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Shorts Storage build

Ryan Mooney said:
I'd second GOOD casters, that sucker is HEAVY.The other gotcha with the A frame rack setup is getting to the pieces in the ends, the one end faces into the room the other end I have (almost) against a wall so you have to pull it out to get at those pieces.

For the bench cart my main concern would be how to lock it in place.
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larry merlau said:
like jans idea rennie but make sure you can see the pieces and get access to them on the side needed or you will just be filling space and not using the shorts on the next project.
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Rob Keeble said:
Rennie this issue invaded my space recently after I purchased what was a whole cherry tree that had been cut and air dried. BTW never do that.

I think its a really neat solution and you can make the shorts bins suite your needs.

Just one thing if anyone does this, don't skimp on the castors. I used 6 off 3 inch cheapo Chinese rubber and I got to change them out. When full as the rack is now, it would not move on concrete floor.
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Al Launier said:
Tres Cool! And when that one gets full?
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I have some 4" casters that I had under a previous lumber cart that held a lot more than this. They were pricey, but did the job. They also locked pretty well.

The open end of the storage unit faces into the shop next to my drill press. Should be easy access. Sheet good storage will be twofold, Large against the wall and the bench will go up against them, and I/m thinking of a shallow storage area on the back of the bench for smaller sheet goods. Not sure yet.
 
I built a big (no, huge) rolling bin with compartments for various length "shorts." I wish I had not done it... it collects wood that I never remember to use, and takes way too much shop space.

I use a 5 gallon bucket (empty lacquer cans) for each species. When I am doing a cherry project, the cherry bucket comes to the active area of the shop, both for offering small pieces and for receiving scraps. If it doesn't fit in the bucket, something is discarded. Not pretty, not perfect, but it is the best system I have found so far. Buckets for oak, maple, sipo (mahogany), walnut, pecan, cherry, and even plywood.

I also have a small trash can for other "scraps" - if I had a wood fireplace, this would be kindling, but it is free to people who occasionally ask me for wood for inlays, etc. It also gets used for test cuts, etc.
 
like Charlie mentioned, if I store shorts anywhere, I usually forget I have them.
My solution, is just laying all the short pieces of one species, lets say cherry, on top of all the long boards of cherry. when I need wood, I have to move a lot, a bit time consuming, but time is what I have plenty of, space is what I have little of.
This way, I can go through the shorts, pull out the ones I can use for frames, etc.

carts and racks just take up too much floor space, and then I have to push them around constantly, every time I need to use another machine, they just block paths or access, so I did away with all my storage racks or carts.
 
Rennie, I should have complimented you. Those are really very neat and handy storage units. I'm sure they make work move faster and easier. BTW, I am not a total disorganized mess. I have quite a bit of wood neatly stacked and sticked in my garage.
 
I'm with Allen on this one. If they are worth saving then that means they are large enough to stay on the lumber rack with their bigger brothers. If not then they go to the burn barrel when the project is complete.

My hoarding days are over and quite frankly the stuff does grow on trees!
 
Looking good Rennie. I have a rolling work surface with drawers that has been an integral part of how I work for about 9 years. I imagine you will find your additional work-surface / storage to be just as valuable. I often go to my shorts storage for items but, I think that is because I can often find (or find I don't have) what I am looking fairly quickly.

If I had to paw through a pile, I wouldn't bother and the stuff should just go. As a matter of fact, this is sort of self limiting for me. If I find myself frustrated by having to dig through things, a large portion of those things quickly find their way to the dumper. I mean, how many 1" x 12" x 3/8"-ish scraps of maple do I really need? Two will do, the rest return to the great circle of life :D.

Like Charlie and others though, the stuff in the cubbies I built for really small stuff does not come in near so handy. It is just too small or too specialized so . . . I think my dad is about to get a lot of really nice kindling and I'll get back 4 square feet of wallspace.
 
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How do you store your shorts?

Okay. I have been through the pile, culled out what I really don't need, and separated the rest by size. To the left are the pieces longer than 2 foot shorter than 3 feet. To the right 2 feet and under. Over 3 feet goes on the wall rack.

With everything sorted out and sized I now believe a cart would be a good idea and it would not be overloaded.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1372434726.538243.jpg
 
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I know you have a height figured for your cart but take a moment and think carefully about it. Is there some power tool you use that you need infeed or out feed for. If so I would see about making it that height.

When I redid the cabinets in ymshop I made sure everything was at the same height as my table saw. I no longer have to worry about infeed or out feed support or something too tall being in the way.
 
Very good advice. I actually cut the legs down on my workbench to make sure I could use it as infeed support for my table saw, which is important, since I don't have much space to wheel it around.
 
Alot of people don't think about that and next thing you know they feel like they have no room in their shop. I got my inspiration from that 2 part you tube video about Tymes dustlees work shop.

It was the best thing I ever did and came in very handy on a paying job I was working on that was made out of 8/4 and 10/4 material 6" to 8" wide and 16' foot long. I had all the carts loaded with materials and needed in feed support for the table saw so I pulled my band saw over and viola I was good to go!

My table saw to SCMS mobile stand.
IMG_20130628_151644.jpg

SCMS to surface planer
IMG_20130628_151657.jpg

Surface planer to work bench
IMG_20130628_151857.jpg

Work bench to table saw out feed table
IMG_20130628_151709.jpg

Out feed table to band saw
IMG_20130628_151725.jpg

Out feed table to my mobile cart with finishing supplies
IMG_20130628_151755.jpg

Finishing supply cart to the mechanics tool chest I made
IMG_20130628_151808.jpg

And finally my table saw to my other mobile cart
IMG_20130628_151921.jpg
 
Alan Bienlein said:
I know you have a height figured for your cart but take a moment and think carefully about it. Is there some power tool you use that you need infeed or out feed for. If so I would see about making it that height.

When I redid the cabinets in ymshop I made sure everything was at the same height as my table saw. I no longer have to worry about infeed or out feed support or something too tall being in the way.
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Alan is a rocket scientist. Excellent advice. I love it when a tool or work surface can also be a "shop helper" :).
 
Alan Bienlein said:
Alot of people don't think about that and next thing you know they feel like they have no room in their shop. I got my inspiration from that 2 part you tube video about Tymes dustlees work shop.

It was the best thing I ever did and came in very handy on a paying job I was working on that was made out of 8/4 and 10/4 material 6" to 8" wide and 16' foot long. I had all the carts loaded with materials and needed in feed support for the table saw so I pulled my band saw over and viola I was good to go!

My table saw to SCMS mobile stand.
View attachment 76716

SCMS to surface planer
View attachment 76717

Surface planer to work bench
View attachment 76718

Work bench to table saw out feed table
View attachment 76719

Out feed table to band saw
View attachment 76720

Out feed table to my mobile cart with finishing supplies
View attachment 76721

Finishing supply cart to the mechanics tool chest I made
View attachment 76722

And finally my table saw to my other mobile cart
View attachment 76723
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I'm doing the same type of setup at 36 inches

What height did you decide upon for your work surfaces?
 
I finally made a rolling outfeed table to double as a work surface, but I always have too much on it when I need the outfeed surface.

ya know when you go into lowes or hd, they have the lumber carts lined up in the lumber aisle, Id love to have 5 or 6 work benches, all same height for outfeed, lined up waiting to use in my shop.
I need another 250 sq ft of floor space.
 
Alan Bienlein said:
I adjusted everything to the table saw. If I remember correctly that was 36-1/2".
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Thanks Alan,
My table saw was 36.5 as well I made a custom base for the table saw and made it 36.00 I figured that kitchen counters are 36 inches, so if I come across some used kitchen cabinets I can use them as workbench's
 
allen levine said:
I finally made a rolling outfeed table to double as a work surface, but I always have too much on it when I need the outfeed surface.

ya know when you go into lowes or hd, they have the lumber carts lined up in the lumber aisle, Id love to have 5 or 6 work benches, all same height for outfeed, lined up waiting to use in my shop.
I need another 250 sq ft of floor space.
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Trust me. If you can't keep one work surface clean, having more won't necessarily make them "available". when you need them. DAMHIKT :D. I am gearing up for another big shop purge. When I get to the point that I turn around to put something in its place and there isn't one for it, something's gotta give :gonnagetit:. Having to move things off of a tool in order to use it make me insane :crazy:. Mid-project (like now) is the worst because there are a lot of items in play. Cutoffs stack up, extras of parts that are used for measuring or joinery setups pile up, sometimes I even leave tools on the bench when I quit for the night . . . that's when you know things have reached terminal velocity :rofl:.
 
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So.. I was thinking I should add that although I have a ruinous collection of shorts (people with large collections of cut offs shouldn't throw matches?) my ongoing strategy has been to largely eliminate them (its taking a while).

I think that long term the best strategy for storing shorts is to try and turn them into something "useful" (or at least something vaguely nice enough that people feel like the have to accept it if you give it to them :D) as quickly as possible. I turned ~20 short pieces of oak into the wooden eyes for the rope barrier project (got up to 50 eyes/evening) and the narrower cut offs that were wide enough have been getting made into hammer handles for re-handling some old hammers as quickly as I can. The stuff to narrow for a hammer handle is being put into the kindling pile.
 
OK - Changed the name of the thread because (unless Jan finds another 'must have' project) this will be next. :saythat:

Thanks for all the input so far. As always, loads of good advice!

I've decided NOT to build this to match the table saw height as I just don't see ever moving this behemoth from its place along the wall out into the middle of the shop as a support structure. It's a sound idea, just not for this cabinet. Rather, I'm giving serious consideration to making it high enough to be at a comfortable working height for my grinder, Worksharp, and mortiser. I would store them in drawers on bases that would fit and lock into a detent in the top kind of like what Norm has done HERE. This would move the mortiser off 1/2 of my flip top DSCN0873T.jpg (very old picture) and allow me to move my oscillating spindle sander into that position. That sander is getting way too heavy to lift from its current home under the workbench. I'm still working out details so your input is, as always, welcome.

Stoarage 2a.jpgStoarage 2b.jpg
 
I must have failed to submit my post a few days ago. The "bin" you show the mortiser in is similar to the bins I had in a rolling work table:

Rolling-Table-drawers.jpg . Shop Tour 2011-10-19 (43).jpg

The pullout bins worked great and are still in service down at dear old dad's. It was really hard for me to give that unit up but, I had to re-org the shop a bit and something had to give. My point is that they are a good solution and I think you will be happy with them.
 
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