French cleat system for tools

Wayne Watling

Member
Messages
19
Hi,

In a small shop open floor space is valuable so I'm putting as much as possible on the walls. So far I've completed two clamp racks and started the tool rack, just need to make the wooden tool holders. Its all made from scrap wood and a load of barn board I scored for free. Still have the tool cabinet to do. The tool rack is from a similar design found in FW issue #160 published back in 2002.

The french cleat will be fixed to three of the four walls, and the nice thing about this system is that you can move the racks around the shop as required, flexibility is key in a small shop (21x23'). The cleat is made from 3/4" mahogany and all the other framing pieces are 3/4" mixed hardwoods, each rack has 3 points of contact with the wall and sits tight within a 45 degree angle on the cleat.

Wayne

ClampRacks.jpg


Toolrack.jpg
 
VERY nice wayne! :thumb:

I have 24X24 and am about to start my cleat system starting with two cabinets.
Thanks for the ideas and for sharing.

I see that Steel City drill press there. It's a great machine isn't it?

DT
 
Great solution, Wayne. I've got a wall that I need to organize better, including adding some clamp storage. I may just have to steal the French cleat idea.
 
VERY nice wayne! :thumb:
I have 24X24 and am about to start my cleat system starting with two cabinets.
Thanks for the ideas and for sharing.
I see that Steel City drill press there. It's a great machine isn't it?
DT
Thanks Don and others for your comments. Yes the Steel City is a good workhorse, love it.

Glenn, I like your use of the peg board, makes it alot easier to mount the tools for sure.

Whilst I used a 45 degree cleat I'm told that some use a 30, in this case I wanted the extra jambing power of a 45 because the clamp racks are a little higher than the cleat and I wanted to ensure they dont ever topple over unexpectedly. With the 3 points of contact it turned out that a 30 probably would have been fine, they arent moving anywhere.
To help the bar clamps stay put in their holder I first drill the hole then cut a slot at a smaller width than the hole and then stuck some of that high density foam on the top.

Since there is more than a few people interested here are some close ups of construction detail and a shot of the second cleat mounted last night.

best,
Wayne

Toolracktopcloseup.jpg


Toolrackbottomcloseup.jpg


Clamprackcloseup.jpg


Racks.jpg
 
Very nice mate....I just hate the term "french cleats". Being British I really cant stand anything french so as a architect I refer to them a split battens
 
French Cleat Mounted Tool Boards

http://familywoodworking.org/forums/showthread.php?t=2477 is a Shop Tour thread by Christian Aufreiter where he shows, (in the bottom half of his post) the Tool Boards he mounted with French Cleats in his Concrete walled basement shop.

For those that haven't seen Christian's thread, it should go well with this thread to show additional ideas for those contemplating different uses for the French cleat system.

One tip for making the French cleats is to use a small radius roundover bit, or just use the table saw to knock about 1/8" off of the sharp tip of both pieces of the french cleat. This will keep them from bottoming out unevenly due to dust or other matter that can collect in the wall mounted piece of the cleat, and in general, make them easier to slide, should you decide to slide a cabinet or toolboard along the wall cleat to relocate it. Waxing each half of the mating surfaces of the cleat is not a bad idea either.
 
Toolrack complete with walnut toolholders and some tools

Appreciate the comments, thanks.

It doesn't take much to knock up some some tool holders on the saw using a regular blade at a 4o degrees to cut the slots for the rasps and a dado set for the holder at the bottom of the rack. They are all screws in from the back of the rack which allows you to remove and add or change positions as your tool inventory changes over the years. The other tools are hung from nails.

Wayne

Toolrackcomplete.jpg


Toolrackcompleted.jpg
 
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