Need ideas on lumber rack

[Randy Miller]

In my shop re-construction I've allocated an 8 foot stretch of wall that I had planned to put in some simple lumber storage. I remember reading on the pond that others have used black pipe and 2x4 material, but before I do this can someone walk me through the process.

What I remember goes something like:

Put up vertical 2x4's (doubles?) just like a newly studded wall 24 inches on center (should it be less/more?). Each stud/pair will have 3 holes drilled up 5 degrees from horizontal at 4' 2", 5' 5", and 6' 8". Then slide in 16 inch lengths of black pipe. The area below 4 feet will be reserved for plywood and scraps.

Does this sound right? What size pipe to use 3/4, 1/2? Any problem with the pipe marking up the wood?

My ceiling height is just over 7 and a half feet and I don't have that much room. I tend to buy for the project, and keep two projects worth at a time, and don't keep much extra on hand, so I don't need too much space.

Any and all insights would be appreciated. Pictures would make me very happy.

Thanks,
Randy

[Scott Coffelt]

I have a basement shop and have to utilize space efficiently. I went to HD and bought some heavy duty adjustable brackets and hangers. The wall hangers were 36" long I believe. I mounted them through the wall board and into the studs that are on 16" centers. I skipped studs, and they work fine, but I plan on going back some day and add hangers on the in between studs. Why? so I have more flexibility. I use long shelf brackets on the top level and when I get the lower part I use brackets that are 6-10". As my lumber supply changes (long boards, wide boards, scraps, skinny boards, etc. I can just adjust the brackets to fit my needs.

This may be more expensive then the steel bars, but I have more flexibility. Right now I have about 500-600 bdft stored and totally out of my way. The area underneath is for tools (i.e., jointer, planer, sander, etc.). I have to store my full sheets in the garage. I also try to buy sheet goods on an as needed basis. Smaller sheet stock is stored in other areas of the shop.

Shop Notes and Wood also had a nice storage design.

[Dave Avery]

Another vote for the heavy duty shelf brackets from Home Depot. Very easy and fast to install (less than an hour), very flexible as needs change, and not that expensive - about $100 for 2X's, brackets, and supports for 8 feet of storage. Dave.

[Keith Outten]

Randy,

Here is a pic of a lumber rack my Dad and I built for my shop. This particular rack was designed for a cabinet job we have been doing for the last four years. It fits the pieces we machine and stores enough material for 30 cabinets. This rack will be reworked to store rough lumber when our cabinet job is finished.

The rack is made from 1x2" tubing sometimes called square of rectangular pipe. Its welded as you can see and the design could easily be modified to use U shaped pieces on the ends of the horizontal members and drill the verticals so that you could adjust all of the shelves except the top and bottom.

We have filled both of the racks we built from the floor to the ceiling, they will hold a lot of weight with little or no deflection.
The square tubing is available in lots of sizes and wall thicknesses and is very inexpensive where I live anyway.

[Steve McDonald]

Hi Randy... I recently was faced with the same task of choosing a design for an eight foot space I had set aside for storing lumber and sheet goods. After looking through as many books and catalogs as I could and checking what I could find on the various forums I decided to go with black pipe covered with pipe insulation. I purchased three redwood 4x4's and fifteen 6" Lags to anchor to the wall.
The night before I started I happened to be online browsing and was on the American Woodworking website and caught a glimpse of a lumber rack which had 2x4 arms skinned top and bottom with plywood creating enclosed shelves for cutoffs. I thought about it for awhile longer and decided that since I don't store much more than a project or two's worth of lumber that this was an idea that worked well for me.
By aligning the 4x4's I was able to use a router to cut dado's to house the 2x4's. I then drilled the 2x4's for three 1/4"x3 1/2" lags per arm. All the 4x4's were drilled and countersunk to accept washers, then attached to the studs. Make sure you have succesfully located the studs, I didn't trust a snapped line and drilled exploratory holes at each lag location (pays to be thorough).
After the uprights and arms were in place I cut to size and notched 1/2" particleboard and fastened with 2" lags and fender washers on the bottom and #10 woodscrews on top.
While I was putting it together I was thinking that I should have just bought the metal arms from Lee Valley or Garrett Wade. But now that it's done I am glad that I have the cutoff storage... it's very handy! Hope you find what works best for you! All the best...Steve

[Dr. Zack Jennings]

I just built my rack but it won't fit your space.
Good Luck

[PeterTorresani]

I like Steve McDonald's plan that leaves room for cutoffs. That space can also be used for storage drawers.

The black pipe option is nice because shelf height is small, but if your not storing a lot of material, that's probably moot.

The shelf brackets seem easy, but the angular support might get in the way.

As always, take everyone's opinion and make up yur own mind

[Tony Shaftel]

...for the heavy duty shelf brackets from Home Depot. For flexibility I didn't skip any studs as I'm notorious, at least to myself, for having a better idea later on. Easy to put up, easy to change around, and they hold a lot of weight.

Tony

[Steve McDonald]

Hi Tony... I also use the Home Depot brackets for shelving, trim pieces and smaller stock. I'm not sure what the load rating would be...would like to find out. Here is a pic of the Lee Valley system. I like the fact that it has no bracing but you are paying substantially more for that space saving. Having said that... it does look fairly easy to install and I like the flexability. The 18" arms are rated at 600lbs across its length and 2400lbs across 4 brackets (over 1 ton). Impressive numbers! Dr. Jennings...very, very nice... I only wish I had the room. I saved the pic for the next shop upgrade! Thanks everyone...Steve

[Scott Neblung]

I plan on doing that Lee Valley set up within the next few weeks,
since I have 500 bf of walnut being dried as I write this.

My space is a premium and I think with my recent acquisition of tons of wood ( no kidding ) I need this heavier duty storage.

It is expensive, but I feel it is a good value and fit for my situation.

Scott

[Rob Russell]

Depending on what you're willing to spend, you could put up a rack made from Unistrut/B-line/Powerstrut/Kindorf stuff. It's 1 5/8 "U"strut channel. Think of it as industrial strength tinkertoys. It's strong enough so you can cantelever 4' lumber support arms and hang as much wood as you want on the rack. You can also build it as a free standing rack.

It's what I'm gathering to build all my racking out of.

Rob

[Randy Miller]

I'm going to look into the HD racks this weekend. I would still need to build a faux wall since the space is against the foundation (basement shop) and I wouldn't trust a bunch of plastic anchors to hold up all the weight.

Thanks again!
Randy

[Rob Glynn]

Just a thought.

We are talking about a timber rack here, not living room furniture.

I did a scout of a place that sells salvaged shop fitting and located some shelving brackets and their vertical supports. I bought enough to erect wall to wall shelves, about 7 feet high, across one side of my daughters timber framed garage. It didn't cost much and it occurred to me at the time that, minus the shelving, it would have made a great timber rack.

As it happens, I had already built a rack in my workshop from salvaged structural 2 x 4 pine so had no need.

It may be worth your while checking out the local salvage outlets.

[Ross Hodren]

Randy
I have just put up my storage shelves as in the black pipe pipe design, but with a few changes
I used 19mm plastic water pipe with hardwood insert the hardwood (jarrah) was old offcuts that I ripped down on the tablesaw into a six sided length, the same as the pipe and forced into the plastic pipe.
The pipe and hardwood were all scraps so cost was minimal.
The supporting pieces are at 600mm intervals fixed to the wall studs. These pieces are made from pine.
As for spacing mine are about 500mm but this should be what really suits .
If you want I can take a photo and post.
weight on these shelves is not a problem I am storing a lot of timbers uncommon to the americans but the weight is huge and definetly no problem

Ross

[Dick Parr]

Randy,

Here is the one I built from a plan in Wood Magazine. You can look on their web site for the plan.

http://woodstore.woodmall.com/lumstorrac.html

[Rik Rickerson]

Randy I have the Lee Valley racks mentioned above am very happy with them. If I were to do it over I wouldn't purchase the 10" shelf brackets and just stick with the 14" & 18" brackets. I went floor to ceiling (8') 10' long and it holds a lot of material!

[Malcolm Timbers]

I have a simple solution: I put screw hooks in the rafters and screw eyes in the ends of the boards and hang them up. I put posts under the rafters to prevent the shop from coming down on my head. I have more than a ton of lumber hanging from the rafters.

I also use this arrangement to hang up stained and varnished parts to dry.