French cleats - set away from wall

[Molynoox]

Does a french cleat system need to be flush to the wall behind it?

Can I do this:

I am looking to have lighting behind the cleat that spills out onto the wall.
I have been looking at building a complicated hexagon shelf system which I mentioned in another thread but I'm also looking at alternatives such as this.

Will it still work with that spacer block behind the wall cleat? The led strip will be affixed to the top and bottom of the spacer block and will be hidden behind the wall cleat.

Martin

 

[Adam W.]

It will work, but the stuff in question will be tipped outwards.

 

[Molynoox]

Not quite sure I follow you Adam; if it tips outwards then it doesn't work?

 

[Adam W.]

Your cleat is at an angle which will transfer to whatever you are hanging on it and that won't be vertical, but tipped outwards like in your drawing.

For a French cleat to work properly and the face of the object to be vertical, you need to have a corresponding batten on the lower edge of the object hanging from it to stop it tipping outwards . Unless your cleat on the object is tapered too.

 

[Molynoox]

Ok got it.
So if I put two pieces of ply on the bottom of the 'stuff' cleat then it would align with the wall behind it and stop the tipping?

Martin

 

[Molynoox]

Like this?

 

[Adam W.]

Yes, like that, unless your cleat is a whopper and the stuff is small, then you need to shim at the bottom of the cleat.

Your spacer/packer at the first drawing looks tapered, is it or is it square?

 

[Molynoox]

Great thanks, so the disadvantage to adding the spacer block (to accomodate the lighting) is that I need to add a double ply batten to every 'stuff' hanger, instead of just a single.

That's a bit of a pain I suppose, but not a disaster.

Martin

 

[owen]

You could always add the one ply bottom batton onto the wall

 

[Adam W.]

Great thanks, so the disadvantage to adding the spacer block (to accomodate the lighting) is that I need to add a double ply batten to every 'stuff' hanger, instead of just a single.

That's a bit of a pain I suppose, but not a disaster.

Martin

It depends on the size of the stuff in relation to the size of the cleat. Big stuff, small cleat makes it tip. Small stuff, big cleat keeps things parallel.

 

[Molynoox]

Your spacer/packer at the first drawing looks tapered, is it or is it square?

its square, just a bad drawing.

 

[Distinterior]

Both of these panels were hung on the walls using French cleats...( forget about the TV and the Walnut shelves).
They both had upper and lower cleats near the top and bottom of each panel and were about 100mm narrower than their corresponding panels, due to the fact that both the panels were spaced off each wall by about 50mm and I didnt want the cleats visible without having to go to the trouble of actually looking for them.

Both panels were pre finished 19mm high gloss MDF and quite heavy in their own right.

Incidentally, the lower matching drawer unit it is also hanging via French cleats as well.

Both panels are fitted in the same house and on dry lined walls......

 

[Molynoox]

I had a little go at a prototype today, it seemed to work ok once I had experimented with the spacings and adjusted them so that the light diffused evenly.

I will give this a go and do a full length run and see how I get on.

I was using that weird blue colour because it was the one that showed up the light distribution the best

Martin

 

[baldkev]

I had a little go at a prototype today, it seemed to work ok once I had experimented with the spacings and adjusted them so that the light diffused evenly.

View attachment 156890
View attachment 156891
View attachment 156892
I will give this a go and do a full length run and see how I get on.

I was using that weird blue colour because it was the one that showed up the light distribution the best

Martin

I like the weird blue

The spacers to keep it parallel can be anything you like.... a piece of dowel set into the back and chopped off at the right length, or a corresponding number of pages from your wifes favourite book..... go on, try it

 

[Molynoox]

I like the weird blue

The spacers to keep it parallel can be anything you like.... a piece of dowel set into the back and chopped off at the right length, or a corresponding number of pages from your wifes favourite book..... go on, try it

I quite like the weird blue too.
Good call on the spacers, that does help as I'm trying to do it with minimal materials as ply is so expensive and also my budget for this stuff has dwindled down close to zero now.

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

Below is a bedhead, which is attached to the wall with a French Cleat. Note that the upper rail (closest to camera) is lower than the posts ...

The upper half is attached to the frame and the lower half is ready to be attached to the wall. The height of the fitting makes it flush with the recess of the rail ...

And here it is flush against the wall. Not easy to see here, but the vertical rails all curve ...

In other words, if you want it flush, set the cleat inside a rebate.

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[danst96]

Why not put the LEDs straight onto the clear, just make the stuff hanger bigger than the cleats and that will hide the LEDs.

Like the below.

 

[clogs]

u know the reason they call em French cleats.....
it's so they can take everything from the kitchen when they do a runner.....not a joke.....

Bit like the Brits and a hand cart removals.....

the younger members won't understand.....

Done right with thicker ply, French cleats will take a lot of weight......apart from the main sheet everything was made from off cuts.....stainless one side zinc the other.....
just need to make another for imp and unified now....
This rolling nut n bolt serving trolley is over 10 years old now and was transported fully loaded in a truck some 800miles here.....

 

[llywmog]

Why not put the LEDs straight onto the clear, just make the stuff hanger bigger than the cleats and that will hide the LEDs.

Like the below.

I was thinking the same. I wouldn't be confident about using the OP's method.

 

[dephill]

I think if the wall cleats are fixed properly and not spaced too far apart then small stuff hangers will be fine on one cleat but larger stuff hangers can be made big enough to hang on one and rest on the wall cleat below with it just acting as a spacer.
Perhaps only every other cleat might have leds if that would be too much led?
or you could scrap the spacers altogether and just put leds on the bottom of every wall cleat where there is no bearing surface (maybe in a rebate)