French Cleat Garage Cabinets

Secure that sucker to the wall with 3 screws.

French cleat garage cabinets.

One of those hidden gems in woodworking the french cleat is so simple but so wonderful that if you re not familiar with it once you learn you ll be look. Now that you know what french cleats are let s back up a bit and have a look at where we left off on the purple diy bookshelf project. Rip the french cleat strips for the wall to 4 in. Believe it or not you could always just instal a plain old cleat inside the cabinets running the entire length of all cabinets combined.

And you don t have to plan ahead for future storage needs either. Now attach the cabinet cleat to the cabinet. The plus of this method is that the back of the cabinets will be flush to wall versus how they will end up using a french cleat. The cleat is made by cutting a 5 wide piece of 3 4 plywood to fit between the two box sides.

Then simply set your table saw blade to a 45 angle and rip the piece in half lengthwise. Flat area at the point of the bevels. You can easily add on to the french cleat system just by assembling more hangers and rearranging the existing ones. Make room for the cleat the sides of the bookshelf extend 3 4 beyond the back panel to allow room for the french cleat system.

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. Then reset the saw to 45 degrees and adjust the fence to leave about a 1 8 in. Line the top of the cabinet cleat up with that mark and mark the bottom of that cleat. Repeat the process for the accessory cleats but rip them to 2 1 2 in.

But with this french cleat system you don t have to worry about the ultimate positioning of all your hooks and shelves because you can rearrange them at will. See more ideas about french cleat storage french cleat tool storage. Level that cleat and nail it into place trying to hit the studs. Cut the 45 degree bevels on the strips.

This is how a lot of hardwood cabinets are installed oak hickory etc.