Hanging Cabinets ?????

[MrAudio815]

Hey Everyone,

I am making some shop cabinets out og 11/16" MDF and was planning on using the French Cleat approach? Any reasons to or not to do it? And would a MDF cleat work alright on the wall and the cabinet or should I put hardwood for the cleat on the wall and MDF on the cabinet???

Any suggestions would be great! :eusa_pray :gar-La;




Thanks Guys & Gals!!! :icon_cheers :icon_thum :eusa_clap :notworthy:

 

[DaveO]

A French Cleat is a great way to hang cabinets. But I would choose a hardwood for the cleat over the MDF, even Pine would be better IMO. Also you should consider the cleat in the design of the cabinet. Either recess the cleat so the cabinet hangs flush with the wall or add a filler strip or another cleat at the bottom of the cabinet so it will hang plumb.
Easiest way to make a French Cleat is to rip a 45° bevel in a strip of hardwood. That will give you the piece to mount on the wall and the cabinet back and you know the bevels will match perfectly.

MTCW,
Dave

 

[Jim Murphy]

I beveled SPF studs from the BORG. Just rip 'em down the middle to make 2x2 and then with the saw tilted... 30° worked for me, rip again. The angle doesn't matter as they become mates. By using 20°-30° instead of 45° you have room to screw them to the wall and the cabinet.

Put one near the top, one near the bottom. I put both upper and lower full length cleats on the wall first, making sure they were level and approximately properly spaced vertically. I placed a paper towel along the TOP cleat mating surface. I then screwed the TOP mating cleat to a cabinet. I laid a proper length mating cleat along the bottom. I hung the empty cabinet by the top cleat and then fired screws through the cabinet into the bottom cleat. This avoids having to worry about attaching both cleats to the back of the cabinet in the exact alignment. That is, this method is an auto-aligner. You remove the cabinet and remove the paper towel, which was used to provide a bit of a space relief between the top mating surfaces to assure that both top and bottom cleat carry some load.

With full length cleats along the wall, you can slide/move the cabinets with ease.

Studs be cheap and don't make very pretty dressers or coffee tables. Save the hardwood, IMO.

 

[Ken Massingale]

Cleats are great (I refuse to refer to them as French 'cause they're simple and work). I agree with Dave, use solid stock. I'm not sure I would use MDF for the back either. I never have but I have seen it break when in a bind.

 

[Kicbak]

For a shop I like the cleat just attached to the back instead of a recess. You can make a long runner along the wall and hang all the cabinets on it. That way you can slide/move them around when you reorg the shop. Otherwise you have to keep removing the cleat from the wall to reposition the cabinets.
You need to add a piece to the bottom of the cabinet so its flush with the cleat. You can do other stuff with the long runner on the wall like building hanging clamp racks and stuff too.

Wes

 

[MrAudio815]

A French Cleat is a great way to hang cabinets. But I would choose a hardwood for the cleat over the MDF, even Pine would be better IMO. Also you should consider the cleat in the design of the cabinet. Either recess the cleat so the cabinet hangs flush with the wall or add a filler strip or another cleat at the bottom of the cabinet so it will hang plumb.
Easiest way to make a French Cleat is to rip a 45° bevel in a strip of hardwood. That will give you the piece to mount on the wall and the cabinet back and you know the bevels will match perfectly.

MTCW,
Dave

Great Advice everyone, :notworthy: :eusa_clap :icon_thum

I have made them with the possibility of a recessed cleat, but also like the idea of having a full length cleat on the wall and being able to slide them side to side and or move them incase I need/want to rearrange.:icon_cheers :banana:

:swoon:Another question....I made the cabinets out of MDF, case and shelves and have hard board for the back with it recessed in and enought space for a recessed cleat. If I put a cleat at the top, I can screw or nail and glue from the top or the sides of the MDF case! And if I put a cleat in the middle for extra supprt I can screw or nail and glue from the inside of the cabinet through the hard board to the cleat on the back of the cabinet and screw or nail and glue from the sides, is that strong enough? Do you need pictures? Just don't want them falling off:no:. I don't want cleats showing in the cabinet, just hardbord, you know what I mean?:icon_scra

Thanks again,:notworthy:

 

[MrAudio815]

For a shop I like the cleat just attached to the back instead of a recess. You can make a long runner along the wall and hang all the cabinets on it. That way you can slide/move them around when you reorg the shop. Otherwise you have to keep removing the cleat from the wall to reposition the cabinets.
You need to add a piece to the bottom of the cabinet so its flush with the cleat. You can do other stuff with the long runner on the wall like building hanging clamp racks and stuff too.

Wes

Any Pictures of your Kickbak? :widea:

What you used? cleats on walls? and cabinets?

Thanks,:notworthy:

 

[AAAndrew]

French cleats are definitely the way to go. I've actually got a design in my head for a series of tool holders using the wonder of french cleats. It involves a cleat all along the wall, and then a series of frames that can hang along that cleat. Each frame has mounted on it a series of the wall-side cleats and I can then make individual tool holders that would hang on those cleats.

So, imagine a rectangular picture frame of 1x4 or 1x3. That frame has mounted on it a series of horizontal boards spaced appropriately. Each board is beveled to be a french cleat. You then create a wide chisel rack with its own matching cleat in the back. Hang it on the horizontal boards where you want. Create another mounting board to hold your back saws. This one stretches across two rows of the frame's cleats. Mount these where you want on the frame. When you want to move them, just lift and move. The reason for the frame is that you may not want to cover the whole wall with the tool holders. You may want to include a cabinet, which you could also hang off of the wall's french cleat. Mix and match, move and reposition as you wish.

I got the idea from two places: a system for stores that used a wood panel with regularly-spaced, horizontal slots cut into to it to accept metal hanging hooks, and the picture of a furniture shop I saw in a magazine where the joiner had mounted furring strips to the wall in a regular vertical spacing and then screwed his tool holders to those strips. I combined the two, and think that I might be able to solve the problem I have about hanging tool chests, what do you do when you get more tools?

Not that I would ever have that problem. Who wants more tools? :rotflm:

AAAndrew
This is my first project after I finish my bench. Have I mentioned that I'm building a bench? :crossedlips:

 

[skysharks]

Matt. I hope I'm on the right track here.
Most cabinets have, what is called, a hanging rail installed in them.
It is part of the cabinet, usually one top and another on the bottom that is designed to have mounting screws put through them.
I would install the "Cleats" to these rails.
My fear for you is that, 1 MDF is heavy by itself. 1/4" hardboard is ok for a backing, but with the weight of the cabinet and Shop items put in. I'm not sure if maybe the screws might pull through the hardboard. Or give in/out. Just not sure.
HTH

 

[Kicbak]

I knew you were going to ask that....I have pictures of everything in my shop except the router bit cabinet and cleat system. Next time I take pictures I need to remember to take some of that as well.

My cabinet is just pine and only about 3 inches deep and pretty light so I stuck with a pine 1x4 ripped on a 45. For heavier cabinets such as your MDF ones I would go with a 2X bolted to the studs.

Wes

 

[Robert Brunke']

Matt. I hope I'm on the right track here.
Most cabinets have, what is called, a hanging rail installed in them.
It is part of the cabinet, usually one top and another on the bottom that is designed to have mounting screws put through them.
I would install the "Cleats" to these rails.
My fear for you is that, 1 MDF is heavy by itself. 1/4" hardboard is ok for a backing, but with the weight of the cabinet and Shop items put in. I'm not sure if maybe the screws might pull through the hardboard. Or give in/out. Just not sure.
HTH

Lots of good advice here. What John said I agee with the most for keeping it on the wall. I would use a pine cleat glued to the back and screw though the hanging rail through the back into the cleat.
A tremendous amount of weight can be suspended from cleats.
Good luck.
Regards,
Robert

 

[MrAudio815]

Matt. I hope I'm on the right track here.
Most cabinets have, what is called, a hanging rail installed in them.
It is part of the cabinet, usually one top and another on the bottom that is designed to have mounting screws put through them.
I would install the "Cleats" to these rails.
My fear for you is that, 1 MDF is heavy by itself. 1/4" hardboard is ok for a backing, but with the weight of the cabinet and Shop items put in. I'm not sure if maybe the screws might pull through the hardboard. Or give in/out. Just not sure.
HTH

Thats the same fear I have. So what would you do MAC (Skysharks)?

I'll take a picture of what I have later and post it here. I did measure my kitchen cabinets that are made of MDF as well and made the same size for the garage. The have a 1x3 on the top and bottom of the cabinet that is exposed inside the cabinet and screwed to the wall. I didn't want those to be exposed so I rabbeted the MDF for room for the hardboard and then the cleat for the cabinet side.

Well here is a picture I found online on what I want, but mine are MDF, may have to change to plywood? :BangHead:

See how the cleat is hidden, so not expsed inside the cabinet.
Thanks for your help everyone, I am getting :widea:'s and thinking I need to re-think this before I attach, add some items and then the next day find them crashed on the floor! Then I would be doing this :BangHead: :BangHead: :BangHead: :BangHead:

Certainly don't want that:no: :nah: :no:

 

[Gofor]

Matt:

Give me a call and swing by the house. These cabinets are hung by French cleat:



Because they are large, and I figured they may be holding up to 300 lbs, I made them out of 3/4 ply and I probably overdid the cleat. However, with your help, it won't take too long to empty one and lift it down so you can see the construction. The tops and backs are rabbeted in so that both provide support to the sides, which hold the adjustable shelves.

Go

 

[MrAudio815]

Matt:

Give me a call and swing by the house. These cabinets are hung by French cleat:



Because they are large, and I figured they may be holding up to 300 lbs, I made them out of 3/4 ply and I probably overdid the cleat. However, with your help, it won't take too long to empty one and lift it down so you can see the construction. The tops and backs are rabbeted in so that both provide support to the sides, which hold the adjustable shelves.

Go

Hey Mark (Gofor),

I love to stop by today, but my mother is in town till wednesday, :icon_cheers so would next week work? :eusa_pray or sometime during the week? I get off work around 4pm mon-wed, not sure about thur and fri.

Sincerely,

By the way those, look really nice! :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

 

[Woodman2k]

Matthew,
What I have done also is run my cleat stock through a router table or if you have access to one,a shaper table.The bevel is more consistent at least than on my contractor's saw.I also agree with those who said that plywood was a better choice than the MDF.Use the MDF for the doors and drawer fronts and use the plywood for the carcasses.They will hold more weight.
Greg