Material Storage Racks

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In mid October, EdMac posted a query about materials racks.  That’s a GR8 general question.  Should be the next noob project after the bench, it saves so much time.  I’d like to post three ideas, two of which were fun to make.  The third was cheap and VERY handy. Pic#1 is a drawing I just made from memory of a 1990 project that served me well for over a decade until it disappeared in the divorce.  Got some $erious drops 2x6x1/4 and 2x4x1/4 steel tube and 3” std channel from a local steel fab shop.  Welded with probably 1/8” 7018 with the Miller Thunderbolt.  Sandblasted, 661 primed, blue Frazee Ind Enamel, which took longer than cutting and welding it up!Design was double sided in anticipation of a bigger shop, but that never happened, so I parked it near a wall.  That allowed “full”  10’ lengths in the back side and shorts or cutoffs on the front.  Also had 6” from the wall to lean sheet material.  Worked excellent for small shop.What doesn't show very well are the holes punched into the end of each arm with a 3/8 sq nut welded below.  Screwing in a 3/8x5 bolt allowed round material to stack on the arms without falling out.  The arms were sloped up about ¼” per foot also.  The top arms were 6’ high and always seemed to accumulate plywood or other wood shop materials.  And at one point, the rack was 1/3 full of wood! Pic#2 is the 2001 replacement.  Contractor friend had a 2x4x3/16 cut into thirds – 6’8” – and I had 2” sq tube in 1/8, 14 & 16ga.  Chopsaw’d the ends at 45* so I could drill and weld on a 3/8 sq nut like above.  Tube spacing and arm length decrease from bottom to top for smaller material.  Welding all those arms on at full power put a wicked bow [1/4” over 6’?] in the uprights, and I didn’t have the torch/rosebud to shrink it out at the time, so I left it.Borrowed a broken SP100 [I think] – the one that cost $369 late ‘90s at Home Depot – and fixed it, so he let me use it indefinitely.  At least til I left town in 2002!  Made better looking welds with that little box than any before or since! I still have that rack, but it’s in the storeroom both full of boxes and completely buried by other stuff.  Someday I’ll take pics of the welds and conn detailing, but for now, just have the one pic.  That was then ... now?  Don’t even want to guess how much it costs.Pic#3 etc is now:An improvised, low tech changeable and even temporary  solution for a standard stud wall - 12x14 and 10x12 or 8x10 shelf brackets at HD or Lowe's for a $1 to $2 each.  Buy a bunch at Lowe's and save 10% - they're always handy to have around.http://www.lowes.com/pd_48510-46882-...ets&facetInfo=Fastening to an existing stud wall, using (6) 10x12 brackets per stud and 1¼” drywall screws, the cost is about $10 per upright.  Used two 1.25"x#6 drywall screws into a studwall at the top of the bracket, and either none or #6x3/4 at the bottom hole.  I can do a pull up on it at the wall. Pic#3 shows an overview – 20’stix tucked up against the roof waiting for me to get done with 3 other projects!Pic#4 is a close-up. 9 sticks of 2"sq x 14ga x 20' plus about 50% more other misc supported by 10x12 brkts 32”oc.  The stix weigh about 40# ea x9 = 350# - divided by 6 brackets is 60# ea.  The "light duty" bracket supports 100# distributed, probably twice that close to the wall.Pic #5 shows a bunch of misc shorts over the workbench.  Not too difficult to find stuff in a pile that size. On a related note, Pix#3&5 show couple shelves full of HD paint boxes.  I screw’d brackets to the studwall 32”oc, cut a sheet of plywood to 16’ strips [12” works okay too] screw thru shelf and outside bracket hole into a piece of 1x6x16” long.  Set the next shelf on top of the 1x6 and screw to wall, shelf and 1x6 at the back edge with those little 1½” angle brackets.  Those boxes are UNBELIEVABLY HANDY for small “stuff” and tools.  Kinda like shallow disposable drawers.  I add a 13”(?) square cardboard tight fit inside of each box to reinforce the bottom.  Verrrrrrry handy for staying organized.  Concrete Block WallBolt 2x4 uprights to the wall 24" or 48" oc depending on your loads.  With the brackets listed above, uprights 4'oc at 100# each allows 500# with a probable safety factor of 2.  That means each "shelf" will hold:  32 stix 1x1x16ga ... or ... 20 stix 1.5x1.5x16ga ... or ... 15 stix 2x2x16ga ... or ... 8 stix 2x2x1/8 ... or ... and so on. Also, I put short misc in front of the "bulk" load on each shelf to get it off the floor!  What it does is keep the main load to the back, smaller stuff in front to be used up first.For example, on the 1x1 tubes, if the shelves are 12" apart vertically, the stack of 32 stix would only need to come out 3" or 4" (8 or 10 stix high) which leaves about 8" and probably nearly 100# per support for misc, since the 1st 100# is concentrated at the back 3" of the bracket.With a 10’ ceiling, I would use an 8’ stud starting 12" below the ceiling down to 12" above the floor.  That gives “larger junk” space both on top of and below the rack.  Long stock is hard to handle that close to the floor – or with machinery in the way, any height lower than about 4’.  Set the studs 48”oc if you’re storing mostly 16ga, 24” oc if heavier stock.  Since there is ALWAYS a tendency to overload these things, I'd go to 2'oc. That would give you 2x the capacity.  Bolt a 3/8” x 4 or 5" sleeve anchor into a grouted cell of the block 3” from the top,  then space down 12”oc from the 1st bolt, 6 per stud.   Counterbore 3/8"deep for bolt head, set bracket about 1" below bolt.  For block or conc wall, I would use these:http://www.concretefasteners.com/anc...e/pricing.aspx Stud will cost about $3, 6 brackets $12, and 6 [1/2”x4” sleeve] anchors $2, for a total cost about $20 per upright.Could probably use smaller sleeve anchors, cuz those resist 1600# of pull out force and 2400# of shear.  EACH!  I just don’t trust the block.  5 uprights with brackets 12"oc will support about 6000#!  But will the wall?  [eccentric load]  Just don’t be standing under it in an earthquake. Attached Images
Reply:Thats allot of weight on those shelf hangers. The rack looks nice!
Reply:I thought the same thing about the hangers. The rack does look excellent though.  What do you do for Black Widow control?"The man of great wealth owes a peculiar obligation to the State, because he derives special advantages from the mere existence of government."  Teddy RooseveltAmerican by birth, Union by choice!  Boilermakers # 60America is a Union.
Reply:VPT - Thanks, did a 180# pull-up on a few before loading.  Claimed load is 100# apiece.  Brackets at 32"oc is 7 per 20' stick.  700# rated, I'm probably at 500#.Bob - for some reason, haven't seen any black widows  ! They used to like to hang out at the bottom of the water heater in my old shop.  Wrapping them up in their own web with a twig seemed the easiest solution.  An aerosol can and a match  was the most difficult ... and messy!Last edited by Fabn4Fun; 11-13-2011 at 08:12 PM.Reason: Spiders have webs, not nets!
Reply:Fabn4Fun, when I lived in Mesa back in the 80's I would make a weekly patrol outside with a flashlight and a can of Raid.  Sprayed them right there in their webs.  Cleaned them up the next day with a stick.  Never saw any inside the house, although we once had a small scorpion in the kids playroom!  Wife didn't like that at all!!"The man of great wealth owes a peculiar obligation to the State, because he derives special advantages from the mere existence of government."  Teddy RooseveltAmerican by birth, Union by choice!  Boilermakers # 60America is a Union.
Reply:Bob, it's funny ... I'm temporarily near the Broadway Curve and I haven't seen a black widow since I came back in 2009.  Lived in Scottsdale for 20 years and probably killed a dozen.  Never saw any at ASU when I was there starting in '74.  Even goofier, I've been at jobsites all over the state, have been boating on all the lakes at least a hundred times, lived east of Houghton in Tucson for a year ... but the ONLY time I've ever  seen a rattlesnake was at the zoo!  Don't know how wild life manages to avoid me!
Reply:Just for piece of mind why not triangulate the hangers and make a ledge to hold the stock up? Or just fab up a little angle shelf? Based on your first picture your more than capable.. Just saying thats still a lot o weight over head!HTP Invertig 201Lincoln Idealarc SP250Miller 180 AC StickBy farmall:They should have held the seagull closer to the work, squeezing evenly for best deposition.
Reply:When we lived in the Mesa Drive and Brown Road area we never saw many Black Widows.  When we bought our house in the McDowell and Power Road area we saw quite a lot. I only saw two snakes. One was a rat snake "in the wild" along side a path at the Phoenix Zoo and the other was a coral snake we found in an equipment room at an apartment complex in the north part of Tempe while working on the AC.  And yes it was a coral snake, not a king snake. I was always told that the only good rattlesnakes were "flat rattlers""The man of great wealth owes a peculiar obligation to the State, because he derives special advantages from the mere existence of government."  Teddy RooseveltAmerican by birth, Union by choice!  Boilermakers # 60America is a Union.
Reply:Living in an earthquake zone I would never put that much steel up high.  In my case it may be years but when an one hits that will make a hell of a mess.Bill
Reply:@Fordman ...You're right about a lot of weight.  But for me it's temporary.  If I don't have that project cut and on the table to weld up by New Years, I'll be really !  I would never recommend those style brackets for overhead without testing - [which I did ... 180# pull-up] - and then only loading it to half of that.  But up to shoulder height, no problem.Ironically, I first used those closet rod/shelf hangars with solid 1/8x1" strap and the diagonal rod brace:http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1...atalogId=10053And they buckled under one tube!  ... but they worked fine with a 1x2 screwed to the top - 3 to hold up a half dozen tubes.The rack in the first pic was loaded with a couple tons of material, but I still only felt comfortable loading most of it low - below waist level - and saving the shelves above for small tubes & rods,  shorts & drops.@Bill ...The rack in the second pic was built in az and was about quarter full of steel for a couple years.  Then I moved.  That pic was taken about 1/4 mile from the Redondo Canyon Fault ... and we got a 2.8 in spring of '04 I think.  Not a real quake.  Nothing fell, kitchenware didn't even clink.While there I filled it with wood!    The basement shop I was in wasn't suitable for either welding or loud grindy noises.    Just occasional wood shop work maintaining the apartments.A quake serious enough here to knock those tubes down would probably be a TEOTWAWKI event in California! But you're right, I don't feel safe around ANY rack that's loaded high but not low.  So take this as a precautionary post!