Wall Hung Tool Cabinet- French Cleat?

[Niels Cosman]

Hey all,
I've finally gotten around to making a cabinet for nearly all of my planes. Once i get this hung i'll have all my planes at arms reach and they'll be out of the dusty-gritty-mess under my bench.

To hang the cabinet I'll be using a french cleat BUT how big should the cleat be? also is 3/4 ply strong enough to support all the weight? The cabinet dimensions are 28"w x43"h x 11"d.
I was thinking about cleats that was made out of 3/4" ply and 26"x6. how does that sound?

the cleat would be screwed (prob glued) to the back panel of the case (3/4" ply) and the mating cleat would be bolted steel pallet rack uprights with carriage bolts.

also, at somepoint i'll be adding a "door" to the cabinet which will probably hold saws or layout tools. so ill have to figure on some extra weight there.

I would love some input before going ahead. The thought of this sucker ending up on the floor (concrete) sends shivers down my spine and has been keeping me up at night!


Cheers!
Niels

[Josh Bowman]

I've got a similar plane till that I hang on a 1x4 oak French cleats. I have .....or will have 3 cleats running parallel across the back of my shop. The till actually is hanging on 2 of them.

[Bill Houghton]

I would say yes to the 3/4" ply; 6" may be more than you need, but that's OK.

Remember another cleat at the bottom - need not be another French cleat, just a cleat fastened to the cabinet - to space it out from the surface same as the top cleats, so it hangs vertically.

Fasteners matter, too: don't scrimp here. In particular, don't use drywall screws.

[Mark Stutz]

I had this cabinet hung by a french cleat for 4 years or so before I moved. The cleat was 3/4 birch ply held with 2 3" deck screws into 2 studs. No problems at all.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=24571

Your cabinet had the same problem as mine...IT'S ALREADY FULL

Mark

[Leigh Betsch]

I hung a shop cabinet with a cleat that was butted up to the top board on the cabinet. The top board split, broke and I found my cabinet on the floor with all my screws and nails scattered. I now just screw my cabinets to the studs.
If you're gonna have it full of planes I wound make darn certain in can't fall. I prefer 3" screws into the studs. I'd rather have to remove the screws that pick my stuff off the floor again.

[Jim McFarland]

I made cleat for these wall cabinets by 45* ripping 1X6 poplar, mounting wall section with 3" cabinet screws and 2 1/2" screws around the cabinet perimeter -- with a spacer board at the bottom as Bill H. noted. So far, nothing on the floor after about a year.

[Jim Belair]

Like Josh, I used hardwood (maple) for my cleat, even though the tool cabinet is BB ply with solid trim. With the ply some of the force will be parallel to the grain vs. solid wood 100% perpendicular. And as others said, fastener selection is important- maybe more so than the cleat material. I don't know how to engineer these short of "so far so good" so I err well on the beefy side.

Jim B

[Steve Dallas]

Hey all,
I've finally gotten around to making a cabinet for nearly all of my planes. Once i get this hung i'll have all my planes at arms reach and they'll be out of the dusty-gritty-mess under my bench.

To hang the cabinet I'll be using a french cleat BUT how big should the cleat be? also is 3/4 ply strong enough to support all the weight? The cabinet dimensions are 28"w x43"h x 11"d.
I was thinking about cleats that was made out of 3/4" ply and 26"x6. how does that sound?

the cleat would be screwed (prob glued) to the back panel of the case (3/4" ply) and the mating cleat would be bolted steel pallet rack uprights with carriage bolts.

also, at somepoint i'll be adding a "door" to the cabinet which will probably hold saws or layout tools. so ill have to figure on some extra weight there.

I would love some input before going ahead. The thought of this sucker ending up on the floor (concrete) sends shivers down my spine and has been keeping me up at night!


Cheers!
Niels

I'd make the cleats out of at least one inch thick solid hardwood - oak or maple seem like good choices.

[Tony Shea]

My vote is for a maple cleat similar to Jims and I would also throw a couple 3" screws into some studs through the spacer cleat on the bottom of the cabinet. I wouldn't take too many chances with all that weight and money in that cabinet, could cause some serious damage to those beauty's.

[Niels Cosman]

Thanks for all of your responses- I think that I have the answer to help me sleep soundly.

My mind says that a well fastened cleat of 3/4 birch ply would probably be alright, but my heart says why be stingy go for some 5/4 maple. my only hesistation is that i've got a board of 8/4 around that i've got earmarked for something else. Oh well, after all, we're talking about child.. er.. tool safety.

As for fastening the cleat to the case I'm thinking 3" #10 Highpoint screws through the back 3/4 panel, into some maple blocks just for good measure. The case itself is sound as a pound (it's assembled with rabbet's and dado's throughout, glued and screwed). Im not worried about it falling apart, im just worried about it staying up in the air.

Mark- it's not entirely filled. There is a little room for expansion, just enough not to be dangerous (...for my wallet)