication, welding and assembly are done in our shop. CNC plasma cutting, sheet bending and powder coating are done by specialist partners and included in the quote.
Who Does What
Responsibilities that affect the quote
TrussMetal: the quote states what we fabricate, what is bought in (tops, glass, levelling feet, hardware) and what is excluded. Fitting on site can be quoted; see installation.
Shop owner or landlord: approval for fixings into walls, ceilings and floors, which is common in malls and heritage units. Start it early.
Others: lighting and electrical work by a licensed electrician; glass shelves and cases from a glazier.
We do not publish load ratings. Rails, arms and shelves are sized from what you tell us they will carry, so mention heavy items such as outerwear, rugs or stone samples.
Yes, a single fixture can be quoted, or a set in one finish.
Can you match fixtures I already have?
Send photographs with a tape measure in the shot, or the original drawings. Shape and size can usually be matched; matching an existing finish needs its colour code or finish details.
Do fixtures have to be fixed to the building?
Freestanding pieces do not. Wall and ceiling fixtures do, and in leased or heritage spaces that usually needs landlord approval before the fixtures are made.
How are heavy rugs or stone samples handled?
Tell us the sizes, weights and how many items you want on display. We confirm whether the arms and the wall or floor can take them before quoting.
Which ceiling-hung pieces are on this page?
Ceiling-hung garment rails and suspended merchandise displays for shops. Suspended shelving for homes and back-bar shelving for restaurants are on the metal furniture page.
Request a Quote
Send the floor plan and what the fixtures need to hold.
What to include in your message
Fixture types and quantities
Shop or showroom size and ceiling height, or your designer’s drawings
What the fixtures hold, including the largest and heaviest items, for product holders the product’s size and full weight, and for instrument displays the instrument types and models
Preferred material, finish and tops
Freestanding or fixed, and whether landlord approval is needed
Your target opening date, and whether you need fitting on site
In “What do you need?”, choose Other Custom Metalwork.
Prefer to talk it through? Call (778) 805-5333, Monday to Friday, 8:30 to 5:00.
