I ran across an interesting question on Facebook, a poster asked what would be more reliable, french cleats made from ply wood or solid hard wood?

Any opinions most welcome.

 

 

 

My first thought was that either would work equally well. But, after thinking about some of the Chinese plywood I've seen lately, I believe solid material would be the better choice.

Plywood would have less possibility to split or crack. Depending on how heavy the piece you are hanging as well as how much it will be sticking out from the wall, I would consider using metal cleats. More pricey but will hold the weight better and you can use less of the metal. Also it will be a much lower profile.

 

If ply, I use BB. If solid, I use red oak.

I agree with Allen about the utility of metal ones, though.

Given the two options, I'd take the plywood because of the strength of the lamination's.

 

I have seen both but have not given it enough thought.

Thanks for the feedback gents, I have used plywood in the past, seems like it would be more stable and stronger then solid hard wood, less prone to cracking or splitting. When it comes down to it, I think the most overlooked component to the equation are the anchors used to secure it to the wall. In my days as a maintenance man way back in time, I'd see guys use the cleat system, fine, and then they'd drive the cleats into the wall studs using #6 drywall screws, then hang a 2 hundred pound cabinet. It may hold forever, but the risk of failure is greater than if you used regular steel screws. Dry wall screws are made to hold sheer weight distributed over a wide panel, meaning each drywall screw is responsible for holding a small portion of that panel, possibly only a pound or less per screw.

When you are using a cleat system for example, a cleat that is 4 feet long, is applied to hold up a 300 lb tool cabinet 4 feet wide, and if you only have two studs at 16" oc, well that's 150lbs per screw. Your only going to get two screws in. A #12 x 3" screw would be more appropriate and made of steel. Or as pictured above, a lag bolt. And a system of equal strength must be applied to the cabinet as well.

 

Edited November 7, 201510 yr by John Morris

If you use a piece of plywood 1x6xwidth of cabinet you will be able to increase the amount of screws by 3. Use square drive 3 inch deck screws with screw washers to increase head holding surface area. Dont forget your also going to need a 3/4 bump out strip on the backside bottom of the cabinet to keep it from tilting forward. And of course a 3/4 filler on any open cabinet end.

Depends on the species of hardwood the lay of the grain and the quality and type of the ply. Some hard woods like teak will crack and break along the grain very easily. Some like apple are beastly tough from all directions.

A good veneer core plywood will serve admirably being tough as nails from all directions

BUT

Unless he plans to keep Iron bars  or his weight lifting set  in this cabinet it is extremely unlikely that a cleat made from 3/4" void free birch ply will ever fail. Same for maple oak hickory or ash.

Run the cleat for most of the length of the cabinet and secure it well to the framing in the wall and he'll have a bullet proof set up.