French Cleat Lumber Storage

[Mario Turcot]

I am currently working on a French cleat system to hold lumber. the system consist of several strips of French cleat at 18" apart  from the ceiling and I cam up with that design.
[attachimg=1]

This work great for board under 12".

I decided to extend the use of the bottom row by adding an additional support for my guide rails.
[attachimg=2]

Those are in progress and will have g-code files available for those that would like to make them.

 

[Alanbach]

I’m curious, what do you intend to make these brackets out of? Plywood or hardwood lumber?

 

[Mario Turcot]

Good question;

I built my shop last year and been working with BB ply till now. that said I have a lot of small boards I can use to do the Cleat supports, so for now I have made them of baltic birch ply 18mm.

To make the supports you need a 13" x 9" boards so using hardwood is possible but it will not be much stronger then BB IMO.

P.S. the cleat I made are @ 45deg

 

[Sparktrician]

I'd be very leery of using wood products to support the weight of lumber.  Something like these brackets from Portamate might be a wiser choice. 

 

[Alanbach]

I was asking about the material because of the strength issue for holding the weight needed. I’m no engineer but as I look at your drawing the potential weak point is directly above that angled cut that ultimately sits on the cleat point. From there straight up to the top of the bracket. Because of that I think that B.B. plywood is a better choice otherwise grain direction of hardwood might come into play big time. You could always weight test one bracket with a weighed sack of bricks and if you don’t like the results you can always double up the brackets by gluing and screwing multiples together. I love the concept! I hope that you will post more feedback as your concept becomes reality. Just be careful! I’ve had a lumber shelf come loose before and it’s not pretty.

 

[mike_aa]

Hi Mario,

Grizzly has a lumber rack that looks similar to the Portamate one, but at a much better price.  I believe they also ship to our Northern friends.  I'm sure there are heavier duty ones available, but this one holds 100 pounds per shelf.

Mike A.

 

[Mario Turcot]

Thanks for the concerns, the intend to use such a support is for very short boards. Like 2' to 4' of exotic woods. I got commusionned for desk name plates like these

[attachimg=1]

So the weight will be minimal, I will get some pictures on the weekend so Willy can approve [wink]

 

[MikeDVB]

I think the biggest risk would be the cleat itself ripping off as that's the part that's going to hold 100% of the stress and looks to be the thinnest.

If I was going to do this I'd probably use two cleats and I'd probably use an additional support between the end of the arm and the base.

 

[Mario Turcot]

First stress test

Locating a good spot, with a 20' x 20' shop it's not always easy  [tongue]

[attachimg=1]

First cleat installed

[attachimg=2]

Brackets ready to get on the wall

[attachimg=3]

and the result

[attachimg=4]

I am happy with it for now  [big grin]

The beauty of a French cleat system is that you can move/remove them as you wish without doing much damage to your wall. Thanks to the FOGers and especially [member=7493]Sparktrician[/member] for explaining how he did it.

 

[Alanbach]

This looks great! The cross section that I voiced concern about is much thicker than I perceived from the drawing. The whole thing looks very solid.  How do they feel? Did they pass the “grab them and pull down” test, that I’m sure you performed?

 

[Mario Turcot]

This looks great! The cross section that I voiced concern about is much thicker than I perceived from the drawing. The whole thing looks very solid.  How do they feel? Did they pass the “grab them and pull down” test, that I’m sure you performed?

I didn't but it's on my to do list first thing tomorrow morning. Right after my first coffee.  [smile]

 

[semenza]

Very handy for the short lengths since you can adjust the spacing of the supports. Good idea.

Seth

 

[Sparktrician]

Thanks for the concerns, the intend to use such a support is for very short boards. Like 2' to 4' of exotic woods. I got commusionned for desk name plates like these

So the weight will be minimal, I will get some pictures on the weekend so Willy can approve [wink]

 

Ah!  Now I understand your concept.  Well done, Mario!  [smile] [thumbs up]

 

[MikeDVB]

Looks good. I thought you were going to be making them way thinner. They’re more substantial than they looked. I would still probably put an angled support though.

 

[Mario Turcot]

[member=66185]Alanbach[/member]

This looks great! The cross section that I voiced concern about is much thicker than I perceived from the drawing. The whole thing looks very solid.  How do they feel? Did they pass the “grab them and pull down” test, that I’m sure you performed?

I put about 200lbs from two brackets. I was a bit shy to put up all my weight since the cleat on the wall was starting to move. At 200lbs I am very confident with the wood I will put on them.

[member=68651]IndyMike[/member]

Looks good. I thought you were going to be making them way thinner. They’re more substantial than they looked. I would still probably put an angled support though.

They only 12" long and see stress test above  [big grin] I agree if it was to  hold a lot of lumber it would need reinforcement but at 12" I'm ok with it.

 

[Alanbach]

[member=66597]Mario Turcot[/member]

I love a good stress test! Interesting that the weak link in the chain might be the cleat. If you did need to hang more weight all you have to do is drive a few more screws in the cleat through to the studs. If you did that then you could just slide the brackets into line with the studs and I bet that you “hang” test would improve significantly. The good news is that now you have a much better feel for how much weight you are comfortable putting up there.

 

[SoonerFan]

[member=66597]Mario Turcot[/member] nice design.  Seems to be great for the intended use.