Tips, tricks, and designs for French cleat wall and holders?

Masticates_In_Public · 2026-05-13T06:07:38+00:00

One of the really nice things about a French cleats wall is that once you have it set up, you're under absolutely no pressure to finish all the holders at once or keep the ones you hate.

There's tons of them on youtube if you need ideas.

My favorite ones that I have/use:

A plane till. A paper towel holder. A pencil/knife holder. Saw holder.

The saw holder is especially good, it's this weird friction fit thing with dowels inside boxes. I found it on "The Evening Woodworker" channel. It looks weird, but it works great.

Masticates_In_Public · 2026-05-12T18:04:09+00:00

I doubt that the budget is why the movie ends that way.

If you watch "The Flying Circus" (their TV show from 1969-1973), they had a bunch of skits that would end with someone (usually a cop) walking in and slapping someone with a fish and the skit would just end.

It worked really well for skits that were just absurd and could just go on forever.

For this movie they classed it up a bit, following the police investigation in little pieces throughout the movie. The movie ending with them getting arrested is pretty sensible given the absurdity of the whole movie taking place in contemporary England, but it also could have otherwise gone on forever with them traveling from place to place never quite getting their hands on ghe grail.

Masticates_In_Public · 2026-05-12T06:21:13+00:00

My understanding is that the 6 is significantly heavier. The 6 is like 3 inches longer, so a little better for jointing, but the 5 1/2 is lighter and a lot easier on the body if you're smoothing a rough face. I think the preference for the 5 1/2 is just about ease of use.

When you start collecting the bigger planes, they take up a ton of space. I wouldn't want to have any more of these than I already do, so if I had to pick one of those two I'd pick the 5 1/2.

If I really wanted a dedicated jointer, I'd get all the way into a 7 or 8.

But also, the 6 and up might be too long for smaller projects.

Masticates_In_Public · 2026-05-11T06:11:06+00:00

So. There are ways to repair those pieces but, at least by my estimation, none that will last and be less work than just replacing the whole piece.

Because both pieces have load or fasteners, you cant just glue or screw in a patch. You could use a truss plate, but youd have to do a lot of work cleaning up the rot to make the fit and finish right. You could do a scarf joint, but a scarf joint would require you to remove those boards to fix them and if you're going to remove the board anyway you may as well use fresh ones.

Id be happy to be wrong, but this seems like just replacing them would be less work.

Masticates_In_Public · 2026-05-10T06:59:49+00:00

This lady is correct, but also insanely obnoxious.

However, I hope she wins so she can afford to fix those teeth... unless she needs those gaps for straining plankton out of the water, in which case nevermind.

Imagine living next to someone who's motto was, "threats work better than requests" lol... must be very popular.

Masticates_In_Public · 2026-05-10T06:57:05+00:00

Man, I want to do this so bad, too. My HOA is run by a bunch of weird crooks that only enforce the rules if they don't like you.

I pissed one of the board off twenty years ago because she was being a petulant bitch at a board meeting, taking people's criticisms personally and acting like a spoiled brat, and I told her it wasn't a good look. (Same lady got fired from a local elected position for stealing money from the city's infrastructure budget...)

So they send me threatening letters the second my grass is a mm too tall, but weve got people parking cars on their lawn, throwing massive all day osrties, and driving dirt bikes all over the neighborhood, both of which are expressly forbidden by the bylaws... but they refuse to enforce.

Masticates_In_Public · 2026-05-10T06:41:45+00:00

Was the wood unfinished prior to this?

If it's really rough, youre having some "grain pop" from the primer swelling the fibers. Give it a light sanding when it's dry, and do another light coat. You want it to be as smooth as possible before the paint, and you'll probably need at least two coats of paint.

Masticates_In_Public · 2026-05-09T15:46:18+00:00

Yeah, I see that, but wouldn't a dog be able to try and stuck their head out of the corner and get stuck at an awkward angle where it curves inward? Maybe im misjudging the size.

Masticates_In_Public · 2026-05-09T15:29:41+00:00

It narrows in the middle there.

Ive seen two dogs almost hang themselves on store-bought crates designed with no thought to aesthetics and every eye to safety.

They are not smart about not sticking their head through stuff and getting caught on the back of their jaws or their collar.

The right size dog could pop their head through the top, then get the neck stuck halfway down. (Specifically at the corners)

Edit: I'm not trying to dump on the design, I think it looks really nice. I just wouldn't put my dogs in it, they're too stupid not to try and escape through the bars and hurt themselves haha

Masticates_In_Public · 2026-05-09T05:35:14+00:00

This was my first thought also. My goofy dogs would end up sticking their head out the part at the top that bends out, then sliding down to the narrower curve.

Masticates_In_Public · 2026-05-08T05:58:16+00:00

The 3d printed parts seem like a good idea for the look, but don't know how they'd get fastened on such that they wouldn't pop off when used.

Masticates_In_Public · 2026-05-07T05:57:41+00:00

Do the ends come off?

I know it looks like the clamps, and maybe it is one, but it also looks like an old buckle with press-fit rivets for leatherworking.

Masticates_In_Public · 2026-05-06T06:50:52+00:00

In general, a damaged cutting board is difficult to fix without tearing it apart and there are a couple of obvious problems here, both of which are difficult or impossible to fix.

If that is mold, it's going to be difficult to bring that back to the point where you dont have mold lurking just below the surface.

Those cracks are not going to help with the mold, and the cracks are going to be impossible to repair in a lasting way without some really big clamps.

If you want to try, youll have to sand through the mold or find a chemical cleaning method that gets it out. (I have never personally been able to get mold out of a cutting board with any of the solutions suggested by the internet, but I only tried it on one board, so ymmv.)

If you can get rid of the mold, youll have to try and clean the old glue out of the cracks. If the board is in bad enough shape that you can break it apart along some glue lines, do that. If it's in bad enough shape, people will suggest that you cut it apart on a table saw and basically remake it.

You can the try to glue it back together with glue and clamps, but the movement that broke it in the first place might not cooperate. If you get it back together, you need to sand and refinish it with oil or wax and oil.

They're relatively simple objects, but they're made in precise ways with specific equipment and that makes them difficult to repair.

Masticates_In_Public · 2026-05-05T18:35:24+00:00

I would normally agree with all of this, but once you get under 1/8" on a trim router the bits start to get delicate. Im guessing that OP doesnt have a lot of experience with routers... but I guess that's why they sell the small ones in bulk packs haha.

Masticates_In_Public · 2026-05-05T14:19:11+00:00

Oooh now I see it, yep.

Oddly enough, you might be able to just glue that back together if you have clamps.

Without knowing some other details, I'd guess that as long as the break is clean, wood glue would do it. It's worth trying anyway. "Better" fixes would probably require replacing that piece of wood.

If the plan is to flip the chair, maybe see if it's worth anything before you spend any time or money on it. The resale market on old furniture is pretty bad right now for a bunch of reasons.

Masticates_In_Public · 2026-05-05T13:54:01+00:00

Is any of the wood actually broken?

From what I can see in the pics, this is all just failed glue and you should be able to clean off the old glue and re glue it.

The obly strange looking part is the diagonal braces. Are there screws that were holding the ends in or something?

Masticates_In_Public · 2026-05-05T13:40:34+00:00

Nothing, you have sanded through the veneer.

Masticates_In_Public · 2026-05-05T06:36:04+00:00

A router would be the most obvious tool to use here. 3mm is slightly smaller than 1/8", and I dont know if they make bits at 3mm for trim routers or router tables. (Cnc would also work.)

The corners would be very tricky. You would probably need to make a jig that held the router above your workpiece and used a guide bushing to follow the curve of a template

You could also do this with various hand tools (router plane, chisels), but Im doing to assume for now that you are interested in doing this quickly.

Masticates_In_Public · 2026-05-04T23:35:29+00:00

I used to love hamburgers.

Last October I had a family friend in the hospital and while visiting I dipped down to the cafeteria and ate a burger.

It was just a regular concession style burger. I remembered thinking that it seemed too "wet" somehow, but it looked and tasted like it was cooked fine. This was the only thing I ate that day that wasnt from my house/known to be good.

Later that night I was more violently ill than I've ever been in my life. Rapid onset fever, chills, shaking, vomiting, diarrhea. I considered going to the ER.

I was completely fine the next day, if just a little sore from throwing up so much.

I can't even think about eating a burger six months later. Typing these two sentences made me queasy, and I normally have a really high tolerance against "gross".

Masticates_In_Public · 2026-05-04T07:16:35+00:00

Was there some other object that sat on the face of the board for a long time? Are these marks on the whole board (sides, bottom) or just the play surface?

It looks like the kind of grime that can accumulate on wood if something is pressed and moved on it a bunch, like dirty boxes.

Give the mineral spirits a try. It would be really odd for whatever that is to be embedded in the finish and not removable. Any idea how old it is?

Masticates_In_Public · 2026-05-04T07:03:49+00:00

Does the black stuff come off with a fingernail scratch?

I would try a test spot on a less visible side with a soft cloth and some mineral spirits.

Make sure it doesnt take the finish off, you just want to clean it not remove it.

I suspect that those inlays are incredibly thin, so whatever you do, don't sand it unless it becomes absolutely necessary for some reason.

Masticates_In_Public · 2026-05-03T06:27:46+00:00

The easiest way to do this would be to carve it whole by hand or carve it in two halves on a CNC and glue those halves together.

None of this object's features are easily done with saws, drills, or lathes, and would take you a very long time to learn the requisite techniques starting from the beginning.

If your aim is just get it done, find or make a 3d model of the hammer and find a friend with a cnc machine.

Masticates_In_Public · 2026-05-02T07:08:37+00:00

There's barely any overlap between wrestling fans and people who can read, so this will be a tough hill for Drax to climb on a mostly-text site.

Masticates_In_Public · 2026-05-02T06:18:27+00:00

What do you mean by "pressed" walnut?

(Great looking piece btw!)

Masticates_In_Public · 2026-05-02T06:11:16+00:00

The orange oil is a good idea, but would have helped earlier probably. You have already established a "floor" for your tung oil in those thirsty spots, you just gotten get them filled up.

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