Storage ideas for short bits of steel

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It's too cold here to do much outside on the weekend, so I thought it was time to clean up my shed.I hate chucking stuff out.I've got plenty of storage for long stuff, but nothing for shorter bits of angle, flat, tube etc - up to 3 foot.I bet you guys have some clever ideas.Scott
Reply:I have the wrong method. The long stuff lays on the floor against a wall. I write the apx length on the moderately short stuff and lay it on top of the long stuff. Guaranteed wrestling match for a long stick.
Reply:Hi Sandy.Yeah I used a similar method for a while, but started to run out of room. I also found myself buying stuff I already had.Now, long lengths are on a rack outside on the wall. Medium length stuff is stored vertically. Shorter stuff is in a tangled pile.
Reply:Recently I mounted some metal shop trays on the wall that I can put the 1 foot and under cut offs in. I still need something for the 1 ft to 4 footers. I have one ten foot wall I can place the 10's on but I really really need to get them off the floor. Not sure how to do that yet. My other bad habit is tube in a tube in a tube. Talk about lose track of what you have. The 20 footers, I'm really lost there. I hate putting them outside with all of the rain we get. Keep tripping over them till I figure it out I guess. My shop is so small I'm losing control here.
Reply:I have one of those 36" wide by 18" deep steel shelving units. I use two shelves for short pieces, sticking straight in. Up to 24" pieces and I can see everything I have. But it's all light stuff, 16ga sq, 1/8" & 3/16" flat. Maybe a 5gal bucket (or 2) for the 3 footers, leaned against a wall? (too tippy?) Chained like a tank?Sydney Australia?Last edited by Craig in Denver; 06-16-2008 at 12:44 AM.9-11-2001......We Will Never ForgetRetired desk jockey. Hobby weldor with a little training. Craftsman O/A---Flat, Vert, Ovhd, Horz. Miller Syncrowave 250
Reply:1.  Long stuff goes into the horizontal rack.2.  1-4' pieces are in a wooden box mounted on a plywood covered  pallet, the box is sectioned into 4 subdivisions, equally spaced, the cut pieces stand vertically.3.  Small bits & brackets in couple crates under the welding table, actually there's more of a huge pile around the 2 overfilled crates! 4.  Sheet stuff behind the horizontal rack.City of L.A. Structural; Manual & Semi-Automatic;"Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place where gold is refined. Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore."Job 28:1,2Lincoln, Miller, Victor & ISV BibleDanny
Reply:I built some racks out of old bedframes and mounted them to the wall for the longer stuff. I still have some tube inside a tube inside a tube - it's like those russian dolls.Craig, I've been using buckets. It's not ideal - and one fell over yesterday (which precipitated my decision to find a better solution).I have some 6 inch square tube offcuts at home that I think I can do something with - I have half an idea in mind.Yep, it's Sydney Australia - that big island over past Hawaii.
Reply:Mine is getting to be a real mess but I have 2 weeks vacation in July so it might get sorted, then again it might not. I tidied up the work bench 3 weeks ago and couldn't find my hammer drill till I was looking for something else last week and found it by accident in a safe place.Clive
Reply:Back up a few pages and you can find my storage rack:  http://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=21446My shop ceiling is just over 9 ft so this works for nine-footers and smaller.  Lengths less than 3 feet stand in short hunk of 8" pvc pipe secured in a corner with perforated strapping (not pictured).  I will probably expand on that and add two or three more like it or something similar.  Real short stuff is on a shelf I added to the steel rack previously shown; access is from the side of the rack.  That shelf is getting loaded though.  I am thinking of some sort of pigeon-hole system for small scraps.Less than 6 inches and I start thinking of tossing stuff in a pail for redemption at the local scrap yard but I keep digging through that and pulling out useful hunks of metal. I hate disposing of anything useful.  But when that corner starts overflowing and getting in my way I have to cave in and sell the bucket full for ice cream money.  Member, AWSLincoln ProMIG 140Lincoln AC TombstoneCraftsman Lathe 12 x 24 c1935Atlas MFC Horizontal MillCraftsman Commercial Lathe 12 x 36 c1970- - - I'll just keep on keepin' on.
Reply:I use pickle buckets (joint compound - 5 gal) One for angle One for round/squareOne for flatOne for scrapNot the best but ok for the present. I may put them on casters so I can move tehm to sweep.reber
Reply:I put a grid of deck screws with the heads sticking up about 2", and spaced at about 3", into a sheet of plywood.  The plywood is mounted under a bench at a 45 degree angle, with my short pieces laying lengthwise.  The 'V' created by the screw and plywood will hold several small pieces, but they aren't stacked up to the point where I can't sort through them fairly quickly.  Larger round stock and odd shaped pieces are under the plywood.
Reply:A 55-Gallon Drum
Reply:Yep, it's Sydney Australia - that big island over past Hawaii.Wow, that's a long swim. 9-11-2001......We Will Never ForgetRetired desk jockey. Hobby weldor with a little training. Craftsman O/A---Flat, Vert, Ovhd, Horz. Miller Syncrowave 250
Reply:If you stumble across a length of PVC large enough (4 to 6" dia, maybe-- 100 to 150mm), cut to lengths from maybe 3" long to 2ft long (75mm to 600mm) by increments of an inch or two (25 to 50mm). Glue together in a bundle, and drop the pieces in so they stick out the top. You can see the profiles and approximate lengths, and as peices get cut down, move the cuts to shorter tubes.
Reply:Originally Posted by enlpckIf you stumble across a length of PVC large enough (4 to 6" dia, maybe-- 100 to 150mm), cut to lengths from maybe 3" long to 2ft long (75mm to 600mm) by increments of an inch or two (25 to 50mm). Glue together in a bundle, and drop the pieces in so they stick out the top. You can see the profiles and approximate lengths, and as peices get cut down, move the cuts to shorter tubes.
Reply:Originally Posted by MondoBack up a few pages and you can find my storage rack:  http://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=21446
Reply:I made one out of scrap.I used 4 pieces of angle iron I'll say 1 1/4'' about 3' feet tall, all 4 standing , used as the corners.And inside I put  2 pieces of square material that were about 12''x12'' and had 1 1/2 square holes in it evenly spaced.I think it was made out of about 1/4'' rod. I put one piece about 6'' off the floor and the other about 6'' down from the top.They're like shelves with holes in them.I got the idea from a metal rack at a home improvement store.You can put pipe,angle or rod or flats in it.Anything to short is usually caught by the bottom rack and you can see whats in it.Last edited by stevinator; 06-16-2008 at 09:13 PM.pro-level dumpster diver                                     Hobart 125EZ
Reply:Thanks guys.Stevinator, I think I can visualize yours.Mondo, I've got a rack similar to yours (but not as flash) for longer bits.Enlpck, I'll use that idea with the 6" square tube off cuts I've got.Yep, it's Sydney Australia - that big island over past Hawaii.Wow, that's a long swim.
Reply:How about tube or pipe or buckets; stacked horizontally, to make a honeycomb of sorting compartments?
Reply:Trash can. Once it gets full, I sort it out a bit, and 1/2 of it goes to metal heaven, or wherever the truck hauls it off to.And then, after so much work...... you have it in your hand, and you look over to your side...... and the runner has run off. Leaving you holding the prize, wondering when the runner will return.