simple, cheap lumber rack

[Gerald Ross]

But I like Viola better. And she happens to be American. But she is probably to old for you.

[Larry Jaques]

You're right. The Irenes, Ednas, and Violas are all too old for me. That Virginia Pippalini (Pipeline) gal is too aggressive for me.

-- Most powerful is he who has himself in his own power. -- Seneca

[dpb]

...

One thought came overnight...while I'd have no qualms as far as failure given the loading you're talking of as noted; you might find they will sag some with time if loaded near rating.

For that reason you might want to consider upping the number either by filling in more in the same length (altho I'm presuming you were thinking of only using existing wall studs so that would take more effort to add) or, alternatively, space more levels at closer vertical spacing to limit load that way at some (probably minimal?) loss of total storage (altho you might go w/ 5 instead of 4 levels, say)...

Just a thought and just _might_ also take care of the worrier in the crowd... :)

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[Jack Stein]

My first shop had exposed rafters and I made this lumber rack out of

1x6's and 2x4's, which worked well.

current shop has a finished ceiling, so I built this one, which works also but I had a bunch of free pipe laying around:

style, which you are contemplating, works well because you can use the space underneath for tools and stuff.

A year or 2 ago, I built this one:

last one is great. It holds more wood than you can imagine in very little space. I have it right next to my table saw at 90° so the wood is all highly visible, highly accessible. It has tons of storage for all the short stuff that's a PIA to store on wall racks, and all the long boards, and all your plywood, in one compact space saving place:-)

It's not hard to make, and really doesn't cost much although it should have steel wheels on it. It's a bear to move fully loaded. This thing has plans all over the internet if you need them. I used wafer board for the walls, much cheaper and works fine.

I don't even use the old rack any more. When I built it I thought it would take up a lot of space, but surprisingly, it doesn't.

[Scott Lurndal]

For lumber racks, unistrut can't be beat. Cuts with a hacksaw and plenty of fittings are available. Three 8' verticals lagged to the studwall; use steel L's[*] with 1/2" bolts and strut-nuts to add 16" horizontal arms cut from the unistrut.

scott

[*] such as unistrut p1026 or p1325 or p1290. The 1290 bracket will bear a heck of a lot more than 100#.

[dpb]

On 9/11/2011 4:55 PM, Scott Lurndal wrote: ...

Other than cost...the single bracket is about $15/ea...w/o the unistrut and associated hardware. It's good, but not inexpensive.

In the barn I took a bunch of old angle and some plate and welded up some gussets to do same thing of scrap on hand. At cost of even used steel these days, even that would add up quickly if had to buy the material. Of course, even the lumber route these days ain't exactly free... :(

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[Josepi]

Who do you think you are kidding?

The first time you need to put another board on the rack you will use the end of the brackets, only for a day or so, until... Next thing you will wake to a huge crash in the middle of the night and all your nice hardwood will have slid off onto the floor and smashing your mitre saw as it fell to the floor.

The joints in these brackets are stamped out metal. Without an angle support for triangulation strength these things are dangerous with weight on them.

I wouldn't use them for any weight bearing stuff. Use a wood do-it-yourself method as suggested by a few.

Forget the wood to the floor at the wall surface. It doesn't perform any function in the leverage formula. Your wall studs are strong enough with some decent screws.

Agree. Plan is to attach the brackets to a 2x4; sit the 2x4 > On Thu, 8 Sep 2011 16:14:15 -0700 (PDT), kansascats

[Steve]

You mean Fred Herman and Earl Nightingale's "Keep It Simple, Salesman"?

More on Nightingale here:

on K.I.S.S. here:

[Lew Hodgett]

I wrote: >>Remember KISS?

------------------------------------- "Steve" wrote:

----------------------------------------- Actually it was a reference to a PDF file from WoodSmithShop for a well designed lumber storage rack using plywood as the base material that gets mounted on the wall.

Lew .

[kansascats]

Another option I'm testing --

-- drill a "properly sized hole" about 2.5" deep into a 2x (angle the holes just a bit)

-- screw those to the wall studs (24" oc)

-- put 1/2" blackpipe (or 3/4" EMT) that fit snugly into those holes

Earlier someone had a photo of this idea. That was my original plan,

3/4" EMT that is 2.5" deep in the wood and extending 12" out of the wood, seems to be able to support over 100#

The challenge is drilling the right size hole. Plan to get some spade bits and grind them to the right size (OD of pipe/EMT)

The risk is the pipe pulls out of the hole when moving lumber around.

I don't want the brackets themselves to take-up a lot of space. 1/2" black pipe, or 3/4" EMT is ideal.

The idea is not to be able to store 100s of board feet of material, but to get the bit I have off the floor and easily viewable and sortable.

[Bill]

Personally (and what do I know?), I'm not sure it's worth drilling into the wall studs. What if you break them? Why not erect something in front of the wall which rests on the concrete on the floor? One can still use the black pipe, etc. Just a thought. I saw a picture of a

3-level industrial-strength coat rack that I thought might work.

[kansascats]

Jack Stein,

Those are almost exactly what I've been prototyping. I built this cart:

beefed it up some -- used EMT instead of PVC, added some lateral support, etc. It holds a ton of material, but at that capacity it's not "mobile". The multipurpose cart you made is probably more practical. I have 10 sheets of birch/maple ply that I need to store. I just need to realize that it has to lean up against a wall.

On your pipe rack -- did you face-glue two 2x4s? How did you drill the proper size hole? Did you secure the pipe into the hole?

[dpb]

On 9/20/2011 11:31 AM, kansascats wrote: ...

...

The OD on those is pretty large for using only 2x stock--I'd suggest even smaller but as strong or stronger would be solid rod stock.

As for pulling out, just pin them--something as little as drilling a hole and an 8d or 10d nail thru the side is plenty. Or, of course, the expedient of a dollop of epoxy or construction adhesive in the hole when inserting.

Somehow, methinks you're over thinking this considerable... :)

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[Larry Jaques]

Yeah, by the time they get through fartin' around, they could have had their Sterling rack up and stocked. I think my setup cost me a little over $100 but it holds well over a ton of wood SAFELY. I slit 2" pvc pipe and snugged it over the top of each bracket to avoid any plating transfer or scuffing.

bare rack Filled somewhat

-- A sound mind in a sound body is a short but full description of a happy state in this world. -- John Locke

[kansascats]

NIce, but I need to get a lot more compact then having giant triangular braces in the way. The 1/2" pipe will take up less then

1". That is the point of this -- to be able to provide a bunch of tightly spaced brackets such that 10 or fewer boards on each "pile" can be readily viewed, sorted, etc. Rather than have 4 "shelves" of 2-foot capacity each, I'm aiming for 6 to 9" capacity on each. So each bracket cannot consume even inches of space. The idea is to get a little stuff on many brackets vs much stuff on few brackets.

[Jack]

Yes, the one I build is really great. I show two wheels on each end, but I put one wheel on each end and two in the middle, like the wood carts at home depot. It really needs steel wheels though, too much weight for what I have on it.

Sorry, just read you post.

I made this 20 years ago, and I think I glued them together, but that's not necessary. The picture doesn't show all the screws, but there are more than 2 screws holding them to the wall. I have them hanging on a cement block wall. As far as the proper sized hole... Drill holes in some scrap until you get the right size. Get the pipe first:-) The holes are 3" deep, through both 2x4's. Angle them up slightly.

The thing is solid as can be, I've had it filled to the brim, no problem.