Five Mistakes When Building My French Cleat Tool Wall! 

I wish more people would share their mistakes because I sure do make all of them. Thank you!

Creators sharing our own mistakes with the viewers is one of the biggest things we can do to make woodworking more approachable for beginners wanting to get into this as a hobby or even a career. Keep up the good work!

A great teacher not only shows on how to do things the correct way but also things to avoid and the reason to avoid them. Bravo.

I appreciate videos like this. Everybody overlooks simple things from time to time, and too many people are too ashamed to admit it. I can only imagine how many people have wanted to do this cleat system that were helped by your video. Nice work, good explanations, and great content!

For the past 3-4 weeks, my interest in French Cleats has grown. I have watched 10-12 videos I still did not fully understand how to fabricate them, or their full potential. You answered all my questions in 7.55 minutes. Your willingness to share your pitfalls was very helpful. Seeing someone perform the task allows me to feel like I'm performing my project with a co-worker that has done the job a time or two before. Thank you for sharing

I so appreciate folks who share their mistakes to save the rest of us the trouble of doing the same. Thanks.

This was so informative!!! I’d like to echo someone else’s comment that sharing mistakes is totally underrated. We all make them and it’s great to learn from each other.

It takes a secure and honest man to admit his mistakes. And don’t we all learn more from our mistakes? Excellent lesson. Experience is great, especially when it’s someone else’s experience. Thanks.

Great info. Shave down that sharp point on the cleat parts so they don’t dead end each other. A lower board on the removable part solves two things, a place to put a wedge to keep it locked and keeps it spaced off the wall so it doesn’t SeeSaw.

Even 4 years later 😊 informative!

Takes a stand up person to point out their own mistakes....thanks for sharing yours so we can avoid wasting our time and material.

I live in an earthquake area so locking cleats is a must. I have the cleats on the wall close enough together that sliding a 3” x 3” board above the cleat on the box just barely touches the wall cleat above it. That way the box can not lift up without removing that 3x3 block. Locking it in place.

Most useful French cleat video yet !!! You don’t know what you don’t know on a first build , so thank you for sparing me the headaches 🥲 I actually might do this project soon

Great video. editing, clarity, helpfulness. Thank you!!

This is how we grow as a community. Thank you for the information.

Re: locking cleats With our earthquakes in California I've thought about this. When I get around to installing a french cleat ... I'll drill a hole at the bottom of each hanger aligned with the bottom of the cleats. A friction fit dowel will go through to prevent the hanger from rising. To unlock just push the dowel forward so you can lift the hanger.

Another thing I see people mention, is to cut a couple of millimeters off of the bottom of the tool-cleat. As dust collects between the wall cleats and the wall, that might prevent the tool-cleat to fall down nicely into that space. Cutting away just a bit of material solves this.

Thanks for the advice. I saw a locking method on You Tube where they slid a second spacer between the bottom spacer and the underside of the wall cleat. It works perfectly. I think it was called the “key” to locking tool cleats.

Good info. Always helpful when folks are willing to point out their mistakes so the rest of us can learn.

Thank you for the tips. I will avoid this while building mine.

Your honesty is true teaching...Thanks 🤗

Most of my projects have more than 5 mistakes. Thanks for sharing.

the best design for a "locking cleat" that I've seen is basically leaving a 1 inch space beneath, and then sliding in a locking "pin", that's a simple piece of 3/4, about an inch wide, and about an inch longer than the thing is wide, so you can take a hammer to knock it out when it's time to move it.

Piece of advice, don't glue any spacers you add to your French cleat projects. You may want to remove them in the future and glue makes that awfully complicated.

I'm preparing to install a french cleat wall in my shop this weekend and found this video while looking for info, tips, instructions, etc. VERY helpful! I appreciate you sharing your lessons learned for the purpose of helping others keep from making the same oversights. As a result, I've watched several other of your videos; I admire and respect the fact your focus is on being helpful by sharing what you know, what you've done, what you've learned, etc without trying to be a comedian or appearing to be auditioning for your own show. That's why I subscribed. Keep up the good work and keep the videos coming.

#2, 3 & 4 are the ones that got me last year when I built. Gonna redo now,.. thx!

With the benefit of second hand hindsight, you could leave some space at the bottom of the locking cleat and drive a little wedge to tighten it down.

Nice to share what you learned. And don't we all learn from our mistakes. When I built my french cleat wall I learned as I went too. I did start by putting plywood on the garage wall, and cut 8' lengths for the wall cleats, which after some figuring, spaced far enough apart horizontally up the wall: I didn't use every cleat to hang boxes from, but as you pointed out, many wall cleats become a support for the lower part of heavier tool boxes. I learned to make the boxes deep enough vertically to accomplish that. The nice part with the cleats, is you can move them around anyway you want, and as you get new tools. Initially I glued, tack nailed, and screwed the boxes. For most of them now I skip the glue- they hold up fine without i, it's less messy, and I may want to repurpose the box or change it later. Now it's just clamp, stick with the nail gun, and then drlll and screw. I also learned to make shelves on them high enough to hold boxes of nails, screws and other fasteners- my first shelves were slightly to short in height. So my sander box has the sandpaper, the finish nailer hangs vertically and has a few boxes of nails, the skill saw has a blade shelf, etc. I also have one for squares, levels, and punches, and a shelf for a micrometer and tape measures. Hanging off the edge of my edge-most box I have a holder for my ear protectors and eye goggles, as well as head lamp. My crosscut sled and fitting mitre box hang down low, since it is heavy: I drilled two large holes in the top end of the sled and it hangs very nicely on the wall too. When working on my bench, which has four locking wheels, I find I like rolling the bench out from the cleat wall where I store it, and then all my tools are handy right behind me. It makes work easy, and cleanup easier. Now I just have to buy that dustopper that Tom Huntly developed, and get my dust collecting up to snuff (no pun intended).;0) -Geo

I also use a lot of french cleats. I have made a few of these mistakes (How could I forget the spacers?!?!?!). I am trying to get as much out of my french cleats as possible. Thanks for sharing.

Gluing it to the wall... 😂 OH I would SO do that!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for the tip! Great video.

Thanks for sharing your experience and insight!

Won't be long before I start my tool wall. Thanks for the great points there. I tend to get ahead of myself so I could see me glowing them to the wall. Thanks again 👍

TY for the video brother helped me out a ton ...gettin rdy to french cleat a wall,earned a sub keep up the great job

I’m just about to refurbish my workshop and am moving to French cleats. Very handy tips, thanks very much.

Thanks for your kindness clever man🙏🙏👍🏻

Two suggestions: 1 - Remove the sharp 45 degree edge on the cleats with a plane or sandpaper. 2 - The bottom locking can be done with a cam attached with a single screw. I use it with small cleats that I keep knocking off the wall cleat.

Love this video! Really great when someone share their mistakes to help us who isn't nearly as advanced. Thanks!

I spaced two of my cleats where both the top and bottom boards were cleats for a, particularly heave cabinet. It worked really well. I have loaded the cabinet heavy and it has not budged an inch in 10 years.

Many thanks for sharing your experiences. I know that it takes a lot of effort to make a video and upload it so it's very kind of you to help others avoid pitfalls. I've just built a workshop and will make a cleat storage system. It's great when you can get things right first time and your information will make that more likely!

Looks great. Moving into a new house and half the basement is unfinished. Will def put that system up!

Great video! Thank you for sharing. If you’re still interested in locking cleats for your heavy stuff like the lumber shelf, it’s actually pretty easy and you could add it to what you already have. If you cut an “L” shaped piece of plywood (the bandsaw comes to mind for this) with the long part the width of the space between the bottom of the cleat and the spacer, you can just slide it in there after you place the cleat. The shorter part of the “L” gives you something to grab onto to get it back out when you want to rearrange. I know this video is almost 2 years old, but the info is still good and I appreciate it as I’m looking to expand my French Cleat system. Thank you!

Love the french cleat system! Good to see mistakes so we can avoid them.

Usually I have to learn from my own mistakes. Thanks for letting us learn from yours. Subscribing

Thanks for saving my a lot of time and aggravation! I’m planning on installing a cleat system in the next few weeks and this video has been helpful. I’m sure I would’ve had a lot of holders glued to the wall 🙂

Thanks for the information. I'm planning a major overhaul of my workshop/garage and plan on using your information. Great video and very well done.

Thank you for sharing these valuable experiences

Thanks for the tips! I am going to be adding french cleats to my shop in the garage. Very helpful.

In reference to your 5th mistake, the locking wall cleat, you could use a round disc in place of that square lock and drill a hole off center. Then you could mount your tool holder and then rotate the disc into a locking position. Otherwise I've made all those mistake too. Maybe we need a club? :)

Man, what a useful video. I can see myself making all of those mistakes simultaneously. Thanks for sharing.

Much appreciated for the heads up. I’ll be using this video before I start.

This is great advice. I want to do this in my new tool shed. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and talent.

I like to learn something new every day. So keep them coming.

Thanks for the tips! I've finally decided on a layout for my very small shop and plan on using French cleats on a wall or two.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge and your mistakes!

Good video on common mistakes to avoid doing when using French cleats. I almost made the mistake myself of butting the support board tight to the cleat like you mentioned, so these are great points for those not familiar with French cleats.

Planning on doing the same in my humble shed. Thanks for the tips, they really helped me out. Your a shining example of the good RU-vid can do.

Saved me time. Ready to make my tool holders flawlessly. Thanks for taking the time.

Very good advice, glad I found this before I start making mine. many thanks

Great video. This is the kind of information people need when they are novices - like me. Not just the technical parts, but the realization that even pros get to learn from mistakes and that's perfectly OK.

Thank you for your honesty especially helpful tips for newbies.

As much as I use mine, I never considered making stock shelves for the top. Thank you!

Deciding on the type and duration for a video is the most challenging part, next to the edit. Most of my stuff is long form and multi-part, but the most maddening part is the fact that what I think interesting is not and what I think un-interesting is popular; so, I make what I like and hope that someone will enjoy it.

Really nice job-good presentation-concise, informative, and especially; using practical examples of the point you are making!

Thanks so much for sharing what you learned

Lots of suggestions for wedges to lock the cleats in place. As an alternative, you could use a cam clamp to lock them and unlock them easily as needed. Thanks for the insights. Good video.

Thank you very much for this! Super helpful! I have only one, probably irrelevant, suggestion... The locking cleat is actually a great idea! Just in the event that you want to be able to move things around, but need the security of a locking cleat... My thought was to make an oval locking cleat. Square won't work for obvious reason... But oval could, just spin it until it is sufficiently locked. 👍

Found me a shop/ shed being delivered next week. Looking forward to using the system

I appreciate your honesty by sharing your mistakes. You have a new sub.

Great video, thanks for your humility and sharing your mistakes with the French cleat storage system. I learned a lot as I plan for a French cleat system.

Such a great idea to highlight the mistakes. Oh man, do I wish more people did this. Although you tend to remember better when you have to redo something.

Thanks...very helpful. You may consider a dowel peg insert to lock your cleats.

Thank you for that video. I feel confident that I would’ve made at least four of those mistakes!

So helpful, THANK You!

Good advice, thanks!

Fantastic, thank you

Genuine mistakes thanks for sharing 👍👍

Thanks for the heads up

Thanks for this video - I'm looking to do something like this in my garage. My garage is a mess right now and I have hopes that doing this will bring some order to it.

Thanks so much for this video! I'm just starting out with wood working and making my own work shop. This will help me out so much...i can't wait to start!

Repetition is the key to good learning ...Very good Video short to the point, informative and honest.

Awesome, great to see-honesty of the mistakes which you can make ahead of time. Hopefully when building my system, I will save some frustration!

Great info thanks so much

Lots of good info here for those who are new to this. I used the cleat system in my house back in the '70s both in the house and workshop. It's a good easy sytem and very flexible in its' uses.

I admire the effort & honesty. Well done. 10+ stars.

Good job, thanks!

Nice pvc rails. I use pvc in my studio similar to your handsaw peg to hang guitar and computer cords on. You must have a lot of 3/4 ply around because that sandpaper caddy could actually be built with 1/8" Luan. There's a way of using angled cuts in vertical cleats in the corners of cabinets that allows incremental but extremely strong weight-bearing capability by changing the position of the horizontal crossbars that the shelves rest on that reminds me of this so-called french-cleat method. The horizontal crossbars are basically trapezoidal shaped and the vertical cleats have triangular notches to accept the crossbars.

I saw a guy that drilled a hole just below wall cleat and inserted a simple dowel that prevented the fixture from moving up and out of the wall cleat. Or cut a piece ply that fit the space between the bottom standoff and the bottom of the wall cleat. It only downside was it had to be slid into position from the side where other fixtures might already be hung.

Great video! Thank you.

Good thoughts! Thanks for sharing!

I have used the French cleats myself in my new to us garage and had somehow avoided all these problems except the video I think maybe yours with making a jam lock that is good idea... one thing you didn't mention was how nice it is to be able to move everything in seconds as needs change. My paper towel holder, fire extinguisher, charging station, shelves, cabinets, all can be re-arranged. I am cheap too and had trimmed a bush, had a pile of branches. I cut them about 4" long and mounted on scraps of wood with glue & a drywall screw for movable hook! bike helmets, tons of stuff can be hung up without buying dowels if you are so inclined. Not sure bush type but the wood off it is crazy strong. I went ahead and ripped a ton of 3/4" plywood with the 45 degree cleat and made spacer boards to put on both ends so I could go all the way up the wall easily as I screwed them into the studs with HD screws.

Nice explaination of do's and dont's of a French Cleat system

Awesome... Thanks a bunch!

Appreciate the well learned tips

Thanks for the tips

Thanks for the tips! I'll use all of them.

Thanks for this video!!! Very informative.

Locking your cleats to the wall is sometimes necessary, especially in a small space, when you work around children or pets or if you live close to an airport, train station or earthquake zone. You can cut a round piece of wood from some scrap, cut it in half and loosely screw it to the back of your shelf. This way, when you turn the circle of wood, it pushes into the bottom of your cleat and leaves it flush to the end of your shelf so that it doesn't show and looks tidy.

Thanks for sharing

Thank you, helped me a lot for reconsidering my plans. I have a old shed, the wall is not even because there are planks on it. Maybe this system will work or I need to mount a wooden panel on it.

Thank you!