Storing Plywood

Morning folks:

Is it okay to store it on it's (long) side? Or does it have to be flat? I've read conflicting opinions.....what are the opinions here? I'd hate for it to get wonky but I hate the 4' X 8' footprint too....

Thanks all

Long side or short side are fine. Get it as close to vertical as you can, which will help avoid bowing. NONE of us have the space to store it flat, Cynthia.

But seriously, as a hobbiest, I find the best place to store my plywood is in the store. Let them store it nice and flat. I'll sort through and pick out the piece I want when I actually need it. That way I never have to find space in my shop for anything but shorts and offcuts of plywood. (and that already takes up enough space!)

I store mine on it's long side. Build a simple rack on wheels. Has a tilt of about 15 degrees if I remember right. Regardless, stuff will still bow after a month or so. Probably the humidity here that does it.

I don't use much in the way of sheet goods. I do have a raised platform about 15" x 48" (to keep the moisture from wicking up from the slab) behind a cutoff bin. the sheets stand on the short side and are packed tightly in a near vertical position. I lean the stack forward against the cutoff bin and slide the piece I am after out the side and store the shorter pieces in front.

I'm with Art. Buy as needed. Besides, who can afford to buy a lot at once?

Well, Frank, I have to drive more than 200 miles round trip for non-borg plywood. I tend to make a small investment when I shop.

I store them vertically.

I've tended to buy extra when I see a good price on stuff and store it.

When I lived closer to the stores, It seemed like somedays I would have to make multiple trips to the hardware store to get stuff for projects. Now I like to make lists and try to get everything I need at once. A round trip to the store takes a minimum of 1.5 hours, assuming I spend about 20 minutes shopping. Just hate to waste the time when i could have stuff on hand.

Storing on end should be fine, but will depend on the humidity and the quality of the product. I've bough stuff from the borg stores that wouldn't stay straight even in the best humidity.

I used to have a rack like Steve described also for horizontal storage. Mine was a little wider and had short cut-off storage boxes on the back side for stuff that 4' or less in length (will try to find pics). The one thing that will mess up a shop in a hurry is cut-offs, they can easily fill up the top of every workbench and tool in your shop. Keeping them stored properly and organized can save you time and help you find the right size piece instead of cutting one from a fresh full board.

Plywood storage

Hi Cynthia,

Here is a SketchUp of what I made. One side is for full sheets of plywood standing on the 8 ft side, leaning against a flat surface at a slight tilt. The full sheets go on the left side. The right side has a place for ply, etc. cut-offs at the bottom. The "arms" that start half-way up are to hold the longer, skinnier, stuff like 2x4 pieces of ebony. The flat top, supported by the angle irons holds whatever...lumber, doors, you name it.

I have never done this before; now is the time for a silent prayer...Here comes the pic.

Enjoy,

Jim

OK it says my pic is too big. It is 74kb. However, it is also 958x668. I will send it soon as I can figure how to reduce a SketchUp drawing.

I store mine vertically, and stock up when I can.

Just yesterday, I found a deal on ¾" baltic birch at $44.35 per sheet, so bought three sheets. Price was over $60 a few months ago, so the $44.35 was a realy good deal.

Don't know what it'll get used for yet - but it will get used. I was down to my last few scrap-sized pieces.