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 joint held up well but for a shelf this size it s better suited to hold smaller individual. 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. This french cleat a methodology of securing objects to a wall at a 30 45 degree slope without bearing the full weight of that item styled hanging system sits flush against walls and includes a level mounting screws anchors and packaged instructions. 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.

One half of the bracket is mounted on the wall and the other in the rear of the cabinet. A simple french cleat hanging system for a wall cabinet. 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. I restrict cabinets hung with french cleats to 36 wide or less.

If you intend to use a french cleat hanging system plan your project accordingly. Hanging decor could never be easier. 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. The french cleat could probably handle larger size but handling larger cabinets gets very difficult and dangerous.

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. The unique overlapping design of the mounting bracket provides high torque leverage for cantilevered hanging. You will need room to mount the cleats on the back. Use decent quality plywood with the face grain running lengthwise for your french cleats.

We tested this french cleat connection and shelf using a 10 lb. If you are building a mantel you could certainly build it with a french cleat recessed.