"French cleat" or something else?

[ED65]

Had been planning on asking this anyway and they just came up in another thread.

I think the fixing method predates the term because one or two DIY or woodworking books mention them without calling them that. The term definitely crops up in the 90s, anyone remember an earlier reference to French cleats they read?

Are they actually from France as some contend or was something similar done widely across Europe? Is "French cleat" merely an Americanism?

If they were used in the UK before the term became widespread was there another name for them over here?

 

[NazNomad]

"Although it is difficult to say for sure, many think the name French Cleat originated from the origin of France when in the 1800’s French ship builders began building wooden ships. Once the main ship was built, details were added. One detail was the French Cleat."

https://eagle-aluminum.com/z-clips/the- ... f-z-clips/

 

[Bodgers]

Maybe those books are US woodworking books with "Freedom Cleats"

Sent from my MI 3W using Tapatalk

 

[StraightOffTheArk]

Is "French cleat" merely an Americanism?

Surely it is a euphemism :shock:

In a discussion of the shipping forecast I did hear the question - "Is German Bite a teutonic version of the French Kiss?"

I've no idea about the origins of the term but I suspect it is an Americanism.


Anyway after all these terrible jokes I'll get me coat and go on a French leave

 

[NazNomad]

Cleat: From Middle English clete, from Old English *clēat, clēot, from Proto-Germanic *klautaz (“firm lump”), from Proto-Indo-European *gelewd-, from *gley- (“to glue, stick together, form into a ball”). Cognate with Dutch kloot (“ball; testicle”) and German Kloß. See also clay and clout.

The Murkans aren't claiming this one, sorry.

 

[DoctorWibble]

French cleat was the first descriptor I came across (via web) but no-one else ever knew what I was talking about. Split batten on the other hand is instantly recognised. Being a web taught woodworker has it hazards . Someone should write an international glossary/translator.

 

[worn thumbs]

Is "French cleat" merely an Americanism?

Surely it is a euphemism :shock:

In a discussion of the shipping forecast I did hear the question - "Is German Bite a teutonic version of the French Kiss?"

I've no idea about the origins of the term but I suspect it is an Americanism.


Anyway after all these terrible jokes I'll get me coat and go on a French leave

Clearly somebody didn't understand that a bight of rope is a loop along the length of the rope and nothing to do with dentistry.Before the internet corrupted our language,I used to hear such items referred to as a hook cleat,but this was in the days when British woodworkers had sawbenches rather than table saws.Also thicknessers did what their name suggested and planers only faced one surface of a piece of wood.

 

[StraightOffTheArk]

Being a web taught woodworker has it hazards .

That includes me aswell - I've just looked up "split batten" (on the web), it seems so obvious now. My initial thought was that "French cleat" was possibly a slur against the French, in the same way that (presumably) "Spanish windlass" is against the Spanish, still, it's all double dutch in the end.

Tara a bit,

Carl

PS as we're talking national origins of stuff, I always liked the fact that (according to them what knows) Indian ink actually originated in China and Arabic numerals in India, also that "Tamarind" means "Indian dates" in Arabic - another bit of an insult going on there!

 

[stuartpaul]

I think you'll find that Spanish Windlass was originally a form of execution practised by the (funnily enough) Spanish as garroting was at one time their preferred method of execution.

The stick and a bit of rope technique can exert an awful lot of pressure.

No idea about French cleat!

 

[Billy Flitch]

DoctorWibble has it spot on I originaly Know this as split batten and thats 50 years ago. I think that French cleat is a americanism. A cleat is a bracket where you make a line fast on a boat or ship but the idea that you would use these battens to make lockers fast on a boat is really idiotic.

I´v fitted many a boat out and I´v never put lockers on a split batten. Hit some rough weather and they would be flying every where. A by the bye when I was first showen how to do a split batten no one carried machines around with them, you would just saw it with your rip saw you wouldent bother to mark it out as one side is a mirror image of the other.

 

[DoctorWibble]

Americanisms are sometimes just archaic forms of English. Taken over there by some batch of immigrants or another only to stick long after new words have replaced them here (or in Ireland).

So French cleat could originally come from anywhere and may even pre-date split batten. Unless it can be tracked through some literature we'll likely never know.

Split batten I think is better though. As Billy says you can make one in seconds. An axe will do. No need to fuss about dressing it. French cleat sounds altogether more fussy. Maybe that's why the term was coined - someone upselling a rustic fastener.