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.