GraveTrain Posted June 17, 2017 Report Share Posted June 17, 2017 Morning all... I'm in the process of significantly upgrading my garage workshop and seek advice on installing a french cleat tool wall. It's a single car garage and it's small. My planned tool wall is 42"x12' and my strategy is to create a french cleat wall that would offer the greatest amount of versatility. The cleats would run the entire length and height of the wall. I'm only hanging hand tools on this wall and no cabinets. I would greatly appreciate any advice as to : How small can I go on the height of the cleat that is nailed to the wall. How small can I go with the distance between the cleats. How small can I go on the height of the cleat on the back of my "holders" The heaviest object would be no heavier than 10 lbs. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post gee-dub Posted June 17, 2017 Popular Post Report Share Posted June 17, 2017 These dimensions will vary with your use. I know you plan to keep it under 10lbs per item so if you design with that as a parameter, you'll have to police yourself. There may be some engineers among us who can do the math to get more exact. Unless you are really going to load is up I think you can just be reasonable. I make the wall cleat and the fixture's cleat the same size for simplicity. Although I am at a larger scale (tool cabinet, 100's of pounds of clamps and the like) there are some basics. The wall is not flat. You will have to shim it (I shimmed the studs prior to attaching the wallboard but, I knew I was going to have a cleat wall) or shim your wall cleats if you want things to mount "anywhere" or as in my case, to slide to different positions, left to right, now and again. Screws rather than nails. Although the kitchen cabinets in my house were nailed up, they failed and I had to screw them back into place. There are places for nails, hanging my tools isn't one of them. Knock the sharp edge off both mating pieces to avoid misfits due to dust or spoil accumulation. There will be multiple answers but, here's my take . . . I think you want to mount smaller fixtures to hold groups of, or individual, tools. A 1-1/4" tall by 1/4" - 3/8" thick cleat should be fine. Length would vary with fixture. If you go with a short cleat (say 1-1/4" tall) you will probably need a stand-off block at the bottom of some fixtures as they will not have adequate bearing surface to keep them flush. I attached a screw at every stud position for the cleats on the wall but, I am holding a lot of weight. You are holding less weight but, are using a lighter weight cleat material. I would still screw at every stud with a flat head screw set just below the surface. This is a simple enough concept to knock out a few different individual mock-ups for trial and judgement. Try a few heights and thicknesses and see how they feel to you. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted June 17, 2017 Report Share Posted June 17, 2017 Good guide lines above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraveTrain Posted June 17, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 17, 2017 gee-dub, thank you so much for the detailed advice. I was originally planning to screw the cleats into the studs, "nail" was a late night poor choice of words at 1AM. My original thought and now taking into consideration your points: 3/4" back panel, screwed into the studs, shimming where necessary to level the tool wall. going with with 3/8" x 3" cleats (2" cleats on the wall with 1" hanging cleat) "is 1" hanging cleat a little too small?" 2" space between the cleats cleats running the full length and height of the tool wall as visualized below with cleats running every two inches, I don't think I would need that many with stand-off blocks. I would add them were necessary so that the tool holders will lie parallel with the back panel. As usual, it seems to make a whole lot of sense in my head but will definitely do a couple of dry runs on scrap lumber to test it all out. Let me know what you think of the plan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Tom King Posted June 19, 2017 Popular Post Report Share Posted June 19, 2017 Thanks for not asking for "advise". I see advise asked for more than advice. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Llama Posted June 19, 2017 Report Share Posted June 19, 2017 11 minutes ago, Tom King said: Thanks for not asking for "advise". I see advise asked for more than advice. Those get ignored. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaneymack Posted June 20, 2017 Report Share Posted June 20, 2017 Thanks for not asking for "advise". I see advise asked for more than advice. Even worse when they ask for advise on which planner to buy. Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Llama Posted June 20, 2017 Report Share Posted June 20, 2017 7 minutes ago, shaneymack said: Even worse when they ask for advise on which planner to buy. this one https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06WV6X6DR/ref=s9_acsd_newrz_hd_bw_b4UDI_c_x_w?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-5&pf_rd_r=5V8BQW4XVATPA4M59BQ0&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=98f4beea-6b3e-5caa-a3b6-ce6bc705f7f4&pf_rd_i=1069456 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaneymack Posted June 20, 2017 Report Share Posted June 20, 2017 this one https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06WV6X6DR/ref=s9_acsd_newrz_hd_bw_b4UDI_c_x_w?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-5&pf_rd_r=5V8BQW4XVATPA4M59BQ0&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=98f4beea-6b3e-5caa-a3b6-ce6bc705f7f4&pf_rd_i=1069456 Nah, I heard that one is underpowered. Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted June 20, 2017 Report Share Posted June 20, 2017 These very well could be me. I had an English teacher two years in a row, that always wore short dresses and sat on the front of her desk instead of in her chair and made me sit on the front rowe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pondhockey Posted June 20, 2017 Report Share Posted June 20, 2017 Would that I were so mis-treated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pondhockey Posted June 20, 2017 Report Share Posted June 20, 2017 Hoping that this does not sidetrack your thread: How many of you use French cleats, vs some other wall mounting method (cabinets, etc.) to organize your shop? And how do you organize? I would love to have pencils, markers, squares, push sticks, featherboards... near the table saw and have all my bits near the drill press.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BonPacific Posted June 20, 2017 Report Share Posted June 20, 2017 @GraveTrain, that should work fine. I think you'll find that's a lot of space given over to a cleat wall, especially if you aren't planning to mount cabinets to it. I'm not saying don't do it, but maybe think about it a little more. You're claiming almost 50% of your available wall space. Now, that said, there's no reason your proposed setup couldn't support some shelves and cabinets, as long as you include some long screws into the studs. I had a french-cleat setup for awhile. In general I liked it, but the storage density wasn't quite enough for me. Power tools (jigsaw, drills) moved to shelves and cubbies, precision hand-tools (chisels) just got their holders screwed to the wall, and most general stuff (screwdrivers, pliers) ended up on magnetic rails. Cleats tend to require an uninterrupted section of wall, which my 1-car garage doesn't offer much of. My walls are all osb or shiplap, so I can screw in anywhere for mounting. To answer @Pondhockey. As it stands now, I have very little in open wall space. There's the magnetic rail section, and a small tool wall behind my bench. Drillpress accessories are just kept on the dp cart, which has drawers underneath. I keep one fractional drill index up top, and a custom index for a few bits where 1st-order-retrievability is important (countersinks, vix-bits, etc). But the Forstners live in their original case in a drawer. Smaller shops reduce your options for having everything out in the open. At the tablesaw, it's against the wall, so I almost never use the full capacity right of the blade. As a result I usually keep a pushblock on the table. I also have a small shelf above the saw that is the permanent home for pushblocks. I added a sheet of plywood to the left edge of the table, going down to the ground. This gives me vertical storage for my miter gauge and featherboards. I keep my blades and related tools in a small tote, so I can put the whole thing on the table when I'm dialing in a Dado or something. One of my recent shop projects has been filling any empty wallspace with shallow (6") shelves. Deep enough to store screws, hardware, cans of finish, and the like. But not so deep as to accumulate clutter, or invade the active working space of the shop. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gee-dub Posted June 20, 2017 Report Share Posted June 20, 2017 19 hours ago, Llama said: this one https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06WV6X6DR/ref=s9_acsd_newrz_hd_bw_b4UDI_c_x_w?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-5&pf_rd_r=5V8BQW4XVATPA4M59BQ0&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=98f4beea-6b3e-5caa-a3b6-ce6bc705f7f4&pf_rd_i=1069456 Llama owes me a new coffee . . . and possibly a monitor 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gee-dub Posted June 20, 2017 Report Share Posted June 20, 2017 15 hours ago, Pondhockey said: Hoping that this does not sidetrack your thread: How many of you use French cleats, vs some other wall mounting method (cabinets, etc.) to organize your shop? And how do you organize? I would love to have pencils, markers, squares, push sticks, featherboards... near the table saw and have all my bits near the drill press.... I have fewer than a dozen items mounted to the wall that aren't on cleats or in cleated fixtures. My longer levels hang from pegs in that normally unusable space between the DC blower/cone and the wall. For items needed where they are used I have drawers measuring/marking at the bench), pegboard mounted shop made fixtures (screwdriver bits, featherboards, calipers, special clamps) and magnets (6" rules and pencils for example at the tablesaw, bandsaw, DP, etc.).. @GraveTrain That many slats spaced that close will give you a lot more versatility than my 3 wall-long cleats. There have been a couple of times I wished for a cleat at a different height but, that's about it. However, using the "build it and they will come" approach I can certainly see me making use of more versatile mounting heights if I had them. My point is that you may want to start with 3 or 4 and see how that goes. You can always unload the wall and add another couple of rows. Just food for thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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