digest
Short Summary
Main recommendation: Store hand tools on a French cleat system, a wall-mounted pair of 45° beveled strips that interlock, and keep frequently used tools in view while moving rarely used tools to a drawer. Steve Ramsey shows how he builds custom cleat hangers for screwdrivers, pliers, and saws, and how he adjusts them after testing.
Key Points
- A French cleat is a 45° bevel on a strip mounted to the wall, and matching hangers with the opposite bevel drop onto it and lock in place.
- The cleats are screwed into quarter-inch plywood backing and then into the wall, giving a secure mount.
- Tools are sorted by use: frequently used tools stay on the wall, and rarely used items such as the crowbar and an unused dusty hand drill go into a drawer.
- Hangers are customized per tool, including saw holders, screwdriver holders, and plier holders.
- The first hangers needed rework: wedge-shaped screwdriver holders let tools fall out, so a front board was glued on to retain them and freed space for a scribe and calipers.
Details Worth Noting
- Concrete instructions: Take all tools down from the pegboard first. Cut plywood strips at 45° bevels for the cleats. Glue quarter-inch plywood to a 2x4 strip to make a saw holder, hang the matching saw to find where it sits straight, draw a line around it, glue the holder on, let the glue dry a few minutes, then screw it in. For angled holes, tip the piece on its side and glue dowels into them. For screwdrivers, cut wedge-shaped cutouts in a 2x4 so any screwdriver thickness fits, then glue it to a cleat. For pliers, cut boards, set a dowel in each, and glue them to a cleat; one hanger uses plain holes. Screw the cleats into the quarter-inch plywood and the wall.
- The screwdriver wedge design caused tools to fall out when pulled, so a board was glued to the front as a fix.
- The tool hutch was built in 2002, and the speaker kept the pegboard hooks untouched for years, describing himself as organized but not neurotic.
- He plans to keep experimenting with new hangers, though he says he doesn't need shelves since he already has shelves elsewhere.
Bottom Line
A French cleat wall with custom hangers works well for hand tools, but the design should be tested with the actual tools and adjusted when problems appear.
