French Cleat Tool Cabinet

Accessories box filled with screws.

French cleat tool cabinet.

Just pick some holes in the pegboard and let er rip. This seems to make hanging the cabinet a little easier and insures the faces of each cleat half engage cleanly. Then simply set your table saw blade to a 45 angle and rip the piece in half lengthwise. The cabinet portion of the french cleat is glued and screwed to the top and sides of the cabinet.

This is so simple i m surprised it doesn t get used more often. We tested this french cleat connection and shelf using a 10 lb. If the mantel is already built and you are thinking of attaching a french cleat to it it will push the mantel away from the wall by the thickness of the cleat. If you are building a mantel you could certainly build it with a french cleat recessed.

Installing the french cleat. Using a hand plane or similar tool remove approximately 1 16 to 1 8 from the sharp point on both pieces. Flat area at the point of the bevels. How to build a frenchcleat wall in this video i show how i built a french cleat wall for tool st.

It may sound fancy but a french cleat is simply a sturdy beveled support board a secret that builders and craftsmen rely on to hang heavy items such as large mirrors artworks and cabinets. The other half of the board that s been cut is then attached to something be it a bracket for tool storage or the back of a cabinet for mounting on the wall. Then reset the saw to 45 degrees and adjust the fence to leave about a 1 8 in. Rip the french cleat strips for the wall to 4 in.

The cleat is made by cutting a 5 wide piece of 3 4 plywood to fit between the two box sides. It s simply a board that has been cut with an angle i used 45 on it s long side and attached to a surface with the angle sloping in. I used a hidden french cleat to hang a dovetailed wine rack that i created. So what is a french cleat.

Cut the 45 degree bevels on the strips. Repeat the process for the accessory cleats but rip them to 2 1 2 in. On this cabinet i also screwed the top french cleat the one that s part of the cabinet to the wall also through the pegboard holes for even more strength.