# Garage shop upgrades



## channeleaton (Dec 5, 2012)

*Cutting the french cleats*

The garage is a mess. Maybe that's familiar to some of you. I decided to remedy this situation.

After scouring the web I've settled on a french cleat system on all three walls of the garage. The flexibility and the chance to improve my woodworking skills (minimal at this point) are what attracted me. So I set off to McCoy's during lunch to get some nice 3/4" plywood.

Good God, this stuff isn't cheap! Here's my conversation with the salesman:

Me: "How much for 3/4" American Birch plywood?"

Salesman: "$68.50 a sheet"

Me: "Holy ****. Chinese Birch?"

Salesman: "$36. Better?"

Me: "Only slightly. I'll take two sheets."

That night I got to cutting. And cutting. And cutting. I should have upgraded my circular saw blade from the stock one. Splinters galore!

After two evenings of cutting the plywood I sanded down the corners a bit.

Here's the final product:









I'm working out of town on Saturday but I hope to get these cleats on the wall Sunday afternoon.


----------



## whitebeast88 (May 27, 2012)

channeleaton said:


> *Cutting the french cleats*
> 
> The garage is a mess. Maybe that's familiar to some of you. I decided to remedy this situation.
> 
> ...


make sure to show some finished pics.i'm thinking along the same lines as the french cleats.


----------



## Momcanfixit (Sep 19, 2012)

channeleaton said:


> *Cutting the french cleats*
> 
> The garage is a mess. Maybe that's familiar to some of you. I decided to remedy this situation.
> 
> ...


I like the french cleat systems I've seen on here. It's on the project list.

Keep up posted.


----------



## DIYaholic (Jan 28, 2011)

channeleaton said:


> *Cutting the french cleats*
> 
> The garage is a mess. Maybe that's familiar to some of you. I decided to remedy this situation.
> 
> ...


You will love the fre*n*ch cleat system.
It looks/sounds like you are raring to go!!!

My recent install:









I agree with Sandra…
& Please post pictures!!!


----------



## Dwain (Nov 1, 2007)

channeleaton said:


> *Cutting the french cleats*
> 
> The garage is a mess. Maybe that's familiar to some of you. I decided to remedy this situation.
> 
> ...


Channel,

I too started my french cleat system over the last couple of weeks and have been adding to it. I would like to create a fixture that will hold pipe clamps. i have about 30 and was thinking of setting up eight to a fixture. What do you think? Your cleats look great!


----------



## channeleaton (Dec 5, 2012)

channeleaton said:


> *Cutting the french cleats*
> 
> The garage is a mess. Maybe that's familiar to some of you. I decided to remedy this situation.
> 
> ...


Dwain,

Here's a project that has a clamp rack:

http://lumberjocks.com/projects/41737

I've seen several others as well.


----------



## channeleaton (Dec 5, 2012)

*Cleats are going up!*

After a long 18-hour workday on Saturday and a ridiculous drive home through Houston traffic, I mustered up the energy to put up 3 rows of cleats yesterday afternoon.

It went well for the most part. The first row was definitely a learning experience.

Lesson #1: Builders dont seem to care about the garage walls. Studs may be placed at 16" ± 3".

Lesson #2: Jigs, helpers and other such devices are worth their weight in gold. You can see the spacer I made in the attached picture.

Once I took those lessons to heart, the other two rows went up without much of a problem. Here are my 'Shop Dog' sawhorses hanging on the cleats:










I hope to get the last 3 rows on this wall and the opposite wall completed by the end of the week.


----------



## channeleaton (Dec 5, 2012)

*Hangars, shelves, and boxes!*

I finally got an entire weekend at home to work on my garage. It was a strange feeling.

Saturday I was able to put up the french cleats on the opposite wall. Here's a pic of the finished product:









After completing the first wall and getting halfway done with the second wall I was sick of changing bits in my drill and keeping up with the one I wasn't using along with the screws. Just then, I had a stroke of genius (these moments come few and far between). I attached small piece of 2×4 to a discarded piece of cleat and drilled some holes in it. It was a bit and screw caddy that hung right where i needed it!

Sunday I got to making things that would actually hang on the french cleats. Once it was all said and done I had made 3 yard tool hangars, a screwdriver holder, a hammer holder, a box, and 2 shelves.


















I didn't really plan on making the shelves but I had some decently sized pieces of plywood leftover and I didn't really want to cut them up. I think they turned out great!


----------



## Cory (Jan 14, 2009)

channeleaton said:


> *Hangars, shelves, and boxes!*
> 
> I finally got an entire weekend at home to work on my garage. It was a strange feeling.
> 
> ...


Looking good! I love the french cleat system. So versatile.


----------



## channeleaton (Dec 5, 2012)

channeleaton said:


> *Hangars, shelves, and boxes!*
> 
> I finally got an entire weekend at home to work on my garage. It was a strange feeling.
> 
> ...


Thanks, Cory.

I was cursing french cleats while making the wall strips. Fighting a crappy blade and not having a good guide was killing me. After making these hangars, I've changed my mind. Improving my skills while creating something so useful has made it all worth the effort.


----------



## channeleaton (Dec 5, 2012)

*Productive 3-day weekend*

My 3-day weekend meant 3 days in the garage.

I spent half of the weekend cleaning and rebuilding an old Craftsman tablesaw and bandsaw. But that's for another time.

Saturday was a day of firsts.

It was my first time working from a plan that I created.

It was my first time to use a cut list.

It was my first time cutting rabbets and dadoes.

It was my first time building a cabinet.

And here's one that I didn't think would come until much later: It was the first time everything fit together.

I created the cabinet plan in Sketchup and used the amazing CutList plugin to make my sheet goods layout and cut list.

Here's a couple of pics from the cabinet assembly:


















I haven't had the chance to attach the face frame or doors just yet but here's the carcass hanging on the french cleats along with some other hangars/boxes I made yesterday:










If you take a look at the back of the cabinet, you'll see some strips of wood running all the way across. These were used to help attach the 3 cleats to the cabinet and allow for longer screws to be used.

Here's a closeup of the wrench and chisel holders:










For the chisel holder, I didn't have anything thin enough to make the slots but I did have some very thin (and brittle) lattice strips. I was able to laminate 3 of the strips together to come up to the right thickness.

I still have a few more hangars that I want to create for the remainder of my often-used tools.


----------



## JoeinGa (Nov 26, 2012)

channeleaton said:


> *Productive 3-day weekend*
> 
> My 3-day weekend meant 3 days in the garage.
> 
> ...


I'd hafta say your weekend was a success!


----------



## dczward (May 23, 2011)

channeleaton said:


> *Productive 3-day weekend*
> 
> My 3-day weekend meant 3 days in the garage.
> 
> ...


Good job getting organized and getting some skills under your belt. I found that doing shop projects is a great skill builder, but you need to be careful: it's a slippery slope. You may end up working ON your shop until is is set up perfectly (ahem). Before you know it, 50 years will whiz by, and you'll still be planning to update that one tool holder…


----------



## DIYaholic (Jan 28, 2011)

channeleaton said:


> *Productive 3-day weekend*
> 
> My 3-day weekend meant 3 days in the garage.
> 
> ...


Nicely done.
You'll also always remember "your first"!!!
A great job of getting or-jig-a-nized!

Gotta love the fre*n*ch cleat system!!!
I just recently installed fre*n*ch cleats in my evolving shop. Here is one of my blog entries for them.


----------



## helluvawreck (Jul 21, 2010)

channeleaton said:


> *Productive 3-day weekend*
> 
> My 3-day weekend meant 3 days in the garage.
> 
> ...


I think that your time was put to very good use. You accomplished a lot and your shop is more organized. Congratulations.

helluvawreck aka Charles
http://woodworkingexpo.wordpress.com


----------



## Dwain (Nov 1, 2007)

channeleaton said:


> *Productive 3-day weekend*
> 
> My 3-day weekend meant 3 days in the garage.
> 
> ...


GOOD FOR YOU! I too have recently been organizing my garage with a french cleat. I just got my pipe clamps up last weekend and am now working on a case for my table saw sleds. You did a great job on yours.


----------



## Racer2007 (Jan 13, 2011)

channeleaton said:


> *Productive 3-day weekend*
> 
> My 3-day weekend meant 3 days in the garage.
> 
> ...


Wait a Min , it all fit together on the first try ? You better go back and check again , thats just not Possiable .
Looks real good.


----------



## channeleaton (Dec 5, 2012)

channeleaton said:


> *Productive 3-day weekend*
> 
> My 3-day weekend meant 3 days in the garage.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the comments!

dczward: My wife would never let that happen. She expects some patio furniture in the next 2 months as an anniversary gift.

Richard: I'm still in shock. I guess meticulous measuring, marking, and cutting paid off. That, and it was a simple build.


----------



## whitebeast88 (May 27, 2012)

channeleaton said:


> *Productive 3-day weekend*
> 
> My 3-day weekend meant 3 days in the garage.
> 
> ...


great job,everything turned out nice


----------

