TV wall mounting - ever considered a French cleat

[masraum]

There are a ton of mounting solutions out there, and the big-A has a ton of cheap Chinese solutions. I'm just wondering if a French Cleat wouldn't be a simple possibility. I probably won't go that way, but I also don't want/love the idea of throwing money at China for something so simple and cheap.

[SamC.]

I have used French cleats on occasion and have never had issues. The critical nodes are proper size/rating of mounting bolts and framing structure which must be sufficient to handle the load.

I have also made (fabricated) my own French cleats out of extremely dense hardwood ( Brazilian Walnut). Framed mirrors ( large & heavy) and framed art - also heavy. I milled the walnut on the Porter Cable table saw, low & slow cutting, but it turned out precisely as needed. Same principles apply for metal work. Useful I hope.

[herr_oberst]

I think a french cleat would be a great solution; I use them a lot and they hold a ton of weight.

The only thing is, you'll still have to buy hardware, so you'll need some (most likely) M10 or M12 bolts for the TV, then some lags for the wall studs, and all the washers. At my little hardware store down the street, just those could add up to the cost of a chinesium bracket. (Convenience has a price)

So, are you really saving anything after your time is invested, and will the final product be any better?

[A930Rocket]

French cleats are good. My only thought is spacing between the wall and the TV for the outlet, HDMI, etc, unless they are recessed somehow.

[1990C4S]

^^^ What he said.

Plus you may need to be creative to get the tilt angle you want...

[masraum]

I went ahead and ordered a mount from the big-A. The more that I thought about it, the more it didn't make sense.

But, we're going for minimal standoff from the wall (the mount that I ordered is 1.1" deep). No tilt is needed. Yes, the outlet is in a recessed box, and none of the TV cabling will interfere.

I don't think it would be too hard to do and have work well, but it just doesn't make sense.

[Pazuzu]

The problem isn't whether a french cleat can hold the TV, it's whether the TV can hold a french cleat.

The TV has a VESA mount. If you ever opened up a modern TV, they're made of 4 things...air, LED screen, circuit board, and a skeleton holding everything in place using the VESA mount. There's just nothing to a TV now that can support it's own weight EXCEPT for those 4 reasonably strong screw holes. So, you need a VESA frame to connect to the TV, then tie THAT to a french cleat, and you've now made something too thick to be useful.

[70SATMan]

The simple mount we bought for our tv is actually a type of French cleat. That’s how it hangs on the wall mounted section. Plus, it sits just off the wall and has enough room for the whole bottom to tilt out allowing small spacers to drop down which braces against the wall. This gives just enough room for cable connections. When the spacers are folded back up, the TV bottom swings back down toward the wall and then clocks back in place.

However, it’s strictly a flush mount. No tilt or pivot.

[Scott Douglas]

I used French cleats to hang the barn quilts I made for my wife on our fence. They haven't blown off in any of the wind storms we've had since I hung them up.

[David Inc.]

There are TV mounts available that are essentially french cleats with a locking mechanism. I have one in my bedroom where there weren't studs where there should have been and we needed to use drywall only mounting (I think there was a relocated opening in the past that wasn't reframed or something).

I didn't recognize it as something of a french cleat until just now.

Something like this: https://www.echogear.com/tv-mounts/no-stud-tv-wall-mount-low-profile-design-for-tvs-up-to-77-egld1/?srsltid=AfmBOopL6jDFGMf8UtY4qdg_HgZTnZCjg27WWo04W ASWzpmtBOF0QA3n

Yeah sounds like 70SATMan has something like this.

Edit: I wouldn't want to mount a TV to something that didn't have some sort of positive locking mechanism.

[craigster59]

I just mounted a 65" TV and my Son had this bracket. TV was a Samsung which uses 8M x 50mm bolts.

This mount was great as you could easily adjust angle and lifting TV onto bracket the lower mechanism just snaps right into place.

https://www.amazon.com/Mounting-Dream-600x400mm-Capacity-MD2268-LK/dp/B00NKYYMAW/ref=pd_lpo_d_sccl_2/141-1614198-0464146?pd_rd_w=12XGw&content-id=amzn1.sym.4c8c52db-06f8-4e42-8e56-912796f2ea6c&pf_rd_p=4c8c52db-06f8-4e42-8e56-912796f2ea6c&pf_rd_r=JSGCG2P85237Z6VKTWN2&pd_rd_wg=4jkqH&pd_rd_r=abf90ca7-5d6b-45d1-b583-5c1ea725059e&pd_rd_i=B00NKYYMAW&psc=1

[masraum]

Originally Posted by 70SATMan

The simple mount we bought for our tv is actually a type of French cleat. That’s how it hangs on the wall mounted section. Plus, it sits just off the wall and has enough room for the whole bottom to tilt out allowing small spacers to drop down which braces against the wall. This gives just enough room for cable connections. When the spacers are folded back up, the TV bottom swings back down toward the wall and then clocks back in place.

However, it’s strictly a flush mount. No tilt or pivot.

that sounds like it's basically the same as what I ordered.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by craigster59

I just mounted a 65" TV and my Son had this bracket. TV was a Samsung which uses 8M x 50mm bolts.

This mount was great as you could easily adjust angle and lifting TV onto bracket the lower mechanism just snaps right into place.

https://www.amazon.com/Mounting-Dream-600x400mm-Capacity-MD2268-LK/dp/B00NKYYMAW/ref=pd_lpo_d_sccl_2/141-1614198-0464146?pd_rd_w=12XGw&content-id=amzn1.sym.4c8c52db-06f8-4e42-8e56-912796f2ea6c&pf_rd_p=4c8c52db-06f8-4e42-8e56-912796f2ea6c&pf_rd_r=JSGCG2P85237Z6VKTWN2&pd_rd_wg=4jkqH&pd_rd_r=abf90ca7-5d6b-45d1-b583-5c1ea725059e&pd_rd_i=B00NKYYMAW&psc=1

I ordered the non-tilting version of that mount, same brand.

[70SATMan]

I recently finished this little project and hung it with a long aluminum French cleat. The wood is from my mother’s 100 plus year old family barn back in Illinois. Still has some red tint paint deep in the grain.

I paired it with ‘20s era coat hooks that I bought at a little antique store outside Armidale, New South Wales about 20 yrs ago. The key hooks are part of old window locks. Those came off widows we salvaged from a 1900s houseboat in Lakeport, CA. That houseboat was from my wife’s family heritage. It spent many years pulled behind a lake dredging barge and that was the family business on the lake. When they retired, they pulled the boat up on land, set it on a brick foundation and voila! A house… It was added to over the years with my Wife’s Aunt living there but, finally it needed to be removed.. We have all of the original houseboat windows, small hand made closet doors and the big bilge hatch. All made out of redwood..

A bit off the TV tangent but, related and wanted to show it off.

[herr_oberst]

Originally Posted by 70SATMan

A bit off the TV tangent but, related and wanted to show it off.

As well you should! A very tasteful accent.

[gregpark]

Made my own French cleats for several TVs. This one is holding up a 75"

[70SATMan]

Originally Posted by herr_oberst

As well you should! A very tasteful accent.

Thanks! Years ago, the first thing I made with the barn wood was a shelf. I paired it with a late 1800s, early 1900s stained glass window from a local Santa Cruz house. It’s a small arched dormer wood window that I refurbished leaving a bit of the original exterior paint patina and I reglazed all of the stained glass to tighten it back up. The interior side of the window still has its lock hardware and now crackled varnish. Another kind of East meets West (wife and I) idea.

I love repurposing mundane items like that to create a new use for them.

It’s heavy enough that it hangs with a pair of offset hanger wires. No French cleat,

[70SATMan]

Originally Posted by gregpark

Made my own French cleats for several TVs. This one is holding up a 75"

Nice!
If I could, I’d French cleat all of my art on the walls.. overkill but, it assures a level frame. No tilting of pictures from the occasional earthquake.

[David]

TV brackets are so good and variable these days it's not worth reinventing the wheel. I do like a french cleat tho and that's how my mantle shelf is held up. Of course I have the luxury (or misfortune) of working in a machine shop so fabricating one is pretty easy for me.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by 70SATMan

I recently finished this little project and hung it with a long aluminum French cleat. The wood is from my mother’s 100 plus year old family barn back in Illinois. Still has some red tint paint deep in the grain.

I paired it with ‘20s era coat hooks that I bought at a little antique store outside Armidale, New South Wales about 20 yrs ago. The key hooks are part of old window locks. Those came off widows we salvaged from a 1900s houseboat in Lakeport, CA. That houseboat was from my wife’s family heritage. It spent many years pulled behind a lake dredging barge and that was the family business on the lake. When they retired, they pulled the boat up on land, set it on a brick foundation and voila! A house… It was added to over the years with my Wife’s Aunt living there but, finally it needed to be removed.. We have all of the original houseboat windows, small hand made closet doors and the big bilge hatch. All made out of redwood..

A bit off the TV tangent but, related and wanted to show it off.

Very cool rack and story. This is my thread and I approve!