Sheet goods storage

Rennie Heuer

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Constantine, MI
In my last shop sheet goods were just leaned up against the wall. All well and good until I actually needed something. Getting to that one partial sheet I needed required a lot of lifting and shuffling and then putting it all back

I decided this shop would would have sheet storage that did not require all that work to get to the piece I needed. I looked at a lot of different designs. Some were more complex, some had storage space for shorts. This design, from Wood magazine, was simple, inexpensive (under $100) and has those little blocks mounted on one side. They support a sheet so you can break it down. In a one man shop with a senior citizen at the helm this is a big plus! If you place a full sheet on these blocks and lean it back against to vertical supports you can clamp a straight edge to the sheet and cut through. You do need to watch your blade depth as there is only about 1/2" clearance to the horizontal brace.

It will hold 5 full sheets of 3/4" material and a lot of small pieces. It was designed to be stored against the wall on the side of the garage door as it is only 18" wide. If you have limited space this is a good thing. Had I given it some thought I might have gone a couple of inches wider. This would give it more capacity and make it a bit less tippy. I don't think that once it is loaded it would easily tip over, but making it a bit wider wouldn't hurt.

Now I can roll the storage over to the overhead door, slide the sheets off the truck and onto the rack and move it to its storage position. When it comes time to break down the sheet I can move the rack out into the shop, slide the full sheet off one side and onto the other to make my cuts.

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Well Rennie you got a nice build there, however, sad to say inmho its not the solution.
I have the same kind of storage and i have found it does not solve the issues you describe. Yes right now with a few bits and pieces fine.
Then you get a few sheets of different thicknesses and types and boom you will find out that getting at the sheet you want is a mission.

I think its Glenn who has the sheet goods style where they stand against a wall with a piece of that uhmw plastic at the bottom to slide the sheets out. The cart would then come in handy to move it around but thats about it in my view. I even spent the money to get serious 6 inch poly metal casters because my previous casters got flat spots on after a while with the weight of the wood.

I think somewhere Glenn did a post on the perceived benefits of these mobile wood storage units and i reluctantly found myself agreeing with him. :(

Ymmv good luck with it.
 
Well Rennie you got a nice build there, however, sad to say inmho its not the solution.
I have the same kind of storage and i have found it does not solve the issues you describe. Yes right now with a few bits and pieces fine.
Then you get a few sheets of different thicknesses and types and boom you will find out that getting at the sheet you want is a mission.

I think its Glenn who has the sheet goods style where they stand against a wall with a piece of that uhmw plastic at the bottom to slide the sheets out. The cart would then come in handy to move it around but thats about it in my view. I even spent the money to get serious 6 inch poly metal casters because my previous casters got flat spots on after a while with the weight of the wood.

I think somewhere Glenn did a post on the perceived benefits of these mobile wood storage units and i reluctantly found myself agreeing with him. :(

Ymmv good luck with it.

If I had the wall space I might have gone with Glenn's solution, I remember reading his post. We'll see how this works. I don't plan on keeping a lot of sheet goods on hand. My newly adopted philosophy is buy only the material you need for the project you are working on. I tend to hoard wood and it gets away from me in a hurry. I don't have a lot of room for hoarding, but it's a hard habit to break. LOL
 
I tend to hoard wood and it gets away from me in a hurry. I don't have a lot of room for hoarding, but it's a hard habit to break. LOL

So say we all.

The best thing I did with a similar cart is that its just the right size to store my pallet jack (don't ask...) under one end. That made moving it.. possible.. sort of.. mostly..
 
I like the design, Rennie. To me, it looks like it will be workable as long as you stick to the plan of not stocking more sheet goods than you need for the immediate project. Sure beats the sheet goods storage I had at my last house (leaning against the garage wall, outside under the eaves of the building).
 
I like that as well, and it should serve well for the use you described. I'm considering how to store sheets in the shop I'll have, I'll have to keep this cart in mind.
 
I like that as well, and it should serve well for the use you described.

I like the design, Rennie. To me, it looks like it will be workable as long as you stick to the plan of not stocking more sheet goods than you need for the immediate project.

So say we all.

The best thing I did with a similar cart is that its just the right size to store my pallet jack (don't ask...) under one end. That made moving it.. possible.. sort of.. mostly..

I have a couple of projects for the house coming up that will use sheet goods, but outside of that I tend to use solid lumber in most things I like to build. I may turn out to be wrong, but I think this will fit my needs. Regardless, full sheets don't last long and I tend to wind up with a lot of pieces that are "just tool large to toss out". This rack seems to allow for storage of many such orphans.
 
like the break down idea but i prefer the vertical storage i have, and it takes less floor space and the clamps use one side,,

I like the vertical storage as well, but don't have the ceiling height to accommodate it. I have just 8' below the lights, less than that beneath the dust collection.
 
I tend to wind up with a lot of pieces that are "just tool large to toss out".

That is in keeping with my philosophy that there is no such thing as scrap wood. You have seen my shop, piles of 'stuff' everywhere. :rolleyes:
But, I like your rack. It is one of those "why didn't I think of that" ideas. :thumb:
 
It looks great and would be perfect for organizing the sheets. Furthermore, with the added wheels, the whole storage rack would be made mobile which makes the whole storage system even more user-friendly and efficient. You will definitely be saving a lot of time and effort on this one for your future projects to come.
 
Looking at your sheet storage unit thing, I'm actually thinking that we should somehow collaborate and get the whole workshop nicely down up in a way that we have a right and proper place for all the different tools and equipment that one might have inside. My goal is seriously to eventually have it as nicely organized as a hardware store. If I can ever find the time off work to get around to it! Haha!
 
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