I am looking for more information about French cleats. Specifically, how much weight can a 3/4 plywood or 2×4 cleat hold? Can a long cabinet be made with two cleats to suspend it off the floor say in a closet or shop cabinet? It seems like a strong system that will lock tighter together the heavier the cabinet becomes.
Thanks
ds
Replies
In short, yes. It's done all the time. I probably have 300 lbs. of tools in a shop cabinet hanging on a wall, and it's hung with a high and low french cleat.
The strength comes from the faster, and not the cleat itself, assuming the wooden cleat is of reasonable thickness. As long as you use a proper fastener to fasten the cleats to the wall, and to the back of the cabinet, you're in business.
Jeff
I don't know if I would go with plywood for a french cleat. I would be concerned with ply seperation over time and with exposure to certain conditions. I have used cleats for almost all of my shop cabinets made out of whatever scrap is available. My router cabinet ( for bits, wrenches guides ect ) is probably the heaviest.
Jeff is right on. I've got cabinets full of stuff. The key is securing the cleats properly. I live in the Northwest with arguably the worst moisture problems, and an unheated garage shop, every cleat set is 3/4" plywood, and I've never had one delaminate on me. Of course there is always a first time, still scrap ply is everywhere.
jmoicbw
butch
I believe the strength of the cleat would be dictated by the lateral shear strength of the screws/lags used to secure the cleat to the wall studs, and the strength of the wall itself. If lag bolts are used, then hundreds of pounds is probably a reasonable estimate.
If you're up to the math, this document may help calculate the exact numbers.
http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/pdf2001/ramme01c.pdf
Jeff
True enough, regarding resistance to shear. If you do not have constants to plug into the various equations, here is an alternative. A 16d steel nail will rate to a maximum load of about 500 lbs if driven to its shank length into dry wood. If one uses a conservative safety factor of 250 lbs per nail, a four fastener design would hold about 1000 lbs. Screws and lag bolts will be stronger- their exact load bearing will vary depending on the length, thickness and material, but 500 lbs per fastener would be a very conservative number (the strength of a bolt is greater as it increases at the square of the bolt thickness or diameter- so a 1/2" bolt is four times as strong as a 1/4" bolt- and the threads confer resistance to failure even if driven into wood parallel to the grain). If you are planning on having a decorative cabinet- like a medicine chest- 2 bolts per cleat would be fine. If you are going to hang a toll cabinet, make the cleat wider and fasten it with 4 bolts on 16" centers, drilling into the center of the studs, and you should be fine.Glaucon
If you don't think too good, then don't think too much...
Hi Everyone, I've seen French cleats but have never made one. Is it just a matter of cutting a 45 degree chamfer (bevel?..can't seem to keep that straight...yes ..a newbie ;).) on a, say, 2" X 2" length of hardwood and reversing them to hang the cabinet?
Thx, Brian
I have a story at the link below on making and using French Cleats.
Trying to predict just how much weight they can hold is dangerous because nobody knows the exact strength of the fasteners used, the quality of the studs they are being attached to and variables like that. They are exceptionally strong when installed correctly and can be used in multiples for larger items. The trick with multiples is getting the cleat components installed in perfect alignment so they work equally.
http://www.newwoodworker.com/frenchcleat.html
Tom Hintz
Because there is always more to learn!
Hi new to this forum and glad to be here.
I have found using a story pole with male cleats attached
makes multiple set ups straight forward.
I thought French Cleats were asexual?!Jeff
Oh, mais non. Ce n'est pas vrais, mon ami. ;)...The unspoken word is capital. We can invest it or we can squander it. -Mark Twain...Be kind to your children....they will choose your nursing home....aim low boys, they're ridin' shetland ponies !!
Excusez-moi je me trompe...
....tres bien, merci!
(^ ^) O___/ __/ ...The unspoken word is capital. We can invest it or we can squander it. -Mark Twain...Be kind to your children....they will choose your nursing home....aim low boys, they're ridin' shetland ponies !!
In my last shop I used just a 4 inch 3/4" plywood strap to hold up my shop cabinets. I fastened it to the wall studs with #10 screws 2 1/2 " long, 2 on ever stud across the lenght of the cleat. I did not bother to cut 45 degree cuts in the cleats and it held up just fine. When we moved the straps showed no signs fo delaminating.
Greg
If you didn't cut a 45, how did the cleat engage?
No basically one straight edge on top of another. I had another slat on upper side of the cabinet and held it up to the wall. When it came time for me to take it down, all screws removed I really had to tug on it. I don't know it it had something to do with the textured finish on the garage wall or what. Since I was the only one installing the cabinets I had to come up with a way to at least get the cabinet level on the wall. This worked so well that I plan to use it in the new shop, just moved again!!!
Greg
So you relied on your cleats only for their support in the vertical direction, and used screws to keep the cabinet from sliding off and crashing to the floor?
The advantage of the 45° cut on a French cleat* is that you get both vertical and horizontal support--you don't need to screw the cabinet to the wall.
-Steve
*Now known in some circles as a "Freedom cleat."
If you have a table saw or a circular saw or a jig saw or a band saw, it is very easy to rip an angle and thereby have both sides of you cleat in one pass. The angle does not have to even be exactly 45 as they will automatically compliment each other. If the cleat you screw to the wall is level and the cleat you screw to the cabinet back is square to the cabinet sides, leveling should not be an issue when you put it on the wall.
Thanks for all the responses. It helps alot.
ds
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