Wall-Mounted Tool Cabinet

Rabbet the sides to receive the top and bottom, glue and screw. Rabbet the back edge for the 1/2" back panel.

Glue and screw the back in — it squares the case and it's what the cabinet cleat screws into. Check the diagonals.

Tilt the table saw blade to 45°. Rip both cleat pieces without changing the setting.

One setup guarantees the two bevels mate perfectly. Cut them separately and you'll get 44° and 46°, and the cabinet will hang with a gap at the top.

Screw the cabinet's cleat to the back panel, near the top, bevel pointing down and toward the wall, so it hooks over the wall cleat.

Use plenty of screws into the back and into the carcass sides. Everything the cabinet weighs passes through this joint.

Each door is a shallow frame — a plywood panel with a 3" lip around it — so it can hold tools on its inside face.

This effectively doubles your storage. Doors that are just flat panels are a wasted opportunity.

Piano hinge each door to the carcass sides. Test the swing before you load anything — a loaded door is heavy, and a hinge that binds empty will tear out full.

Add magnetic catches.

Find your studs. Lag the wall cleat into at least two of them, bevel pointing up and toward the wall. Level it carefully — the cabinet hangs exactly as level as this strip.

Drywall anchors are not an option here. A loaded tool cabinet is 60+ lbs and it will come off the wall.

Lift the cabinet and drop it onto the cleat. It self-aligns and locks under its own weight. This is the satisfying moment.

Now lay your actual tools on the shelves and doors, shuffle them until the arrangement makes sense, and then build the holders — sawn kerfs for chisels, dowels for saws, blocks for planes.

Building holders before you've arranged the tools is how you end up with a beautiful cabinet that doesn't fit your tools.