Wood racks/storage ideas wanted

Jeff Horton

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Location
The Heart of Dixie
I have been rearranging my shop since I built it. Pretty happy overall with what I have but I have one sore spot left. It is largely taken up by my wood rack. I have some old grocery store shelves that serve the purpose but take up a lot of space. One thing I keep looking at is that I have a lot of space up on the wall. I have almost 9" ceilings in my shop and all around the shop this space is not being used.

So, I am thinking about building racks up on the wall around the shop to free up the space. It will be a bit inconvenient at times but I can trade that for floor space. So, I am looking for some good ideas. I don't have a lot of money to spend on this so I am looking for something I can build. First thought it 2x's attached to the wall with black pipe for racks. I have seen that before. But I know we have some creative people and thought someone might have a cleaver idea that would share.
 
If you have the wall space, that vertical rack looks OK. When you said up high, I immediately thought of the safety factor. Raising and lowering heavy boards while standing on ladder or stool can be dangerous.
 
Good point Frank. I have a steep stool/ladder that is very stable and wouldn't be to bad. Nothing like my ladders I use on the job. But you bring up a good point.

I really like the idea I found for vertical storage. I see 2 or 3 of those holding a LOT of lumber. Even works for the short stuff too. I need to do some measuring but this looks promising.
 
Hi Jeff,

The black pipe racks can be relatively inexpensive and provide alot of flexibility. This only took a day to construct and is perfect for my small shop, the pipes can be added and removed depending on my current wood load and shop floor space requirements. Thats 4 x 4 timber posts with 1 5/16" OD pipe. The important thing with a pipe rack is getting all the holes lined up and drilled to exactly the same angle (approx 4 degrees).

Best,
Wayne

RackFronton.jpg


RackLeftSide.jpg
 
My next shop will have horizontal shelving like Wayne's, with a shelf for each species and the ability to hold everything from 1 foot "scraps" to 12 foot or longer pieces when I am lucky enough to get long boards in a shipment.

I have vertical storage currently, but it contributes to warpage, doesn't do a good job mixing long and short pieces, and anything 10 feet and over is a problem. I currently can't use my power feeder :( because I had to store 100 bf of 12 foot boards on the floor (on stickers) in front of the feeder cart. Eventually some will be moved to the attic, probably the most inconvenient storage place on the planet :mad:
 
Wayne, great looking shop, and your rack looks good too.

I built my rack over the SCMS station, not the best thing, but it does work.

Good luck Jeff, storage is always a tough one.

Cheers!
 
Keep them coming! Giving me some ideas here.

I am starting to think there is no one answer and a combination may be my answer. I have a large space above my RAS and the out feeds that is wasted space. A couple of shelves up there would be a good since I can stand on the outfeed tables and access it.

I love your rolling cart idea Bob. but I still want to free up floor space so I am not sure that is better than what I have. But a rolling cart with Vertical storage for shorts might be nice.

Charles I am lucky to find anything longer than 8' so height it not a major issue. I am still leaning toward vertical storarge. At least for cut offs.

One thing I just though of is I have to deal with Concrete block walls. What ever I do will have to attach to the walls and while I doubt a loaded wood rack would be a problem for it, it is something that must be attached properly to to the wall to distribute the load. Especially attaching an overhead rack where the supports can't rest on the floor.
 
Wayne's pictures demonstrate exactly what I had in mind when I made the "dangerous" comment. Ye young fellas probably don't realize that things don't stay the same with yer body forever. I note that, hefty looking, 2-by on the top rungs of Wayne's rack. Several years ago I tore up my right shoulder and now, in certain positions, don't have 2 pounds of lifting strength. Had to give up pistol shooting, just can't hold one on target. I couldn't safely get that board up there, or worse, safely get it down again as I would drop the right side. A heavy board full of splinters smacking yer face just isn't the workshop experience you want, I'm sure. Do take the aging/injury factors into consideration when designing anything.
 
I like lumber stored vertical. It is easeir to sort thru it and if done right wont couse problems with the lumber sagging. Just put a few uprights on the wall cut at a low angle and add cross braces to lean the boards across.
 
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