A big plus is when you show us mistakes and how to avoid them. I appreciate you are just like the rest of us! Thank you for taking the time & effort to make these videos.
@@SpecificLove7 Came down to say this pretty much same thing. I really appreciate it when a DIY channel keeps mistakes in the video and explains what went wrong and the fix. Feels a lot more genuine to me since I know exactly zero people who can pull off a project with perfect accuracy every time they do something.
I went to my plywood supplier and bought a few sheets of three-quarter inch birch plywood. I had their staff cut the plywood down into long useable strips with one edge being a 45° angle. There was an additional charge for the cutting service, but I was more than happy to have that done as I don’t have a tablesaw.
Thank you for this video. I haven’t room for a table saw, though I clearly need one. Your video and teaching style is really accessible and has given me the push to get my tool cabinet finished with French cleats rather than continuing to procrastinate!!
This is great. I grew up using a radial arm saw for ripping and cross cuts; we didn’t have a table saw. After I was out of the house, my father added a portable table saw to his shop, but it (along with the radial arm) has probably been neglected for 12 years. Using either at this point really makes me nervous, yet I REALLY want to add French cleats. Since I have 3 circular saws I am thinking of setting one to 45 and one to 90 and just alternating between the two to cut up a sheet of 3/4” ply.
Thank you for showing other ways of sawing the cleats. This is Step 1, of the entire French cleat system, without which the rest of the videos I’d of little use.
Great video! Thank you. I was trying to decide on the best way to hang tools on my garage wall. I was originally thinking pegboard, but now I've decided to use a French cleat system thanks to your video. It makes more sense and is a more versatile method of storage. God bless and thanks again.
5:40 Pro-tip. The Japanese pull saw has one side that's for ripping, and one side that's for crosscuts. If you flip the saw around and use the rip teeth for the rip cuts, you might have a better time.
I used a track saw. Much easier than a table saw if you’re trying to handle a 4x8 sheet of plywood by yourself. I cut a whole sheet into cleats that I store for future use.
Great video on other ways. I bought a table and didn’t have a use for it, however I made a sled for it and made French cleats. Both the sled and French cleats are game changes in time saved, safety and organizing ur shop. Keep the video coming .
Splendid video. I now know that this is do-able even if am a newbie and at present don't have any fancy kit. Your storage idea vids, have had my imagination firing on all cylinders, thinking of all the many ways, I can free up floor space and have flexible storage around the house and garage. Also thinking of applying this method for an outdoor set of cleats for the back of garage wall, to use for planting veg. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and for your infectious enthusiasm. Greetings and gratitude from Yorkshire. 😊
Great ideas. If I manage to make all the cleats I need, I'll be able to get everything up on the walls and then I will actually have room for a table saw.
Thank you :) finally somebody who explained how to make it with a regular saw! Like, shush, i'm just trying to make 1 pice of a furniture for myself, there is no way i'm gonna build a freaking furniture workshop for that purpose x)
Thank you for the safety minded tips too man! Really appreciate it, and I can see how I will be able to think about doing things to avoid getting too up close as you say.
If your cuts are not perfectly straight, you can adjust for that when you hang it. 1. Attach cleat to whatever you are hanging. 2. Attach one side of the wall cleat to the wall (firmly!), and hold it level. 3. Hang your item on the wall cleat, and move the unattached side of the wall cleat up and down until your item is level; mark the wall where the bottom of the wall cleat is. Remove your item, attach the other end of the wall cleat, and hang your item. *You may need another person, but I've done it by myself (using a level sitting on top of my item), but this works well!
Thank you! This was very easy to watch/listen to. You make me feel like I can actually do this. While I'll likely try my circular saw, I really appreciate you showing how to do it by hand. Because when push comes to shove I can always use hand tools.
I really like your teaching style! I wish you were my high school shop teacher!! I would have totally related to you, better than the shop teacher slash (ready to retire Gym coach) that I had Some people are so gifted, with totally relating to people that are trying to learn! This will be a great video series if you keep pushing (keep pushing,keep pushing, keep pushing on!) Almost everyone that I know needs to watch your series of videos !
Question for you;: no one ever mentions many inches they space the cleats on the wall or the type of screws they use to screw the cleats unto the studs in the wall? Your cleats look very nice! I am a novice here and any info you can give me greatly helps! Thanks!
You can space your cleats any width that you choose, just remember to leave enough room for the tool side to slide in easily. As for the screws make sure to use a good quality that's long enough to reach securely into the studs, but the brand doesn't matter. And definitely avoid drywall screws they are not very strong.
Great videos on French Cleats, and you have convinced me that they are the way forward once I start the interior build of my new workshop. One thing I do have to ask is why do the wall mounted sections have a square bottom instead of a 45 degree angle. That way you can just keep your saw setting the same and churn out parallelograms which also provide a bit more space for when removing the storage units. Maybe I'm missing something but it just seems easier to me.
I have a single cleat that runs the whole perimeter of my shop. 100 feet. I did them with a hand plane. I just marking gauged the offset from both sides and planed to the marks. It really didn't take all that long. I am lucky to have a vise that offsets to 45 degrees just made it less awkward.
When you cut the 45 degree down the middle of the strip, can you use both half for the wall or do you put half on the wall and half on your tool holder? Also what distance between wall strips? looking at videos the distance is all over the place.
This is a great video as I'm going to be making a workbench for one of my first woodworking projects and I only have a circular saw at the moment. Dumb question, but after you've cut the 1x8 with the circular saw, what are the approx. dimensions of the finished cleats? Also, could you theoretically cut it straight a bit off center to get bigger wall cleats and then smaller tool storage cleats or would that make the proportions off? I hope that makes sense and thanks for the video and great ideas!
The dimensions of the cleat really depends on the size that you would prefer, there is no specific size. As for the angle, I have never tried it but my understanding is that it would be best to keep it level.
I have a table saw but find cutting long cleats pretty sketchy on it, even with featherboards. Setup a jig for my tracksaw. Thinking the bandsaw may be the least sketchy.
clever, clever! thanks. Oh, and good on you for actually wearing the safety glasses during your work. I cringe when i watch youtubers using all sorts of power tools without goggles OR ear protection....
Wow! Thanks for the tips and instructions. I guess i'll try with my circular saw first to hang mirror and let's see if fail then i'll have to go get one Craftsman 10in table saw from Lowe's. What else does table saw can do? Just want to know if table saw is good investment for the long run? And how to maintain it? What else important info needed to know about table saw? Thanks.
I just cut my strips 5" wide then rip the 45 degree down the middle. You could also use a 1x6 and just have 1 cut to get 2 strips. Another option is to use a jointer with the fence set at 45 degrees.
I’m curious. Why do you recommend the three cuts at the beginning vs one 45* angle down the center? You mentioned it being safer, but could you explain more about that? Thanks! Love your channel!
Julie Jumper I think it is because the saw won't have as much wood to balance on in the middle, whereas on the edges you have the whole piece to lean on.
Well done on this video! I watched your other RU-vid video "20-things...French cleats...," and based upon this video; I tried and failed to make my first French Cleat with a 2"×4". Now, I started by cutting the left edge of the 2"×4" off at a 45-degree angle, then I measured my second piece and cut it on the line at 45-degrees. The two pieces were not the same width nor would the two pieces fit together, which was really frustrating. Please help me as I am trying to make a perfect "French Cleat Wall" so that I can design holders, and hang a good amount of hand tools. I would be most grateful for your assistance.
I actually do all my french cleats by planing the bevel with a hand plane. If you know how to use hanplanes properly, it can be as quick as most methods you have shown here and probably much more accurate.
Ugh! Only a table saw for me, nothing else. On another note, is there a trick to centering the 45 degree cut so that both cleats are exactly the same width?
The 45 degree straight cut, chamfer router bit is the easiest of all and wasn't included. And no need to smooth the sharp edges because the space of the bit bearing does it for you. Most of these guys go overkill on the French cleats. They don't need to be so thick. They are extremely strong.
1) Mount a circular saw upside down in a workbench. 2) You could also just cut the center of the board at 45 degrees and not worry about the outer edge. sure, the heights of the cleats may be millimeters in difference, but they still work.
I have a table saw, but a cheap kind, and cutting a long cleat on it is impossible without getting infeed and outfeed tables/stands, a featherbord or two, and a good fence. I'd say the easiest way to cut a long cleat would be using a track saw. Safe, way better in terms of dust, and easy to set up. Also, there's a method where you don't do any perpendicular cuts - you just make all cuts at a 45 degree angle, makes cutting them way faster. So unless you want your cleats to have one straight edge it is the way to go. Mind you, if you want to have a locking mechanism of some kind, the wall cleats should have a straight edge to lock against, so this method won't be suitable then.
