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I am reorganizing my shop again ( 3rd time in the last couple years ) and I need steel storage without losing floor space. I also am contemplating buying a 20' shipping container to make a metal storage rack to keep it safe and out of the weather. If any of you guys have any thoughts or have done this already I am open to suggestions. Right now my plan for the shop is to build an 8' rack with arms to hold 10 - 12' material in tiers going from heaviest down low to lighter stuff up high. It will be free standing on the ground but the arms to hold metal will not start till about 3 ft off the floor. I will keep other items in front of it taking floor space like my tool boxes that are on wheels that I can roll out of the way when I need to load or unload the rack. The above is not set in stone because it will still take floor space that is too valuable to use as storage but right now I have no option. The shipping container looks like it will be my long term solution. I really need to store 4x8 sheets in different thicknesses also but I do not have that figured out yet. I hate the idea of storing metal outside because of theft and corrosion . A 20 ft shipping container is great to build a tiered rack to keep cold rolled and hot rolled shapes in but I am almost think I should get a 30' or 40' er so I can store the 4x8 stuff too but it would be a hassel to get it in and get it back out again. My long term plan is to have 5 - 10k worth of metal in cold rolled and hot rolled shapes and 4x8 sheets from 16 gage to 1 1/2" in stock If I get a long one I would need doors at both ends but I still do not think an 8' sheet could go in through the door. I use a skid loader for my forklift and I could not handle a thick 4x8 from the long way.Last edited by thegary; 02-20-2016 at 10:06 AM.
Reply:Sheets I've handled several ways over the years, though mostly with plywood. Flat is nice from a movement standpoint with a lift, but you loose a ton of space separating the sheets with braces. You either have to mix stock ( and it always seems what you need is halfway down the stack) or have way too much lost space. This system works best with volume stock that is regularly used where you can have a bunch of pieces stored and easy to move with a lift. Flat also works well with thin stuff that bends and sags if turned on edge, though on a rack they may need a thicker lower sheet for support.The other two ways are to "book" them, either vertical the long ways, or horizontal. Standing up tall uses the least amount of space, but makes bigger sheets awkward to move, especially on your own. Thin stuff tends to bend a lot as well. Turned on it's side, sheets are easier to handle but take a lot more room. I've found rail carts some what similar to what Depot/Lowes uses for plywood good for moving sheets, especially if you set up your rack so that the cart and rack are at the same level. You can slide stock out of the rack and on to the cart reasonably easily. Plate clamps and a hoist can help with heavier plates..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:I had some similar concerns and also use a skidsteer as a forklift. As it turned out luck solved my problem. I ordered a 40' container but the day it was to come I was told sorry we do not have a 40' available for nearly 3 wks I had steel to put in so I was offered 2, 20' for a discount. When the 20's came they were not 8' high but 9'. That extra foot of height was a blessed happening when loading steel plate or even most anything else. I now have a few more cans and the option to configure doors all alike at one end or 40' with doors at both ends. I have also placed some about 16 ft apart closing in the ends to store like skid lots of cut offs in bins, skid lots of expanded metal, sandblast medium etc that are still easily accessible with the skidsteer. As the containers are on railroad ties up about a foot to allow air space to discourage rust, the head clearance in between the containers is 10' plusI found a swing out arm on the rear on the skidsteer and a rack attachment on the bucket (think 2" receiver style) makes it easy to side lengths out onto the skidsteer and move 20' pieces.
Reply:to build on what dave said, as a long term solution I think a 30 or 40 foot storage container is an excellent idea. I would make a vertical "rack" that holds the sheets up on the long ends. like dave said, standing them the tall way is pretty impractical for moving. I would put this rack at the far end from the door of the container, then run an I beam along the center of the ceiling of the container, with a hoist and plate clamp. it doesn't have to be a huge hoist, maybe just a hand/chain hoist depending on how thick of sheets you use. then line the walls back toward the door with racks for long angle/channel/tubing.Sent from my MB865 using TapatalkSynchrowave 250Lincoln WeldPack 180HDPropane torchhandyman's encylopedia collection of all types of toolsJack of all trades, ace of none...
Reply:I am about 90% sure I want to keep the 4x8 sheets flat. I work alone 100% of the time and I do not want to get in a position where I could get hurt wrestling with a big sheet. I think I will have 10 thicknesses, 1 pc each of the thick stuff down to 1/2' then 2 to 3 sheets of the rest down to 16 gage. I know the suport arms of the rack will take a lot of room but I think it would be worth it. A sheet of 1 1/2" is just under 2000 lbs. I can lift 3500 with my loader but not out to 8' . I am think I could set up a stand to run in sideways and set the sheet down with 1-2' into the door of the container , set it down on one support of the rack and the other end down on a steel horse or some other stand . Then run the skid loader around to the end and pick up the end and drive in as far as I can , then clamp it to a fork. Then I could move the horse out of the way and run the plate in the rest of the way into the container. A 30' container would be perfect with doors at each end. I would build a cubed rack that would fit in the container that wwould have 120 6"x10" openings for steel shapes . That would take up 20' at one end . Have the 10 tier rack at the other for the sheets and would give me a 4' space at one side to have a place to cut stock when I only need or sell a small piece. Put a couple lights in there and a vent up high and one down low so moisture does not collect in the container . Good to go only thing is with the stock and setting it all up I will have 13-14k invested. My thought is to then start selling steel to the do it yourself customers in the area and there are a lot of them. I do not have a business sign and if I do this I will just hang a sign for steel sales. I do not like most of the kind of work that you get from private parties as far as welding and machining. The other side of the coin is that most of my work is break downs and short notice. This would make me independent of the larger shops that I have to get metal from now because of no lead time. It will also allow me to buy larger amounts of steel to get it at a rate that I can actually make money on the steel I use. $.30 a pound beats $.75 a pound any day. I could sell steel at $.65 to $.70 a pound and still be cheaper than anyone near me for new steel.Last edited by thegary; 02-20-2016 at 04:10 PM.
Reply:What about putting a rollup or a sliding door on the side of the container. This would let you store longer than 8' sheets, and make getting them out easier.
Reply:Originally Posted by M J DWhat about putting a rollup or a sliding door on the side of the container. This would let you store longer than 8' sheets, and make getting them out easier.
Reply:Originally Posted by Mick120I store all my sheets on edge, corrosion is definitely a problem on the thinner stuff that sits for a while.The heavier (3mm up to 12mm) are stored on a roller system, as shown.I have a rotating table with rollers and, can handle a full 2400 X 1200 (8 X 4) 12mm plate, single handed with ease.The rollers are serpentine belt pulleys (I purchased bucket loads of them years ago for $7.00) and, the ribbed outer bearing holds the plates in place really well.If you need better pics, just holler.
Reply:Another option might be a todco roll up door, like they use on dry van semi trailers. They use a real tight track and are fairly easy to install. They may or may not make them in a wider lenghth. The snake and rodent thing shouldn't be an issue, since they seal relatively tight.
Reply:Since you are thinking of a container for storage. Then why not think of an I beam trolley system to carry your plate in and out? with having the I beam extension coming past the door opening by about 4 to 8 feet. Now this would have to be right in the middle of the two doors and fasten to the main supports of the container. Remember these thing are stacked 20 high on a ship. Now also think about the storage area of using the sides area for your long sticks ( 2ft on each side) and the middle front for plate rack ( standing on edge) in the middle front with the heaviest plate right under the I beam. I would add vents in about 12 places for air flow and some drain holes along the bottom outside walls for sweat drainage.
Reply:Originally Posted by thegaryA door on the side would defanatly simplify the matter. A roll up would work or a sliding barn type door. I would like to keep rodents and snakes out of the container. Not that snakes are a big problem here but none the less I want to keep them out. The mice are a big problem here in the woods. I have not had them in the house but the out building it has been a constant battle. You would not believe how much damage they can do in a short time. A slider would have too much space so I believe they would get in. The roll up is better but I would have to fill the corrugations up with something like UHMW plate to keep them out. You would not believe how small an opening a 6' snake can wiggle through. I watched one go into my shop one morning when I went out to open it. there was an opening that looked like it was about an inch high and 1/4 in wide, that snake shot through that opening like a rocket. he got in so fast that by the time I got inside through the man door that he had already hid somewhere. I never did find him again but about a month later I went in the shop in the morning and almost steped on a baby so I think he was a she.
Reply:Originally Posted by OMBI've used mothballs for the past 7-8 years with fairly good results. I sprinkle 1 per 2LF of container or storage boxes, 1 in each corner of the cabs of the trucks and equipment that I plan to idle for winter shutdown; this worked until this winter, a mouse has taken to one of trucks that I bought with a mouse problem even though I sandblasted and painted the interior. Does anyone know if the ingredients in mothballs encourage corrosion?
Reply:Originally Posted by tinker001Since you are thinking of a container for storage. Then why not think of an I beam trolley system to carry your plate in and out? with having the I beam extension coming past the door opening by about 4 to 8 feet. Now this would have to be right in the middle of the two doors and fasten to the main supports of the container. Remember these thing are stacked 20 high on a ship. Now also think about the storage area of using the sides area for your long sticks ( 2ft on each side) and the middle front for plate rack ( standing on edge) in the middle front with the heaviest plate right under the I beam. I would add vents in about 12 places for air flow and some drain holes along the bottom outside walls for sweat drainage.
Reply:thegary, I was renting shops a few years ago, they weren't long term, just one boats' build time. But I had no space to store the metal inside and little enough space to set up to layout and cut the hull panels so I needed to store the sheets of aluminum and move them, set up a cutting surface about waist high, and handle the movement of 20 and 25' long sheets.I thought a straight A frame rack would be the fastest lightest and easiest to move to other locations so it would look like this.The bottom two longs are 2"x2"x1/4" square steel and the rest is lighter and mostly angle as the frame gets taller- its 6' to the top. I'd planned to stand sheets on both sides, and slide the extrusion into some collars ties as the A frame's cross pieces. Not much help in moving sheets or handling them but it would store. It occurred to me that moving and handling stack of sheets this big would take equipment I didn' t have and didn't want to rent. So I made the entire A frame rack into a trailer with folding side frames as work tables and sheet lifters/lowering platforms.If the delivery truck is driven into the shop yard, all the sheets could be slid over rollers onto the A frame's two wood base plates, and leaned to the A and remain free standing. Then when I want a given sheet, I can lower that leaf/frame down holding all the sheets 'outside' the one I want, roll it off like Mick's system, or just pry up the edges and put dunnage and cutting boards under the (now) top sheet then do the work of layout and cutting. When the 'cutting table' is done, I folded it up and rolled the entire show outside.Main truss before the 'running gear' was added.Rear axle and 'suspension' axle was eventually trussed to stiff up; when the full load was on the axle sagged!Circus wagon front end; concentric pipe with poly-sheet bushings/wear plates, "lube".Here the main trailer/handler is loaded from a flat bed trailer on one side- folding side frames/work tables not added yet. Plastic pipe sections slit and taped back are wrapping the steel frame to keep the aluminum off the steel.6'x20' side frame being tacked up and welded out- all parts press braked of 14ga & 16ga. sheet.Once built and loaded with all the sheet, the entire frame could be backed in the shop using a front bumper hitch, anyone of the sheets laid down to mark and cut, and the whole show moved back outside in very short time. If you have overhead lifting rigging, floor space to give up for storage, that's one set of circumstances but I didn't have that in two of the three shops. So this was my work around to give me storage, working and handling equipment and return to a storage unit and left outside when not being used to move, handle or layout and cut the sheets.Just another set of idea to add to the discussion, might not help if your plates are heavier but worked great of 4 & 5'x 25' 1/4" aluminum.depending on how thick the material and if it is kept in the shop- I think an electric hydraulic scissor table with a rolling (like pallet conveyor rollers) frame would allow you to move to a horizontally layer rack, slide the plate out to the lift- adjusted up and down to that sheets storage ht. Then move the plate to the work area/NC table and return By using a scissor lift, the vertical handling within a horizontal plate storage system is done with power scissor lift not overhead rigging? Cheers,Kevin MorinKenai, AK |
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发表于 2021-8-31 22:14:42