French Cleats

[Bob Marino]

Is 1 x 2 too narrow for French Cleats? Used for hanging shop cabinets.

Bob

[Peter Pedisich]

Bob,

Hi, my company hangs cabinets on French cleats often and successfully with a 3/4" thk strip of shop birch ply 2-5/8" high on the long side and 1-1/8" on the short side with a 45degree cut.
Which is more like a 1x3.

Pete

[Hank Knight]

1X2s shojuld work. Mine are made from a 2X4 ripped at a 45 degree angle to get two cleats from one board. The short side that fastens to the cabinet is about 2." They are pretty loaded and have held up fine.

Hank

[Steve Wargo]

I think that it would depend more on the weight of the piece you're looking to hang, and what will be stored in it. I've used small french cleats that are no more than about 1/2" x 1 1/2" on small delicate cabinets, but certainly wouldn't for a kitchen cabinet that was going to hold a bunch of canned goods. Good luck.

[Steve Clardy]

My thinking, the wider the better. Then you can double up the screws on the studs. Two screws per stud.
If you were hanging a 32" or so cabinet on 16" center studs, with a too narrow cleat, that would only be three screws.

[Michael Merrill]

I use 1X4 whitewood from the BORG then rip at 45* to make two strips, 16' for about $3.00

[Bob Marino]

Thanks all. I think I will use the 1 x 2's for the cabinet bottoms and wider stock for the actual cleats. Those cabinets are heavy!

Bob

[Gary Keedwell]

Just went downstairs to measure my cleats. (I'm a real busy guy, huh?) A full 3" on long side with a 45 degree. I left a 1/8th " flat on the 45.

Gary K.

[Stan Krupowies]

I did mine with 3/4 maple ply from the BORG, ripped to 4" on the long side to support my 36 x 36 shop cabinets. The cleat is attached to the wall with 2 #10 x 3" screws at each stud.