The French Cleat Wall System

I have an 8 foot by 8 foot area I will be hanging things on the wall. I'm using a French cleat system. I cut 8 foot by 4 1/2 inch pieces of 3/4 plywood. I cut these pieces in half on a 45 degree angle.

Here's the set up I used to make the 45 degree angle cut. I needed to keep pressure on the piece next to the fence. I also used a pair of feather boards to keep the plywood pushed up against the fence

This a simple set up - it worked very well. Nothing fancy

I had no problems feeding the wood through this set up. Just needed a push stick at the end.

I have both pieces of the cleat pictured here - 2 rows are in place

The level is sitting on the top piece, which can be removed and cut into pieces and then attached to the back side of what ever I want to hang on the cleat. The bottom piece is screwed into the studs with stainless screws. 

I'll post pictures of what I build and hang as I go. I will say, this would have been a hell of a to easier to put on the wall if I had had some help. Doing things by yourself can be a real pain

This is the stud finder I'm now using. It's made by Franklin Sensors. It's about $50 on Amazon but it is very easy to use. It's accurate, reliable and has repeatable findings which decreases my frustration levels >> makes it well worth the money spent.

The lights spread over the width of the stud. I really do like this. It uses two AA batteries.

Fishing Cabinet

I started by framing the bottom of the base with glue and screws so I could put wheels on the base.

I did the front and back and then the sides

I ran a dado groove front to back to help hold the vertical. I glued the uprights in place and then screwed from the bottom. One tip when doing this, drill the holes in the groove before putting the board on the groove. This makes it a lot easier to put in the screws.

Using squares and clamps helps to get these installed at a 90 degree  angle.

You can see the line of screws into the upright.

The front edge strip was clamped in place and then air nailed.  Wheels were placed at all 4 corners. After getting it loaded up, I'm thinking about putting 2 more wheels in the center of the front and back.

I also pocket screwed from the inside.

Side strips were glued and nailed.

Poplar was used tom make the edge banding. I started in the corners and glued and nailed them in place.

The edge banding along the top of the front strip was glued and nailed. I started at a corner after getting the banding aligned. I then made sure it was kept aligned as I continued to nail it down to the other end.

The is the strip on the back side to keep the rods in cases in place.

This is the cabinet I built the frame for.

Here is the cabinet in place in the frame.

4 rods fit on each side.

The rods cases in the back.

I drilled 1 inch holes and then used the band saw to make the slots to the holes. The slots enter along the side of the hole so there is a slight edge to the hole - this helps to keep the rods in place.

There is a strip of wood to keep the rod buts in place. I clamped a strip of wood on top of it to apply pressure as the glue dried.

This cabinet is a heavy beast. It now rolls easily and holds all of my fishing gear. I'll sand, prime and paint the medical cabinet as well as the frame when the heat and humidity drops this fall. It will look much nicer after that.

Paulk Workbench Modification

Sometimes I only need half of  my Paulk  Workbench so I built two "Half Horses". I use this a lot and it works well for a lot of quick projects. It also serves as an out feed table for my table saw.