Wood Storage Question, awkward pieces in small shop

[Pete Staehling]

My shop is in disarray due to lack of proper wood storage. I have been accumulating lots of odd sized pieces that just don't fit the vertical racks that I had been using. I am mostly building stringed musical instruments from highly figured wood. Much of it arrives in the form of slabs that are anywhere from 30"-8' long. some are pretty wide and they start out with two roughly finished faces. Typically they are cut down to no more than 5' long pieces early on, often before they come home. They can be anywhere between 2" and 4" thick (seldom as much as 4"). As time passes I wind up with partially processed pieces, so there are narrower pieces and thin sound board pieces (almost veneers).

I also have some more "normal lumber", but usually not too much. It is usually in the form of 4/4 or 8/4 by 8-12" boards anywhere from 3'-8'. I most often buy longer boards, but they are cut before they even come home. There is also a few pieces 5/4 x 3" x 7-8' tropical hardwoods.

Some of that fits nicely in the vertical storage which is basically just 1" dowels that stick out from the wall 14" to allow boards to stand on end. It doesn't accomodate all the slabs short pieces, and thin sound boards. I have pretty limited space since I am in a two car garage space and have a lot of machinery, storage shelving (much of it unrelated to the shop work) and benches crammed in. The vertical storage is on one of the very few short sections of wall that isn't taken up eith either built in shelving, work benches, or machinery.

Anyone have suggestins of ways to store these odd sized and shaped pieces in a limited space of a small shop?

[Carl Beckett]

A great question since I battle small piece overload myself.

Plastic bins have been used. which I sometimes stack or set on a shelf.

If I understand your vertical storage right - it seems to work for you to lean piece upright. But there might be unused space 'above' some of these - you might add a shelf so you can stack more that one area, vertically, on top of each other (if short enough). Then smaller pieces I still resort to bins.

The other option I have seen and am considering is making a frame to hold these horizontally. Something like 2x4 pillars on each side of a narrow passage - can add cross members as a shelf. And this might be on wheels. It would allow you to see from both sides and both ends.

But again you need the space for it.

I look forward to reading other ideas/solutions, a timely thread for me as well.

[Kevin Jenness]

A perennial problem. Do you have wall space for a divided shelf unit that would allow storing your short drops on edge, ends out? That will allow for seeing and accessing what you have. It could have uprights dadoed for loose shelves at varying heights, or line bored for shelf pins.

This assumes (?) that all the small cutoffs you are storing are material that you will actually use in future. Sometimes you just have to let it go. You may be able to sell packs of random highly figured wood on the classified forum here. I'm sure I'm not the only turner who would be interested in thicker shorts for boxes and the like.

[Scott Clausen]

When time permits I look around to find something that is taking up to much space and attempt to find a better storage solution to condense it. Other time I decide to let something go that isn't pulling its weight. Vertical storage always gets in my way and is unstable. I got two pairs of lumber racks and lined one wall just above head height (16') and it freed up a lot of floor space. I fear a clamp storage solution is up next.

[Christopher Herzog]

There comes a time when i just rip the band aid. Common wood types under 12' and 2-4' wide get gone. Just did one recently and man the extra space is amazing. Might have room for more tools now!

Kids enjoyed a wienie roast via some oak cut offs!

Best of luck,
Chris

Board Hoarder....

[glenn bradley]

A variation on my Shorts Tower may help(?)

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[Pete Staehling]

Part of the problem is that these pieces aren't the typical boards and off cuts. The slabs are heavy. Some hard to even lift or move. That makes overhead storage iffy at best.

BTW... My work is a little unusual in that I almost never use anything longer than 30" long, so those pieces aren't off cuts. Sometimes I cut 8-14' pieces into 3-5' pieces before I even bring them home. I might do that for a variety of reasons. If I am bringing them home from a distant vacation (like Hawaii) pieces might need to fit in a regular sized checked bag airline bag. If they are part of a 40" wide 3-4" thick slab I might not want to handle the weight. I might want to carry them inside of a car to drive across the state (or the country).

The sound boards are easier to store since they are thin (~0.090"), not very long, and can be stacked on each other.

The vertical storage actually worked really well whan I had mostly boards. It had 3 levels of rows of 1" dowels and a shelf could be set at some level on a portion of the area on one or more levels to accomodate different lengths. It held quite a bit of varied lengths and they were easy to get to. Then I started putting stuff in front of it. Heavy slabs, buckets with pieces, and so on. Pretty soon it all devolved into chaos. Then more slabs arrived. They are everywhere! It is great to have this wonderful wood, but the shop is a mess!

[Carl Beckett]

The other problem I have to overcome, is my desire to hoard more wood than I can consume. I am constantly looking for a great buy on wood (whether price, figure, species, etc) and pull the trigger without having any idea what I will build with it. Then a few years go by and I have more wood than I will ever be able to use in my lifetime (it seems).

The production world would be asking how much is enough raw material inventory to keep up with production output. I have an imbalance, more incoming than outgoing. But if you are bringing it in at the same rate as consumption, then its just 'how much you need' for the type of work you do and space has to be made for it.

[Jim Becker]

I can see how this is a real issue for Pete because of what he uses the material for. As he notes, instrument work typically doesn't use long boards, but it uses species that are either not run of the mill or highly figured. Even 'scraps' are pretty valuable and tend to get used in future projects for smaller needs and customization. It's not "firewood" quality in many cases! And being in a "small shop" situation myself right now, I'd be struggling with the same challenge with that specific kind of material.

That said, I still haven't thought of a solution and will be following along here.

[John K Jordan]

I like to use wire shelf units, 4' wide, 18" deep. I store shorter pieces on the lower shelves and longer, up to 28" or so, on the top shelf where I can walk under what overhangs. (I write the length on the end of each piece so I don't waste time pulling out a piece that is a bit shorter than I need.) I have 10 of these shelf units just for wood, some for long-term drying of green turning blanks, most for storing dry wood.

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Mine is primarily woodturning stock and not many in board/slab stock so the pieces are easy to handle. However, some long 3" and 4"x9" pieces of cocobolo do take some lifting effort!

I have a bunch of 2"-3" thick boards, some wide (24"+), some short, some quite heavy. I store many of these against the wall of a 12' long passageway to the back of my shop and in a corner, the tallest against the wall and the shorter in front. Many are exotics, some domestic.

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But I wonder, how small is the shop? I like the wire shelf units but they are bulky. And how high are the ceilings? Above some of my storage, near the ceiling, I mounted a row of four heavy duty brackets to the wall (sold at HD to support ladders) and store a few long boards horizontally, up to 12' boards. I do have to stand on something to access these. Sometimes I get someone to help.

JKJ

[Pete Staehling]

I can see how this is a real issue for Pete because of what he uses the material for. As he notes, instrument work typically doesn't use long boards, but it uses species that are either not run of the mill or highly figured. Even 'scraps' are pretty valuable and tend to get used in future projects for smaller needs and customization. It's not "firewood" quality in many cases! And being in a "small shop" situation myself right now, I'd be struggling with the same challenge with that specific kind of material.

Yep, you get it. A 2' piece could be major components of a travel sized instrument. A highly figured little piece 5" long might be an accent piece that makes a real difference in an instrument's appearance as a peg head. That really awesome peghead might be the piece that was trimmed off of the end of a fingerboard because the grain was too wonky where straight vertical grain was desired, but it may be really beautiful when bookmatched and used for that other purpose. Sure there are some offcuts that aren't worth saving, but they are fewer than you'd guess and a lot are real gems just waiting for the next spot that needs them. It is more often that I need more than that I save too much. Sometimes I use a piece for some junk usage like as a backup block when drilling and the next day have a spot where i say, man I wish I had that piece.




But I wonder, how small is the shop? I like the wire shelf units but they are bulky. And how high are the ceilings? Above some of my storage, near the ceiling, I mounted a row of four heavy duty brackets to the wall (sold at HD to support ladders) and store a few long boards horizontally, up to 12' boards. I do have to stand on something to access these. Sometimes I get someone to help.
My shop's wood storage has looked organized in the past, but never quite as well as your's.

You ask about my shop's size. It is a two car garage, but it has 6' trimmed off the end for a laundry room so the remainder is about 18'x18'. Then there is very little wall that doesn't ither have shelves, benches, machines, or a desk taking them up. I have an incredible amount of stuff in there. Not all of it is used in the luthier work. To give an idea of how packed it is, I have:


3 band saws dedicated to different functions (9" Delta, 9" Rikon, 14" delta)
2 table saws functions (one is a small late 1940s one set up for sawing fret slots)
Miter saw
Buffing station w/two 14" wheels
2 thickness sanders (10-20 and 16-32)
12" disc sander
Spindle sander
2 1" belt sanders (one delta and one HF cheapie that has a leather belt on it for honing)
2 3" belt sanders
Router table
6" Jointer
12" planer
various grinders wet and dry
Small metal lathe
Drill press
Shop built horizontal drilling station for specialized end drilling
Jet 1642 lathe
Air compressor
dust collection
3 benches



Vices, arbor press and other stuff on benches.



It is way too much stuff for the space, but I really don't want to part with any of it.


Of course there are MANY hand tools and clamps. Also lots of stuff that is just stored on the built in shelving. That last is something that make I could find a different place for or get rid of a lot of. The problem is that it isn't great space for wood storage unless I tear out the built in shelves and build something else there. That could be the answer though. Taking out an 8' section of that shelving would open up an 8' long area that would be 54" wide on one end and maybe 1/2 to 3/4 of it's length before tapering to 24". It isn't all new space though, the stuff that is there has to go somewhere.

[Carl Beckett]

For the type of work you do this storage is integral, so the space needs prioritized for it.

I moved some equipment to a furnace room. And ‘some’ storage in an unused closet (although it has to be something clean). Which just means I have taken over other areas of the house… that isn’t always feasible.

Also I built some overhead shelving hanging from the ceiling. Full size lumber went there. I have seen people put clamps overhead. (Or horizontal under a bench) to save some space.

Also have seen some machine ‘stations’ that swap ou from one machine to another on a rotating shelf (poor mans multi function approach). I wonder if rearranging some other parts of the shop allows some new space to be created

[Pete Staehling]

A perennial problem. Do you have wall space for a divided shelf unit that would allow storing your short drops on edge, ends out? That will allow for seeing and accessing what you have. It could have uprights dadoed for loose shelves at varying heights, or line bored for shelf pins.

This assumes (?) that all the small cutoffs you are storing are material that you will actually use in future. Sometimes you just have to let it go. You may be able to sell packs of random highly figured wood on the classified forum here. I'm sure I'm not the only turner who would be interested in thicker shorts for boxes and the like.
Yeah maybe I can use some existing shelving that way for some stuff. A lot of my primary materials when cut to their actual size are the size most consider cutoffs. In my building process i typically cut stuff to short lengths early in the process, sometimes when it is still in slab form. Pretty much nothing I do in my primary work is ever as long as 3' and most finished pieces are under 2' some well under. If we were talking only length, I could build entirely from what folks throw in the burn pile.

Just to give you an idea, this one isn't fitted up with hardware or strings yet, but it is my smallest model. The overall length as pictured is about 13". So nothing in the whole instrument is even firewood length.
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[Pete Staehling]

For the type of work you do this storage is integral, so the space needs prioritized for it.

I moved some equipment to a furnace room. And ‘some’ storage in an unused closet (although it has to be something clean). Which just means I have taken over other areas of the house… that isn’t always feasible.

Also I built some overhead shelving hanging from the ceiling. Full size lumber went there. I have seen people put clamps overhead. (Or horizontal under a bench) to save some space.

Also have seen some machine ‘stations’ that swap ou from one machine to another on a rotating shelf (poor mans multi function approach). I wonder if rearranging some other parts of the shop allows some new space to be created
Great thoughts. I have been through some iterations of most of that, but maybe not enough. In particular I have some things that are used less frequently that maybe could be out of the way in some manner when not needed. I still need them but usage is sporadic enough that maybe I can wheel them out or use them from converted stations when needed. Using other parts of the house has not been pursued much in the interest of family harmony, but in truth I have a very supportive wife so I may consider that a bit more. The house is quite large for just the two of us and any clean operation or storage is likely to be tolerated if it isn't too obnoxious.

[Pete Staehling]

Something hit me about the shelving layout! I think I see a way for a major improvememt/upgrade. The corner where a lot of the access is blocked and the space gets poorly utilized. Anything on the floor blocks the vertical storage which already blocks some of the built in shelves. It looks like I can bring the shelves out around the corner making a nice 30" wide by 54" deep set of 5 shelves at various heights. They would be accessed by sliding the stock in from the end, Some vertical storage, a shallow layer of horizontal shelving, or some deeper shelving that was on wheels could go there. It looks like slabs that are standing in awkward places all over the shop will fit nicely in that corner with space left over. I think there will even be room for storage of thin pre-cut soundboard material, but if not, that can be accomodated elsewhere.

Some things on the built in shelving in that corner may need to go, but looking at it that shouldn't be too hard. Some of it can find anothe home on other shelves, some can go to the shed or attic, and some can be tossed.

I'll have to do some measureing and kick it around a bit, but it looks promising.

[Zachary Hoyt]

I'm in a similar situation about the kinds of wood pieces I keep for later use. One thing I find helpful is that I have a box for small (24" or less long) leftover pieces of each species I use a lot (cherry, curly maple, walnut, African mahogany) and boxes for the different fretboard woods. For fretboards I like the large flattish boxes that Stew-Mac ships things in. I've been lucky enough to have outside-the-shop storage for my large piles of unused lumber, but when I move next year I'll have to consolidate. One thing that might be worth looking into is building a small shed in the yard for wood storage, unless your shop is more climate-controlled. Around here most towns let you build up to a 144 square foot shed without a permit, or even an 8x8 would be enough to store a lot of lumber.

[Jack Frederick]

Do you have openings under wall benches. How much width do you have in the current wall rack? Perhaps you can reduce the full height portion and add smaller shelves in the freed up area. Glenn’s idea is great and sure looks effective, but I still like vertical storage. i added an angled base for my rack and it helps keep the wood snuggly on the wall. As to the under benches, side mount some good casters on a rolling moving cart type device would allow you to stack the boards on the roller and pull it out when you need it. As you have a photographic memory that shouldn’t be a problem remembering where that “one piece” is;) I’ll be interested to see what you come up with.

[Bryan Lisowski]

I would say your probably best to build a small lean to next to the shop if you are able, or purchase a Rubbermaid storage shed that you could build shelves in.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Rubbermaid-4-ft-4-in-W-x-6-ft-5-in-H-x-4-ft-7-in-D-Medium-Vertical-Resin-Shed-1967673/206758427

[John K Jordan]

I would say your probably best to build a small lean to next to the shop if you are able, or purchase a Rubbermaid storage shed that you could build shelves in.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Rubbermaid-4-ft-4-in-W-x-6-ft-5-in-H-x-4-ft-7-in-D-Medium-Vertical-Resin-Shed-1967673/206758427

If the current space is conditioned, an outdoor shed might cause problems with seasonal humidity changes, depending on the location.
I decided to heat and cool my shop and wood storage to control the humidity somewhat.

[Scott Winners]

John and Bryan in the last two posts are banging on the only option I have to offer. Once finished, the instruments you build are likely to live inside peoples homes, yes? So the 'ideal' place to store your stock of material is in a similar indoor conditioned space.

How much room have you got inside your HVAC conditioned home- that our wife will let you use- for wood storage? I am in a 30x30 two car garage with laundry facility and the furnace with one bandsaw at nine inches. Trying to fit your three bandsaws in my shop with possibly 400 bf of lumber in here is a fools errand. Accept props for what you have been able to do.

Could you, possibly, settle on perhaps sitka spruce for bodies, hickory or whatever for finger boards ( I am not a luthier, obviously), and then have a collection of 'other' for that bit at the top with the tuning pegs on it? I am just asking. I am facing the same problem with different goals and different woods. If I can't cook with the scraps in my BBQ pits I don't use it because I too am space constrained. I use basically cherry (good on poultry), beech (good on seafood) as well as white oak and hickory (good on beef and pork) because I love BBQ and am building indoor furniture. I have a hard time letting go of small scraps of highly figured anything. Just too pretty to burn.

Someday when I am old and feeble I will be reduced to pen turning and spoon carving in my shop before the kids cart me off to Shady Acres rest home. I do want some magnificent figured wood in stock for that season of my life, with some fiddle back walnut and quilted maple already lain away.

Any road, if you can cut down on the materials you use you can buy them in big, easy to store pieces and cut small pieces off as you need them. At my place, if I can't cook with it, I don't buy it.

[Bryan Lisowski]

If the current space is conditioned, an outdoor shed might cause problems with seasonal humidity changes, depending on the location.
I decided to heat and cool my shop and wood storage to control the humidity somewhat.
John you bring up a good point. However he isn’t building a new space and seems to have several space constraints, and not looking to get rid of tools to create space. It also doesn’t seem the OP is using the entire slab right away. If the wood has been air dried, leaving in a storage shed shouldn’t effect all that much, plus he could bring inside shop prior to starting a new project to acclimate.

[Bryan Hall]

I just re-did my wood storage because of similar problems. I built a 4x8 table/cabinet. Bora wood racks above for 5-8' pieces. Ply on top of the table. One shelf for 3-4' pieces, 1 shelf for 2-3 foot pieces. Then everything 2' and under is in milk crates stored vertically that can slide in and out. Works quite well for me so far.

[Leigh Betsch]

In my old shop I used file 13. All my shorts went into file 13. If I hadn't taken them back out in 30 days they got burned. File 13 is a 30 gallon trash can.

Well I guess not all my shorts. Only the ones that didn't fit my lumber storage.

I'm in the process of building a new shop and plan to build a much bigger lumber storage rack but I also will use the file 13 approach.
It just seams easier knowing that I'm keeping them around for a bit before making the final decision to get rid of them. But for me is not so much of a rare wood, hard to replace issue.d. I don't work in a bunch of exotic woods. It's more of what do I value more, a clean orderly shop or the wood itself.

[John K Jordan]

In my old shop I used file 13. All my shorts went into file 13. If I hadn't taken them back out in 30 days they got burned. File 13 is a 30 gallon trash can.
...

Those pieces I can't use I put into big plastic tubs. I occasionally offer them to the art teachers at local schools. I offer to cut them into other sizes if they want.

They love them - it gives students a new medium to work in - glue, cut thin pieces, paint, color with markers. One of the most popular was extra 5-6" wide strips of smooth radiata pine plywood I cut into squares and rectangles and smoothed the corners. Lots of little kids used these to draw pictures with markers. They get paper but hardly ever get wood!!

I've also take styrofoam which gets cut up, glued together, colored or spray painted. One year I took 10,000 small cardboard microfiche boxes. The high school art classes used these for years. I'M still using some in my shop!

If I have exotics too thin for woodturning I sometimes find a knifemaker and make his day.

JKJ

[Pete Staehling]

If the current space is conditioned, an outdoor shed might cause problems with seasonal humidity changes, depending on the location.
I decided to heat and cool my shop and wood storage to control the humidity somewhat.
Current space is air conditioned, but heated only if it get really cold (this is Florida and it doesn't get cold in the shop), but the door to the inside of the house is open much of the time. So neither the temperature nor humidity fluctuate very widely.

No way I am storing lumber in a shed. It get really humid here and the humidity and heat fluctuate widely.

[Pete Staehling]

I still haven't made the plunge and built anything shelfwise. Still debating between a few ideas.

I will say that I appreciate all the suggestions. As far as offering the scraps for use to others... I do use even tiny scraps in my work and tend to also build little boxes and stuff for the heck of it. This time of year a bunch might get used for a christmas craft project to be given to friends, family, and neighbors. My scraps that aren't useful to me probably aren't of much use to anyone even for crafts or knife scales. Yeah there may be pieces of junk lumber used for jigs and such (temporary or not), but the pieces get used for smaller jigs, clamps, guides, and tools until they aren't worth saving. That stuff is often construction grade 2x framing ripped and/or resawn along with some less choice cast off hardwood where needed for hardness, stability, or durability. So it reall gets down to matchsticks and small pieces of construction grade framing.