Strut channel (Unistrut)

[Jason White]

Every time I see strut channel (used for holding pipes, conduit, etc.) I wonder if there might be some cool uses for this stuff in a woodworking shop for things like jigs, fixtures, tool stands, etc. Anybody here ever done anything creative with it? Please post pics!

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[Dave Richards]

I haven't used Unistrut for anything but I see tool carts belonging to various contractors working here in the hospital that use it for everything from door pulls to hooks for ladders to frames for carts. The electricians have pieces of it mounted to their carts to support cross rods holding spools of wire. I think if you have access to it, you could do all sorts of cool stuff.

[Phil Thien]

I had recently thought of making a frame for a work table from the stuff, but it is actually kind of pricey.

But I, too, am interested in seeing what others have done with it.

[Matt Day]

I agree Dave. From my years of hospital construction I've seen it used in all sorts of ways by contractors - especially for carts.

[Jason White]

I've seen it for sale at the borgs like Home Depot and Lowes, but I imagine you can get it for cheaper on Craigslist (maybe used).

[QUOTE=I think if you have access to it, you could do all sorts of cool stuff.[/QUOTE]

[Mike Cutler]

Jason

I work in a nuclear power plant and have seen some amazingly creative jigs and fixtures made from it.
It is incredibly strong and very well made. We primarily use the heavy walled galvanized,and stainless steel.
It makes really, really nice workbenches for either wood or metal fabrication.

[steven taggart]

I have used a piece bolted to a workbench to attach clamps for pipe. I use the clamps to hold logs I was working on. Worked well.

[Rick Potter]

My rich buddy used it to construct a single table for three RAS, with adjustable bolts leveling the whole thing to the saws. A single unified fence serves all three. Minor engineering feat in my eyes. Perhaps he will share it someday.

Rick P

[Loren Woirhaye]

I didn't use it to build my panel saw, I used steel fence posts instead, but I considered Unistrut. Steel shapes like Unistrut tend to be straight, so if you buy it check for straightness and if the pieces you buy are straight they can be used in precise ways.

Panel saw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffl7Hnjmqz4

[Jerome Stanek]

You can use it for all kinds of stuff. The electric supply house has a double deck warehouse made with it. I installed a catwalk at EJ Thomas hall at Akron U. My old CNC router was made out of it and I made my car ramps tor my trailer from it.

[John Conklin]

I've been around a lot of unistrut over the years and it has never impressed me as another too precise. Of course you can build stands, supports, etc with it, but for anything with close tolerances I'd use 8020 strut. I'm sure it's more expensive, but you can make some high tech stuff with it.

[Mark Wooden]

Many years ago, FWW had an article on making a tablesaw fence with it as the guide rail. I made one, work perfectly. I still have it around here somewhere, I should dig it out

[Phil Thien]

Many years ago, FWW had an article on making a tablesaw fence with it as the guide rail. I made one, work perfectly. I still have it around here somewhere, I should dig it out

Yeah, I'd actually be very interested in seeing that.

[Frederick Skelly]

A few years back I boought some in a small width - 3/4" I think. I used it for t-track on a few jigs. Worked fine and was cheaper than "normal" t-track.

[Mike Heidrick]

I used it (1 5/8" X 1 5/8" version) for my original CNC Router's base. I have since switched to a 2" box steel welded base - Significantly more rigid. I would not make a table saw fence out of it - too thin for a channel design. I still have some on my CNC bed (bolted as a web with a lot of triangles), some as upright supports for my Z carriage's water cooling setup, and as mounting structures for my electronics cabinets (nema 4/12 steel boxes for controls and VFD mounting) and Vacuum clamping manifold. It is good when you want easy assembly of something. The C shape has limitations though. IMO you want box steel for a fence or extruded alum or something much thicker than unistrut in a C channel profile.

[johnny means]

One of my old shopmates built herself a two sides lumber rack from strut. Cost her a fortune. Worked well and was certainly plenty strong, but no real improvement over cheaper materials. You wouldn't believe how fast the fasteners add up.

[Jim Finn]

I have used miles of Unistrut building walls in clean rooms in silicone valley. What is nice about this material and type of construction is that it is demount-able. Temporary or adjustable jigs may work well with Unistrut.

[Chris Ainsley]

I do maintenance in an industrial facility, primarily electrical but a bit of everything. I use this stuff steady! Makes awesome pipe racks. I even used it in my basement to keep my PEX and conduit around my laundry area organized.

[Larry Fox]

I used it recently as a mounting base for an articulating flatscreen TV mounting arm I used to install a TV in a corner cabinet I built. Bolted it through holes in the cabinet with a spacer into blocking behind the cabinet so the cabinet takes zero of the weight of the TV and bracket. I installed two pieces vertically, two pieces horizontally with spring nuts so by loosening a few bolts I get essentially infinite up / down and side / side adjustability. It sits behind a 55" flatscreen so you can't see it at all. I didn't need the precision of 8020 and a length of strut cost me $10. Great stuff in my opinion.

[Curt Harms]

Many years ago, FWW had an article on making a tablesaw fence with it as the guide rail. I made one, work perfectly. I still have it around here somewhere, I should dig it out

When I first bought a Mule T.S. fence, they were using unistrut for the front fence rail. They later switched to an aluminum extrusion. Unistrut is handy for homemade fences because IMO it's easier to make a clamping mechanim for it than for the Biesmeyer type clamping mechanism. The downside to the Mule type mechanism is that to remove the fence it must be slid off the end of the rail, not just lifted off.
http://www.mulecab.com/

[Jeff Duncan]

Unistrut, slightly different than regular electrical strut, is an awesome material to work with. Unfortunately I don't have pics of my old shop that show it, but my lumber rack was built from it with a RAS shelf and dust collection incorporated. My table saw out feed was built of Uni as well as several shelving units.

I got mine at auction but it is expensive if you have to buy it. However make no mistakes, it would be very difficult to do the "same" thing with cheaper materials. It goes up so quickly and is amazingly strong. A horizontal section with just 2 bolts will hold an amazing amount of weight! This crappy pic is from my new shop where I'm still a few weeks away from being operational, but it shows the new lumber rack. Each bay should hold a couple hundred bd ft of material fairly easily. I figure probably around 2k bd. ft. for the whole rack, and it won't so much as flex under the weight. This rack took me about 12 hours +/- to build, however it's built on a ramp and is completely plumb and all bays level to each other…..so takes a bit more time to get just right! I'll be doing more projects with it as I go. Right now primarily focuses on getting the electrical up and running!

http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx268/JDWoodworking/IMG_0615.jpg (http://s762.photobucket.com/user/JDWoodworking/media/IMG_0615.jpg.html)

good luck,
JeffD