French cleat for large cabinet
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Tagged: french cleat cabinet
- This topic has 10 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 2 months, 4 weeks ago by David Hunter.
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10 November 2023 at 1:33 pm #818690
I am playing around with some designs for a garage cabinet and was wondering how to work out if a French cleat will be string enough, and whether there are ways of calculating the cleat size vs weight it needs to support. I have included some SketchUp pictures of the work in progress.
On the rear view you can see a French cleat at the top of the cabinet, tenoned into the sides and glued at the top, and at the bottom there is a fixing rail, also tenoned into the side, which I will screw through into the wall. The cleat and fixing rail are 7/8″ thick and the rest of the cabinet is mostly 3/4″. Overall dimensions are 48″ wide x 24″ high x 14″ deep. It will probably be made of redwood pine.
Any advice much appreciated.
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You must be logged in to view attached files.I think a full width cleat of a decent size screwed and glued to the wall and the cabinet respectively should be fine. I have a cabinet half that size that holds all my metal planes (a lot 😂) and it’s rock solid years after I hung it. Cleat is a 5” x 0.75” board cut on the 45.
Darren.
21 January 2024 at 5:06 pm #825680If you are concerned about the weight you could add an extra cleat half way down the cabinet it will mean another short rail (if you don’t want it to show; it will also keep the cabinets a lot more stable.i have a lot of French cleats in my workshop, great space saver.
21 January 2024 at 5:34 pm #825686Interesting idea to add a second cleat half way down the cabinet. I guess it would need to be super accurate in order for the load to distribute over the two cleats but it does seem like a good option.
21 January 2024 at 6:09 pm #825689Just be careful what kind of screws you use. I built my kitchen cabinets about 25 years ago and hung them with French cleats.
Lots of heavy plates in one cabinet.
All was fine until one cabinet spontaneously fell while I was having morning coffee. After examination the screws I used ( drywall type screws) had sheared clean off. Magically, the cabinet and counter were fine and only a few plates broke.
Needless to say I found some larger diameter screws that weren’t hardened like drywall screws and made for the task. I think they were Strongtie timber screws.
I live in earthquake country so I did add a couple of lower screws to stop the cabinets from jumping off the cleats in a bad tremor. That might save the cabinets but probably not the plates.22 January 2024 at 11:14 am #825749Hi billstennett
Once you have the single french cleat fitted add the second one to the back of the cabinet, hang up your cabinet slide the new rail (make it a bit longer than the width of your cabinet) up and into the new cleat and mark the bottom with a pencil both ends draw a line, cut your rail to size and screw it onto the wall.
Job done.23 January 2024 at 10:38 am #825862Two thoughts:
When hanging larger cabinets I’ve had to deal with the walls not being flat or plumb. Battens along the bottoms of the cupboards appeared as a safer and simpler alternative. Please see photo. The inset pane just shows a way to support a wide cabinet while mounting it. A rail along the top back allow for screwing the cupboard to the wall, without those screws having to take the weight of it. That also allowed for using a thinner back, flush with cupboard back – somewhat increasing the interior depth.Would starting with the pins of the dovetail joints be an idea to be considered? Marking out the pins from the tail parts could perhaps call for holding the tail parts 48″ up in the air. The second photo shows the marking out the tails on a 60″ long piece of a sideboard.
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You must be logged in to view attached files.1 February 2024 at 10:04 am #827485So I think where I am is that I will use a French cleat at the top of the cabinet (like in my drawing) but maybe make it a bit wider. I will screw through the “nailing” strip I have incorporated at the bottom of the cabinet but also add a baton on the wall underneath the cabinet.
I’ll make sure I use screws for the job that won’t shear of as well! Larry Geib – I’ll make sure I never sit underneath the cabinet just in case.
Sven-Olof Jansson – I’m not sure if I’m ready to cross to the dark side and do “pins first” dovetails! I have never tried it though so I guess I don’t get an opinion until I’ve given it a go. I did something similar before, marking tails on long pieces, and I created a bridge out of clamps to rest the board on and stood on my bench to get the hieght to mark the tails on to the pin board.
2 February 2024 at 3:01 pm #827792By screwing through the nailing strip at the bottom, your cabinet will become fixed. The French cleat system is designed to be flexible to enable things to be moved around, or have I misread your post. 🤔
2 February 2024 at 6:49 pm #827836David Hunter – you are correct but the cabinet is not really intended to move. The reason for the French cleat was just to find a way of hanging what could end being a heavy cabinet. Adding a batten underneath and maybe screwing through the nailing strip is probably well over the top but I really don’t have a feel for how strong the cleat on its own would be.
I guess screwing to the wall does also prevent accidentally lifting the cabinet off the cleat.3 February 2024 at 4:51 pm #827927I understand your concerns with weight, we have all been there . your system should be whatever you want it to be,good luck with your plan,.
enjoy the moment 👌 -
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