RE: Lumber Storage Rack

Neat design. I did something similar a few years ago:

Yeah, me too. Last summer. My problem was that it was on a concrete block wall which would have required a lot of PITA drilling if I depended on the CB wall for support. I didn't. Instead...

1. 5 - 2x4 uprights, floor to ceiling length
2. Uprights hooked together on edge at 24" interval by two pieces of 3/4" ply about 5-6 inches wide set into the uprights at about 18-24" from top and bottom of uprights.
3. Hooked together uprights were attached to wall with screws into the furring strips under the drywall.
4. Arms are 21" 2x4s lapped on each side with pieces of 3/4" ply; the ply pieces are longer than the 2x4 so the ply fully overlaps the uprights and are attached to them with 2 - 1/4" bolts. Each upright has four arms.

Now, that isn't going to hold up much weight before the screws pull out of the furring strips so...

1. I made a plinth of PT 2x4s that is butted against the uprights and Tapconed to the floor. It has a piece of 1/4 ply on top so that sawdust doesn't accumulate inside.

That helps hold the rack up but not all that much. What *really* holds it up is...

1. A 2x4 across the front of the uprights at the ceiling and lagged to each truss.

At the moment I have about 1500 punds of lumber on it, steady as a rock.

On Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:26:02 -0800 (PST), the infamous GarageWoodworks scrawled the following:

I spent a bit more and put up a Sterling wall mount setup.

VERY sturdy, and well worth the ~$120 I spent.

-- When we are planning for posterity, we ought to remember that virtue is not hereditary. -- Thomas Paine

in your shop, assuming you have exposed rafters. My old house did, no pictures but here is a sketch up drawing:

It is pretty much like the Woodsmithshop design except not plywood and it hangs from the rafters, but could be hung the same way as theirs.

I really like having the lumber stored high with room underneath for tools, plywood, whatever...

constructed of wood; not only do they chew up a lot of space, they flat-out make me nervous! I have this rack system from Grizzly:

Woodcraft carries that and another shelving system that are so well done and affordable, that like you, I can't see building one.

Lew,

I certainly appreciate the pointers to the PDF files, but I have to ask: are the available to anyone going to the Woodsmith website?

I pay for the access to the site and have the availablity to access all of their plans and articles. So I'm curious.

Thanks,

MJ

------------------------------------------------- Not sure what "and they take up almost no real estate

The WSS plan is a little sneaky in the neat way they distribute possible lateral loads across two 3/4" pieces of ply with a 3/4" space between them on each shelf bracket which is clearly a design improvement over the Grizzley.

The "French Cleat" attachment to the wall is a well documented and proven technique.

There is a minor weakness in the design IMHO since the raw plywood edge of the brackets are exposed to the stock being stored.

A simple fix would be to attach a 3/4"x14"xshelf length oak runner to protect raw ply edge.

Whatever floats your boat.

Lew

If you sign up and allow them to send the free weekly e-mail tips, you get access to the free plans.

Lew

I agree with the raw edge. Better have ply than 'inch board' which might split.

What I would do - and advise - use a clear sealer - a water proof one. It will seal it tight - and you sand slightly to get the sharp edges off.

I'd have 4 myself - three even spaces and one or the other side halved. That way short lengths can be handled. If heavy loads - then add another between the two wide ones - making 5 verticle supports.

I think 4 would be a natural.

The shelf seems to be of nominal use. If a lot of small wood is used - or picture frame sticks and the like. I tend to have a mixture of

Shelving can be dangerous as well if over loaded and it falls on you.

Neat storage for a shop: Since we are in storage - I have 12 army trunks (11 + 1 Air force :-) ) (it is blue naturally) - and rather having them stacked deep in several stacks - heavy... I stacked them on side - lid hanging down. Now they act as doored shelves. The load force is supported by the sides all the way to the ground. 3 tall. Handy as I get older and can't heft heavy trunks to get into the bottom one.

Mart> "Steve Turner" wrote:

"Lew Hodgett" wrote in news:0101bc2b$0$23240 $ snipped-for-privacy@news.astraweb.com:

I am unsure whether I ever signed up, but do not get their emails (yet), and could just download the pdf without having to sign in/log on:

If you go thru the front door,

Lew

On Sat, 21 Nov 2009 21:13:27 -0600, the infamous Steve Turner scrawled the following:

I felt the same way. Sterling was available locally for a little bit cheaper than shipped items like this, so I got them and have loved them. I put pieces of large diameter pvc pipe over them to make it easier to slide wood lengthwise and to keep from marking the wood on the brackets. I have 18' of wall width, up to 22" deep, floor to ceiling on about half.

-- We have too many high sounding words, and too few actions that correspond with them. -- Abigail Adams, letter to John Adams, 1774

"Lew Hodgett" wrote in news:00a8d379$0$12348 $ snipped-for-privacy@news.astraweb.com:

Thanks, Lew!

Mine doesn't take up much space since it hangs off the ceiling rafters. It will not fail unless the house fails.

Not sure what you mean by no real estate? They hang off the wall same as the rest of them. If you keep them off the ground, then you can have storage or tools under them. I have my lathe and Scroll saw under mine.

I'm about to build a storage cart because I'm tired of having little scraps everywhere and no place for plywood. This one is all over the net, but this is my sketchup version:

I mean that the support rails and shelf bars have a thin profile and don't steal away any significant horizontal or vertical space that could otherwise be used as wood storage, like this one does: