Wood storage Racks

[John Branam]

I have just rearanged my shop and I am looking for some shop built ideas for lumber racks. I have see the triton system at Rockler but I would think I could build something for less than the $64 cost of the Triton. I am looking for any pictures or plans for ideas.

[Ralph Dobbertin]

Lee Valley has several brackets that might help...see http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=32145&cat=1,43326

[terry hansen]

I looked at various systems shop made and premade. I opted for spending $ instead of time so I settled on these from Lee Valley http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=32144&cat=1,43326. the double bracket on the shelf takes a bit more room than i might like but I'm using them in a more overhead environment where they work fine. DIY has a similar system made out of wood http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/wk_planning/article/0,2037,DIY_14427_2275270,00.html as well as some good references.

[Al Killian]

Your local box store sells the heavy duty adjustable shelving componets. This could be done fairly simple.

[Jim Dailey]

Hi !!!,

This is low tech, but will hold 100's of bd ft of lumber...

Let's say you have 8' ceilings....

I screw two 2 x 4's-8' "face to face", then drill a hole at a 2 1/2 degree angle for 3/4" black pipe. I space the holes at 18", or 4 "shelves" of 3/4" black pipe per doubled 2 x 4's. I lag these to the studs 16" oc. The black pipe is cut to 20", thus the stick out about 17" from the wall.

Hope this helps,
jim

[Jim Becker]

Here's a very old picture of my current rack that accomodates both solid stock and sheet goods. Since this picture, it's been relocated and reversed, but has served me well. I plan on building a similar one on the second floor of my shop shortly for additional storage.

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[Dennis Hatchett]

I am looking for any pictures or plans for ideas.

You didn't say how much room you have. Most people don't like to take a lot of room for wood storage so they are reluctant to use a free standing design. The popular choice seems to be wall mounted brackets for shelving type storage. If space is at a premium then your options are limited.

I used to have the wall mounted storage and I found it thoroughly frustrating. There wasn't enough storage, poor access since the largest boards were stacked at the bottom creating a big pile, and I couldn't ever find anything without unloading several shelves.

So I opted to build a free standing cantilever shelving system with a middle bay for additional storage. I based my design on Bob Key's old design while he still had his shop. His website is permanently down but here is an archived link
http://web.archive.org/web/20041215025310/www.terraclavis.com/bws/rack.htm

It's easy to build with just dimensional lumber and it is stronger than you'll ever need if you double up the tree supports as he suggests. A good bit of the strength comes from it being anchored to both the floor and ceiling. I climb on it like a ladder to reach the top shelf where I store some 8/4 12" wide stock I'm saving for my ultimate workbench as well as some other stuff I want to age for a while.

This design gives me a total of 12 outer shelves and 6 middle bays I can access from the end. One additional advantage is that the four support trees are independent and If I ever need to move the rack I just detach each tree from the floor and ceiling and move them one at a time. But I doubt I'll ever need to do that.

I regret not designating more space for wood storage sooner. It really helps to have surplus stock on hand in addition to an order for a current project. I always blow a mortise placement at least once on every job and it's nice to have plenty of stock in inventory to avoid another trip to the hardwood supplier.

I can't tell you how much more I enjoy using this design since I can keep five times as much wood on hand as I could with my wall mounted system. I don't regret using all the space one bit in my 900 sq. foot shop. It takes up about 60 square feet, it runs all the way to the 10 foot high ceiling, and I can access it from all sides. I also attached a 24" upright plywood bay at the end for sheet goods. Good luck with whatever you choose.

[Rick Levine]

I also opted for the Lee Valley unit. The specs state that the rack will hold 600 lbs. at the wall end and 300 lbs. at the outside end of the bracket. During construction I added 2x12 blocks between the studs for extra strength. I then attached the 2x4's to those brackets. This is what it looks like now. More wood to come!

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[Marc Prudhomme]

Arent the home depot adjustable shelves alot cheaper,but the same. There 6 ft standard is 12.00 as opposed to home depot at 8.00

[John Branam]

You didn't say how much room you have. Most people don't like to take a lot of room for wood storage so they are reluctant to use a free standing design. .

I have room for a free standing set up, but I am leaning more toward a wall mounted set up. I do not have a lot of wood to store right now but that will change this summer. I also want to incorporate sheet good storage, most of which is 4'x4' or smaller.

[Larry Fox]

Just last weekend I was facing the same dilema. I didn't feel like forking over the $65.00 for the rack at Woodcraft. For what I was looking to accomplish I needed; no adjustability, use no floor space, and hold less than about 250#. What I ended up doing was buying some 2' lengths of black water pipe and having threads put onto both ends of them. I lag-bolted a 1" floor-flange into the framing and screwed the pipes into it good and tight. For the other end, I put caps on them and ran a safety cable through holes I drilled through the caps and into the ceiling framing (mine are overhead). I go about 190#+ and I hung from each pipe after it was in and it didn't budge at all. I think I have $20.00 in the project and I built three racks.

[John Branam]

Just last weekend I was facing the same dilema. I didn't feel like forking over the $65.00 for the rack at Woodcraft. For what I was looking to accomplish I needed; no adjustability, use no floor space, and hold less than about 250#. What I ended up doing was buying some 2' lengths of black water pipe and having threads put onto both ends of them. I lag-bolted a 1" floor-flange into the framing and screwed the pipes into it good and tight. For the other end, I put caps on them and ran a safety cable through holes I drilled through the caps and into the ceiling framing (mine are overhead). I go about 190#+ and I hung from each pipe after it was in and it didn't budge at all. I think I have $20.00 in the project and I built three racks.

Do you have a picture that you could post?

[George Matthews]

I built this a few years ago, and have no regrets...
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More details...
http://web.mac.com/sgmatthews/iWeb/Cornell%20Workshop/Wood%20Rack.html

[Terry Bigelow]

I went the HomeDepot route myself. Fast, easy and plenty strong! Oh yea, inexpensive as well! (I'm talking about the heavy-duty stuff, of course)

[Justin James]

Dennis, thanks for posting that link; I've been trying to remember where I saw that rack for months. Its just the thing I need for the new shop!

[Rick de Roque]

Her is mine. 2 x 4 with laminated ply. Has worked well.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/rd4212/woodworking%20stuff/lumberrack.jpg

Rick

[Dennis Hatchett]

Dennis, thanks for posting that link; I've been trying to remember where I saw that rack for months. Its just the thing I need for the new shop!

No problem Justin. Bob's old website had a lot of great stuff. His workbench info was also top notch. I wish I could figure out how to post pictures here to show you my version but it isn't too different from his. I simply added a 2 foot wide upright plywood bay at the end of the horizontal storage.

You'll really appreciate all the space if you end up building this one.

[ken straby]

i started with the lee valley hd adjustable rack system using the longer legs at 16" oc
later i found the same system at busy bee tools for a lot less money
i got a deal on some cherry , birch & maple so now i now have several walls with racks storing 2500 + bd ft of stickered lumber
this system allows you to adjust legs up or down about every 2" withvarious lengths of legs available

[Mike Holbrook]

Like several other people I liked the Lee Valley set up and then found the Home Depot version for less money and bought it. I also had some Heavy duty 1000 lb metal shelving that I put in the same room that works decently for shorter pieces and anything else heavy that I need to store.

Now that I am finally getting around to my shop renovation. I have a third option. I put Heavy Duty Store wall on several walls. It may not hold the weight that my metal rack will but it can hold what I am working with at that moment and want close. There are brackets and shelving of several types available.

I took some pictures of my shop renovation showing these items but apparently the cable to load them onto my computer is busted.

[Paul Wingert]

Your local box store sells the heavy duty adjustable shelving componets. This could be done fairly simple.

That's what I used. I got them at home depot. I forget the rating of the shelve units.. but I have four supports bolted to the walls.. I think my shelf supports are 16" wide.. I've got each level stacked roughly 1 foot high with oak, and no problems at all. Fairly inexpensive (about 100).

For the "bottom level", I put down some styrofoam sheeting and piled up the wood about 2.5 feet high. I put the longer pieces on the bottom, and the pieces that are 7-8' long on the shelves.

[Jim Becker]

I went the HomeDepot route myself. Fast, easy and plenty strong! Oh yea, inexpensive as well! (I'm talking about the heavy-duty stuff, of course)

Terry, I use the "Stirling" heavy duty stuff from the 'Depot myself for a lot of my auxiliary storage up on the walls, including some board stock and nearly all my turning stock. Very strong and reasonably priced. The exact same product from some of the woodworking "stores" is priced much higher.

[Aaron Montgomery]

Pictures from my home page - you can go to it to see the associated verbage here: http://home.insightbb.com/~apmonte/WoodworkingShop.html

[everett lowell]

I made mine out of 2x4's screwed to the floor and floor joists,with wood shelves built nice and level. nott'n fancy but rock solid and cheap!:)

[Don Henthorn Smithville, TX]

You might think of modifying Jim Becker's design above and making it vertical storage. I much prefer vertical storage. You don't have worry about weight. You don't have to move lots of wood to find matching boards. You can take advantage of unused places in your shop or other rooms. You can store more lumber. I can see no downside, but there are a lot of downsides to horizontal storage. That is one reason why the Japanese and others use vertical storage. The only caveat is to not store it with the ends on damp concrete.

[Bert Johansen]

Here's my solution. I purchased this rack (used, of course) for $40. Each shelf holds 500 pounds. Beats all the other choices hands down.
The shelves came out of an Ace Hardware that was upgrading. It is called "gondola" shelving. (The shelves are 4 feet long--I have a double gondola shown here.) Check around for used ones--they are around.

[Larry Fox]

Do you have a picture that you could post?

John, sorry I didn't see request this until just now. I will try and venture out to the shop and get a pic. It really is nothing special though.