Why Should You Cut Your Own French Cleat Strips?
If you are pressed for time, or do not have all of the tools outlined below, then purchasing CNC cut cleat strips from us might be a better choice. However, if you have plenty of time and a well equipped shop you can save a bit of money by making your own.
Cutting a full sheet of 4'x8' plywood using the process below will net you 46 4' long French cleat strips. This is 5.75 sets of cleat strips and will cover 92 square feet of wall when you follow our installation guidelines.
This guide assumes you know how to use the tools below and know how to follow the proper safety procedures.
Tools and Materials Needed
To cut your own French cleat strips, you will need the following:
- 3/4" Plywood Sheet*
- Tape measure
- Pencil
- Table Saw
- Circular Saw
- 180 Grit Sandpaper and a sanding block
*At Lumberjack Flash we use veneer core Baltic birch plywood for all of our products. This plywood is the strongest and most stable plywood on the market, however it also tends to be the most expensive. Any high quality plywood will work.
Step-by-Step Guide
Follow these steps to cut your own French cleat strips:
Step 1: Break Down the Plywood Sheet Into More Manageable Chunks
Muscling a full sheet of plywood through the table saw is difficult and in some cases unnecessarily dangerous. To make things easier to manage you should cut the full sheet into more manageable chunks.
Start by marking the factory corners.
Next, measure and mark the middle of the sheet so that you will end up with two 4' square pieces.
Using your circular saw and a straight edge, cut the sheet in half.
Step 2: Cut the Pre-Strips
The next step is to rip the half sheets into 4" strips. Ensure your blade is 90 degrees to the table surface, set your rip fence to 4". Placing one of the factory end edges against the fence, rip cut your plywood into 4" strips.
Step 3: Cut the Cleat Strips
To create the 45 degree angle you will next split the 4" strips in half with a 45 degree cut. To set your rip fence use the following formula:
It is also helpful at this point to use feather boards to hold the plywood to the table saw and ensure consistent cuts.
Step 4: OPTIONAL: Trim the Sharp 45 Degree Corner
After cutting the strips you will find that the 45 degree corner is very sharp. To save your hands during installation you can trim 1/16" off of that sharp corner, by running the pieces through the table saw again or using a hand plane or sandpaper.
Step 5: Sand the Edges
After cutting the strips, use sandpaper to smooth the edges and ease all of the corners.
Conclusion
Now you should have a big pile of cleat strips ready for installation! The Lumberjack Flash system is built around a 6" on center installation scheme which you can read more about here.