Lumber Rack Question

[John Hays]

I'm tired of tripping over all of my scraps and need a better way to organize that stuff. I saw this in ShopNotes #17 and thought it was pretty nifty:

lumrack.jpg

So my question is, are pine 2x4s (sold at the borgs) strong enough to support this lumber rack design? I know they're fairly soft and have a lot of knots, which makes me feel a little uneasy about using them for something like this. Unfortunately, the borgs are my only source for wood around here.

Any thoughts?

[Duane Meadows]

Built a lumber rack from pine 2x4's 18 years ago... still use it today. It as good as it was then, and has been nearly full(give or take) all that time!

[bobby milam]

Here's a video from the wood whisperer. Similar to the one that you are looking at except it uses 2x4 and plywood instead of the black pipe. I plan on building one myself when I get the time.
http://www.thewoodwhisperer.com/vide...king-my-brain/

[Aaron Berk]

Skip out on the borg 2x4's. They are to flimsy in my book.

Get 2x8's and rip them down. The yellow pine used on the larger lumber is more substantial than the 2x4 stuff.

[John Hays]

Duane: Good to know that pine will work, thanks!

Bobby: Well Marc's rack certainly looks more robust. I would opt for that design, but I have break-away walls, which means that I'll have to rely on the ceiling joists to be the main anchor for the rack. Which isn't really a problem since my ceiling is only 8 feet high.

Aron: A funny story about my experience with ripping 2x8s purchased from the borg. A few weeks ago I got fed up with their 2x4s twisting on me, so the last time I was there, I spent a good half an hour picking out two of the best 2x8s I could find and brought them home. The next day I tried ripping them down to 2x4s. Well the first one cut pretty easily, but upon inspection each piece had about a 6 to 8 degree bow in the center. The next one had so much stress in it that when I got down to the last 6 inches, the board split by itself the rest of the way with a very loud cracking sound... scared the crap out of me! And on top of all that, it was also quite bowed in the center. So no, I won't be doing that again.

[Brian Tymchak]

One thing I might consider if I were building that rack that would inexpensively add strength to the structure and load capacity is to alter the plan a bit and make each vertical post an "L" with 2 2x4s (glue+biscuits). The 2nd 2x4 will assure that your posts stay straight while essentially making your posts 2x6s. Then, for good measure, I might add a row of blocking between the posts. You still get the convenience of buying your lumber at the BORG and also a strong structure, while losing only 1 1/2" of floor space due to the larger posts.

[Aaron Berk]

Wow that sure is a horror story about your lumber ripping. I've jointed and ripped thousands of feet worth of 2x6 & up with out any serious problems. Do you climatize before working?

[John Hays]

Brian: Hmmm, that sounds like a good plan, thanks!

Aaron: Yep, I usually wait 2 to 7 days (sometimes longer) before cutting any new wood I purchase at the borgs. It depends on how dry (or not) it feels when I buy it.

[paul viser]

My preference would be kiln-dried poplar for a bit more stability. As for the design, the cantilever gives good three-sided access, but requires some real beef. I prefer steel here. For about 10 bucks apiece, you can get 500-lb rate KW steel brackets.

[Sam Stephens]

southern yellow pine is plenty strong enough for this. that's what your house is built out of, no? I'm not talking about the SPF stuff, but yellow pine. There's a big difference. Surface hardness is irrevelant to its lateral strength i.e. elasticity. in fact, depending on the species of pine, such as loblolly pine, it's significantly stronger than poplar.


i tend to rip them on my bandsaw to avoid those internal stress issues that cause binding on the TS. Unfortunately, there's no obvious signs to identify those boards until you've ripped them.

one other thought, vertical storage (standing boards upright) is a better use of space if your ceilings permit. My garage space has 9ft ceilings which is very convenient. Much easier to sort through stacks of lumber this way. As long as the wood is reasonably dry, you'll have no issues w/ warping, bowing etc. Most if not all of the movement (warping/cupping/bowing, etc), has already been initiated at MC >25%, you just don't see it til it's mostly dry (<15%).

Sam

[Andy Fox]

I think that even borg 2x4's could support that rack as long as you added full-width (2x4) blocking between the vertical supports halfway between the ceiling and floor.

[Frank Martin]

I bought this from Costco for $125 and removed the diagonal braces on the side to make it more useful:

http://www.whalenstorage.com/categor...ustrial%20Rack

Works really well and minimal time investment. Of course it is not open front, but with 72" width, not a big deal to load, unload.