Hey guys, I am Sarah. Every week I comb through hundreds of DIY videos preparing projects for our weekly Maker show, Maker Break. Along the way, I find some good projects… and some GREAT ones, And right now, I’m going to share them with you! This is Sarah’s Top 5 DIY French Cleat Projects!
Rob and I are huge fans of the French Cleat system and have used them in more than one project this year like the charging station, the Lego wall and our Maker Break sign! So when the suggestion to choose a few of my favorite French Cleat projects was left in our comments a couple weeks ago I got pretty excited! So here we go!
#5 is Lasting Build
Jim wanted to make some permanent spots in his shop for some of his most commonly used tools. He laid out the four tools on a piece of plywood, stenciled an outline around each tool, and placed 3” blocks around them where it will support them the most, making sure to mark each location. He predrilled the spots for the little blocks, then screwed those into place using a countersink so that they don’t interfere with the cleats. Once the glue dried he added the top of the french cleat to the back of the tool board, and hung it on the supporting half of the cleat that was mounted to the wall!
#4 is Maker Tales
Jonathan needed to make a fun floating shelf for his wife’s office space that is mounted with, you guessed it, french cleats. He made a simple 3 sided box shelf with plywood he had in the shop and a piece of pine for the cleat. He suggests not using OSB or MDF for the cleat to ensure a strong hold. Once his shelf was assembled he added 3 coats of a fresh white paint, then topped it off with a poly finish. Once the paint was dry, he attached the cleat to the shelf. He then mounted the bottom of the cleat to the wall, and carefully mounted the shelf to the wall. This is a fun little example of how you can use French Cleats for mounting smaller projects like shelves, hanging artwork or a tv!
#3 is Dutch Shed Woodshop
If you have any of our past content you may have noticed that I like things well organized, so it’s really no surprise that this use for the French Cleat system made my OCD heart skip a beat. He made these little angled platforms for every spade, forstner, general purpose, countersink and router bit he had. He then built a simple frame around the shelves and added a cleat to the back so he could easily mount this storage solution to his french cleat wall! I am obsessed with this concept of having a wall of organization that you can quickly grab what you are looking for and just as easily return it to it’s proper home. I love this!
#2 is Home Steadonomics
Moving on to heavier storage solutions Joe built these easy shop shelves and mounted them with french cleats. These are simple plywood carcass’ held together with glue and pocket hole joinery. Once he got all four of them hung on the cleats he decided to fill in the back of the cabinets with sheet metal to seal off the opening of the shelves in the back.Next he fastened them all together and added some face frames to give it a nice finished look. Mounting larger projects like this are made so much easier with the french cleats. Once you are confident the cleats on the wall are level you just lift your cabinet and carefully guide them into place and secure them. I may just need to make some of these for my garage.
#1 is Frank Howarth
If the last four projects were just not enough French Cleat for you…Frank has the fix you need. He is updating a room in his house to be his new office and chose to make an entire wall out of french cleats for organization. Who said a french cleat wall was only for the shop? He cut down a large sheet of plywood into dozens of strips, then cut those strips in half at a 45degree angle making the french cleats. Once he had his panels done for the wall he started making the containers for the wall and used a mix of CNC design work and traditional woodworking for these. He made a few versions of the containers and honestly watching Frank’s thought process unfold in his videos is really entertaining to me.
That’s it! I hope you liked my list, but if you find a version of this project you think should have made the list add it to the comments below! And if you liked this video the rest of my Top 5’s are in this playlist right here! Alright, do me a favor and like this video and if you are not already subscribed to Belts and Boxes please do that now, and hit the bell so you don’t miss any of our shows that come out during the week! You can catch me every Friday at 5pm for the Power Tool Week In Review with Rob, and every Saturday at 6pm for the next episode of Maker Break! See you then!
