French Cleat Cabinet Mount

One of those hidden gems in woodworking the french cleat is so simple but so wonderful that if you re not familiar with it once you learn you ll be look.

French cleat cabinet mount.

The sides of the bookshelf extend 3 4 beyond the back panel to allow room for the french cleat system. Use decent quality plywood with the face grain running lengthwise for your french cleats. If you intend to use a french cleat hanging system plan your project accordingly. I restrict cabinets hung with french cleats to 36 wide or less.

The unique overlapping design of the mounting bracket provides high torque leverage for cantilevered hanging. We tested this french cleat connection and shelf using a 10 lb. One half of the bracket is mounted on the wall and the other in the rear of the cabinet. Professional french cleat the patented professional french cleat is the patented professional french cleat is engineered to hang heavy mirrors pictures cabinets floating shelves and headboards simply and securely.

When the glue on the cabinet mounted cleat is dry you can lift the cabinet up slip it over the wall mounted cleat and gently lower it into position. The french cleat could probably handle larger size but handling larger cabinets gets very difficult and dangerous. Then you put the wall cleat in place based on the location of the cabinet cleat. Hanging decor could never be easier.

A simple french cleat hanging system for a wall cabinet. The joint held up well but for a shelf this size it s better suited to hold smaller individual. If you are building a mantel you could certainly build it with a french cleat recessed. In our utility cabinet project the french cleat is formed from a piece of 2 x 6 dimension lumber sized to match the length of the cabinet and then ripped in half on a table saw at a 45 degree angle.

If the mantel is already built and you are thinking of attaching a french cleat to it it will push the mantel away from the wall by the thickness of the cleat. It may sound fancy but a french cleat is simply a sturdy beveled support board a secret that builders and craftsmen rely on to hang heavy items such as large mirrors artworks and cabinets.