French Cleat System

Over the past couple months I have been cleaning up my shop and I created a French cleat system to store my tools and hardware using my Shapeoko 3 XXL. For reference a French cleat system is a system that allows you to mount objects to your wall and easily move and arrange them. I thought it would be nice to have a generic French cleat bracket where I could make custom 2x4 inserts for my tools. I came up with two designs at flat top and a 45 deg top. All of the brackets are tabbed and slotted to allow for easy alignment and assemble without clamps.

I also wanted a way to organize my bolt box of misery. I came up with a small box with a French cleat attached to the back. This has worked out great. I have finally been able to find the correct hardware without searching for hours

Lesson Learned: All of my brackets have been made out of 0.25 mdf. When cutting the MDF I found that using a down cutting endmill makes for much better cut quality. The first couple boxes I used up cutting bits and had lots of fuzzy edges. Once I switch to a down cutting endmill the cut quality was much better

Overall i have been very happy with this project. it is great building it over time and being to move my tool holders around to optimize the organization. Just a great system that grows with you over time