that's right I've lost all love of pegboards I don't see a reason for
settling for them when you can have this what's up
I'm Jonathan I'm welcome to make tales where I'm sharing my maker journey to
help you go further in yours so don't forget subscribe and hit that little bell
icon to never miss an opportunity to keep making this video is all about
opening up a door and exploring a surprisingly unexplored and slightly
mysteriously secretive world that is the power of French cleats
it's no secret that in a workshop there are a few major ways of hanging and
storing things on a wall the beloved pegboard
shelves and usually for those hardcore woodworkers or for those in the know the
French cleat wall I'm going to guess that most of you know or have heard of a
pegboard however when it comes to a French cleats it's suprisingly unknown so
here is my very quick history and explanation of a French cleat thought to
have originated in the French shipyards in the 1800s thus the name
French cleat the concept is simple yet incredibly powerful it's as simple as
cutting a length of wood with a 45 degree angle and cut another bit of wood
with a 45 degree angle to turn that into your hook
you can attach practically anything to this hook portion of the cleat over the
years this idea has evolved in the manufacturing industry to create a metal
equivalent called Z clips as great as these are this means that you need to
buy more hardware or have a way of making things out of metal to fit into
the tiny Z clip slots to my surprise it looks like French cleats have turned
into the Carpenters secret to hang things be it picture frames floating
shelves or kitchen cabinets always hidden and out of sight like a magical power
Holding something to a wall in my opinion it's time that the French cleat
concept comes out of hiding and is given the potential to become the
amazing day-to-day hanging system that in my eyes
it so deserves to be not to mention now in the world of rapid prototyping
with CNCs 3d printing and laser cutting the French cleat has inherited a
powerhouse of possibilities so with all that said while I was renovating my
office I really wanted to utilize my walls the best way possible yes the
first thing that came to mind was pegboards but very quickly I came hard
up against limitations which were normally weight and size that's when I
made the decision that I would set myself the task of grabbing this French cleats
inspiration wave by the horns and truly set up myself a space where I can
fully explore French cleats to my heart's content
most of these are to give you a small idea of the power of French cleats as
over the coming months I'm going to be growing this wall to become one of the
most adaptive functional spaces with much larger and functional things
hanging from them okay okay I'm sure you've already seen
it yes that was a pegboard... normal peg
boards are useless to me however this is a cleated peg board meaning that I can
quickly and easily move this anywhere on my cleated wall or anywhere that I have
a cleat meaning that every one of these mini creations you're about to see is
extremely versatile here's a small example let's say this peg cork board
had a whole bunch of notes or tools that I needed in my workshop it's as easy as
lifting it up and taking it with me to place it on my workshop cleat I asked my
patrons what they thought I should create to help with maker projects
Andrew suggested I created an Arduino electronic storage system for all the
bits and bobs that come with electronic projects this here is what I created the
unusual part of this storage system is that the French cleat section of this
box is removable meaning that you don't need to necessarily have a French cleat
use this box and you can have this storage box
flat up against any wall or tucked away until you need it to then hang it up on
the cleat once again a few other little hidden features that I snuck into this
storage system or stackable trays
interchangeable name tags and the ability to add paper in front of the
nametag in case you really can't be bothered
engraving another nametag additionally I've also begun to explore the idea of
shelves and hooks I'm really loving the look of this living hinge curved over
shelf there are two little features I've added into these shelves one they leave
enough space to be able to add other cleated objects underneath them and
secondly they're reversible lastly I wanted to make something to incorporate
an older project of mine the string lampshades as you can tell I truly am
loving the best French cleat wall and I cannot wait to explore more
possibilities and configurations that are made possible by it from one maker
to another I really recommend them they're perfect
for dynamic spaces and have more creative functionality than I can even
begin to mention be in a kitchen workshop office or hallway I truly
encourage you to explore French cleats all useful links are down in the
description and all my files are free to download for the next three months and
forever available for my patrons speaking of which a huge thank you to
them and I would love to hear what ideas you have for your French cleat wall
anyway thanks for watching keep making and let it quest continue