the Argobuilder; Craftsmanship, Adventure, Enjoying Life!
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      • 3D Printed Object Gallery
  • Tales of Adventure
    • Sailing from Door County to the UP Michigan
    • Sailing Northern Door County
    • Sailing Lake Superior Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
    • Sailing Lake Huron: St.Ignace, Mackinac Island, Les Cheneaux Islands, St Martin Islands
    • From Manitowoc to Algoma and back on a small boat, 2017
    • Sailing around Chambers Island Door County Wisconsin

Wooden Cleats: Beautiful and Functional

Making wooden cleats is very simple, enjoyable and rewarding.
​
Below are illustrated steps and drawings to make:
- Classic 3" horned cleat
- Jam cleat
- 5" Palo Santo horned cleat (shown in photo above)

Wooden Cleats
Finished 5" Wooden Cleat
Wooden cleats look classic and feature higher friction than metal cleats. They are straight forward, and rewarding, to make. I will be using the 3" wooden cleats below on the SCAMP reefing lines on the boom. The jam cleats will be mounted on the tiller, for the rudder uphaul and downhaul lines. The 5" Palo Santo cleats will be used for the mainsheet. I will be using some bronze cleats for the deck-mounted cleats on the SCAMP.
  • The drawing below is based on the design for wooden cleats from Hervey Garrett Smith's fine book "The Arts of the Sailor" (Sketch below is a scaled down version of the 8" cleat in his book). The 3" cleat below is sized to work with 3/16" reefing lines.
  • Saw the rough blank from suitable tight-straight-grained, knot-free wood. Hardwood is recommended, and they say Lignum Vitae and Locust are best. I used Mahagony. The grain must run the long way along the cleat.
  • Draw the cleat onto the rough blank. Drill holes to form the tight curves at the base of the horns.
  • Use a bandsaw to rough-out the shape of the cleat
  • Use chisels, rasps, sandpaper, carving tools/knives to shape the cleat
  • Drill mounting holes with a drill press
  • Finish with oil
Picture
Wooden Cleat Drawing
Picture
Picture
Picture
carving wooden boat cleat
Narrowing the horns of the cleat and leaving the base wider.
Making wooden cleat
Handmade wooden cleat
Sanded cleat, unfinished
Wooden boat cleat
Finished cleat, tung-oiled

Making Wooden Jam Cleats

I made these cleats to work with 3/16" rudder uphaul and downhaul lines, and they will be mounted to the tiller of the SCAMP sailboat that I am building. I did not start with a drawing for these, I just sketched what I thought they should look like onto the wood and made them. Suffice it to say that the overall size and horns should seem scaled to the rope that they will be used with, and the long "jam" end horn should have a shallow angle, should be relatively long when compared with the other horn, and should have a gap between it and the mounting surface that is less then the diameter of the rope you will be using....the compression of the rope between this horn and the mounting surface is what makes this a jam cleat.
Making wooden jam cleat
Started with a 3/4" thick x 1 1/2" wide piece of mahagony. I drew the shape of the cleat on the 3/4" edge and cut it out on the bandsaw. I will get two cleats from this piece.
Picture
Sketched a somewhat tear-drop shape onto the top of the cleat, and cut to shape using the bandsaw
carving wooden jam cleat
Next I carved the cleat with a sharp scalpel.
Picture
Then I sanded and filed them, drilled the mounting holes, and tung-oiled them. The tightest spot under the jam side (the right side of the base in the photo above), is smaller than the diameter of the rope intended for use on the cleat. This cleat will be used with 3/16" rope, so the jam opening narrows to an opening height of 1/8".
Handmade wooden jam cleats
Here are the jam cleats installed on the underside of my SCAMP Tiller
Picture

5" Palo Santo Cleat

  • The drawing below is based on the design for wooden cleats from Hervey Garrett Smith's fine book "The Arts of the Sailor" (Sketch below is a scaled down version of the 8" cleat in his book).
  • Saw the rough blank from suitable tight-straight-grained, knot-free wood.  Hardwood is recommended, and they say Lignum Vitae and Locust are best.   It seems that responsibly harvested Lignum Vitae is not readily available, so I will use the very similar and very special wood called Palo Santo translated as "Holy Wood", and often called Argentine Lignum Vitae.  I purchased mine in blanks from Rockler.  The grain must run the long way along the cleat.
  • Draw the cleat onto the rough blank. Drill holes to form the tight curves as the base of the horns.
  • Use a bandsaw to rough-out the shape of the cleat
  • Use chisels, rasps, sandpaper, carving tools/knives to shape the cleat
  • Drill mounting holes with a drill press
  • Finish with oil
Picture
Palo Santo, as received from Rockler. Ends of the piece are dipped in wax. Man, this wood is dense.
Picture
Two, 15/16" square x 5" long Palo Santo blanks
Picture
Tracing the profile on the blank
Picture
Drill press used to create rounded inner curve of the horns
Picture
After rough cutout on the bandsaw
Picture
Narrowing the horns with a chisel to leave a wider flange at the base
Picture
Rough carved Palo Sano cleat
Picture
Using a rasp to shape the cleat
Picture
5" Cleats, after carving filing and sanding
Palo Santo Wooden Cleats
Completed, tung-oiled, Palo Santo Wooden Cleats
Copyright 2016 - 2024 www.argobuilder.com ALL photos and writing are copyrighted by Jason W Talbot of Wisconsin USA as of the date on the top header section of each page, unless credit is given to others. Contact [email protected] to request permission to use any writing or images from this site. Thanks. Use the information at your own risk, please ​make safety your first priority, the author does not claim responsibility for the accuracy ​or inaccuracy of any information on this site
  • Home
  • The Shipyard
    • Building SCAMP "ARGO"
    • Compac 16 Pilothouse
    • Building a Kaholo SUP
    • Making a SUP Paddle
    • Ships' Provisions
    • True Seafaring Tales: Book Reviews
    • Nautical Fiction: Book Reviews
    • Seafaring and Boat Building Reference Books
  • The Woods of Arcady
    • Wisconsin Mushroom Hunting
    • Wisconsin Wildflower Photo Gallery
    • Making Apple Cider
    • Making Maple Syrup
    • Building a Stone Arch
    • Making Traditional Wooden Skis
  • The Homestead
    • The Warp and Weft >
      • Making a Large Tapestry Loom
      • Making a Small Hand Loom
      • Weaving Projects for Small Hand Loom
      • Beautiful Handmade Tapestry Beaters
    • The Merry Blacksmith
    • Making Cheese
    • Wooden Cheese Boxes
    • How to Make Pickled Pike
    • Wisconsin Bluegill Fry
    • Making Wooden Spoons by Hand
    • Handmade Wooden Dustpans
    • Making Broom-Corn Brooms
    • Making Horsehair Brushes and Brooms
  • The Muse
    • Poetry
    • Building a Martin Style Backpacker Guitar
    • Making an Alphorn
    • 3D Printed Alphorn
    • Making an Alphorn Bag
    • Alphorn Gallery
    • Viking Lur
    • Antique Typewriters >
      • Underwood Standard Portable 3 Bank Typewriter
      • Corona 3 Folder Typewriter Refurbishment
      • Typewriter Platen Replacement
      • Design of Rubber Parts for Antique Typewriters
  • The Model Maker
    • Making a booknook
    • Krick Alexandra Steam Launch >
      • Assembling Miniature Steam Model Clyde Oscillating Steam Engine
    • Ship Model FD 10 Arnanes Fishing Smack Johanna
    • Artesania Latina, Cargo Ship "Capri"
    • Building a Ship in a Bottle
    • Model of a Disney Water Taxi
    • BlueJacket Optimist Sailboat Model
    • Oseberg Viking Ship Model
    • Paddle to the Sea Model
    • Making a Cuckoo Clock
    • 3D Print Workshop >
      • 3D Printed Object Gallery
  • Tales of Adventure
    • Sailing from Door County to the UP Michigan
    • Sailing Northern Door County
    • Sailing Lake Superior Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
    • Sailing Lake Huron: St.Ignace, Mackinac Island, Les Cheneaux Islands, St Martin Islands
    • From Manitowoc to Algoma and back on a small boat, 2017
    • Sailing around Chambers Island Door County Wisconsin