How do you store your raw stock?

For the home shop it's a bit more difficult since there is less full size stock and lots of small bits. I've got a simple stock rack on the wall in the semi enclosed carport area next to the shop, just four of the heavy duty double slot shelf standards and the 12" long shelf brackets spaced to hold 10'-12' lengths of stock. No problems with stuff rolling since I mostly use square tube and angle, the few bits of round just go behind some square. Other stock is just some rubbermaid tubs for AL, steel, brass, etc. since most are relatively small pieces. Sheet stock is the real PITA to try to handle and store.

--Here are some shots of small-shop solutions I've come up with over the years"

--Bottom photo on this page shows how I deal with allthread: --Here's what I did to stash my collection of 80yrs of ME:

Doesn't matter how you store it, you can't find it when you need it!

Paul

I have a trolley with vertical 4" x 4" bins into which I place the longish stuff. These bins vary in length from front to back, longest at the back, shortest in the front. A cabinet maker made this for me when I rebuilt his ancient bandsaw:-)). This could easily be built now from plastic downspouts as used in eavestrough work.

Small blocks I put in plastic tote boxes, separated by type of metal ie, brass, bronze, mild steel, tool steel, aluminum, etc.

Then I have an old IBM punch card cabinet into which I place rod / bars less than 2 feet long; this one is in the workshop whereas the vertical bin trolley is in the garage.

Sheet metal and plate I put where there is room between cabinets or racks.

Not perfect but it works reasonably well. For screws and other small stuff I have a bunch of those plastic drawer cabinets on a shelf at the back of the workbench.

Wolfgang

Lately, I been putting pcs 6' and less under my bed. Not bad, ackshooly....

Very nice rack.

Our stock always comes pre-cut and wrapped up on a pallet, so we just label it and put it onto a pallet rack.

I just finished a job that started as two pieces of 36" x 36" x 10" QC-7 aluminum. Each was stored on the skids they were shipped on the floor in the back of the shop. ;)

Doesn't matter how you store it, you can't find it when you need it!

Paul

I normally store it where I can not find it until I purchase a replacement piece.

My only input is that there are two different kinds of storage. Long and short. You are asking about the long stuff, and I, like you find it a PITA no matter how done. I haven't found a good way yet. But for short pieces, I find a vertical storage works best. Racks where pieces can be inserted and stand on end makes for easy retrieval. But one is limited to their available height as to how long pieces one can store. But it does make it easy to look in a bunch of pieces and pull out the right one.

If you find a good solution to the long problem, I'm interested.

Steve

I saw a glass shop that had an interesting storage system. They had a slightly larger than 4 x 8 box. On the diagonal were like stair steps. At each step, there was a vertical piece so that any width of material up to 4' could be inserted into each cubbyhole. And there were two of each sized cubbyholes for differing materials.

Steve

Paul

Then you toss it or scrap it and need it within three days. Every time.

Enough height and no problemstoring lots of stuff. First saw that in Hong Kong. Lumber Yard in downtown area. About a 20' wide shop, and all the way back was lumber stored on end. Our local great millwork shop has most of the wood stored on end.

Just a heads up...from a real life welders perspective..your horizontals are about 1/2 as big as they need to be.. You may wish to install some diagnal bracing ... unless you plan on keeping them as lightly loaded as they are now.

Shrug

"Gunner Asch" wrote>

I noticed that, too, but figured that he just used a few pieces or had lots of racks. I always make mine at least 14" out. What happens is that you make a bin for one size, and then it gets jumbled up. AND, shortly, there is a LOT of weight hanging on there.

Steve

Do you mean the 1.5 x 1.5 x 3/16 anlge shelfe legs? I can jump on the ends of them, and I'm 225. (pounds for those across the pond.)

Thank You, Randy

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New pics......

quite the mess ain't it.

note shelf in back of pic 3, I found short bars store nice in cut up peices of carboard shipping tubes, or 3" or 4" PVC if you want to be fancy.

4" beam was used, plan "a" was to put the beam between the channels, but I wanted to keep the same height as the old rack to maintain the same spacing. ( A differant spacing might actually be better, but this was working for me.) Beam sits on top of channels with a 4" plate as a filler.

Thank You, Randy

Remove 333 from email address to reply.

Ayup..and then someone drops 500lbs of stock off the tips of a forklift and bends one end down, causing it to slide onto the next rack, which is suddenly carrying 1500 lbs...which bends and that 1500 lbs decends on the next shelf down......

It was simply an observation based on experience. Use it or ignore it.

Shrug

Gunner

'In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American... There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language.. and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.' Theodore Ro osevelt 1907

Full length pieces also store nicely in cardboard shipping tubes. We do a recurring job every few months where we buy 30-40 pieces of 5 mm dia. 303SS round rod in 13' lengths, and we just put the cardboard tube up on our rack and pull the pieces out one at a time as we need them. If they weren't in the tube it would turn into a mess of bends and kinks the first or second time someone tried to extract one :-). Plus it keeps the stainless steel rods from rubbing on the steel rack and picking up bits o' steel that would rust later.

----- Regards, Carl Ijames

"Randy" wrote

What I saw didn't stick out from the wall to hold squat. Plus, they had no protection from having stock roll off the top row even if the pieces were sitting up there nice and even. There needs to be a stop to prevent just such a thing. It happens in the real world. And it always lands on the wrong thing.

Steve