How do you store your stock?

Mine is also sorted by length, labelled with nail polish. When I run out of short round stock I saw off the longest piece that fits comfortably in the lathe from a long bar hung from the ceiling.

jsw

Right now the small stuff is in 4 or 5 cat litter buckets sitting on the floor. Longer stuff is scattered around various places. the really long stuff is in the loft.

Looking for a better way to do it. I have too much equipment in too small a work area.

Some at my brokerage, and some in a safe deposit box at the bank.

i

I have a vertically divided rack out under the deck for non-ferrous materials. Made use of otherwise wasted space under the stairs for ferrous materials up to 6' (seldom have anything longer sticking around) and I used some approx 12" x 12" x 24" wooden boxes a friend made up for me to hold smaller scraps of plate, bar, and round. Soon as I find room for it, going to be adding a well built cabinet such as used for storing drawings or art work. Slides look to be good for at least 100lbs each, so this will be used for any odds and ends that will fit.

Jon

Depends on size, length, and shape. Lots of short stuff can be stored with good accessibility when stored vertically. Talking of flat bar, round stuff, rod, etc.

Full 20' lengths are good on wall racks with dividers starting at zero, then two, four,six, ten, fifteen, and twenty (minus six inches on the ends), that allow you to store some shorter pieces.

Flat stock like plate or sheet is different. I saw a neat rack at a glass shop that was 5'tall x 9 wide, with a stairstep every eight inches diagonally, and vertical rods every eight inches, that allowed flat materials to be stored standing up, and in a section corresponding to its height. Full sheets on either end, then two of each of the other heights in a way to keep it all visible and accessible. If one has the room, and uses enough flat sheet goods, a nice setup, otherwise takes up a lot of space.

Round pipes vertically will hold a lot of things, and after that, "stuff" just has to be put where it will go. Checkerboard grids on the vertical will also hold lots of stuff and keep it visible.

I like hanging stuff from the ceiling, as that is usually unused space, it keeps it off the floor making more work space, and if you use grating or shelving, can stuff a lot of stuff up there, and still see what you got without having to dig.

But, alas, there is never enough room.

Steve

I do mine like this:

-- Happiness is not a station you arrive at, but a manner of traveling. -- Margaret Lee Runbeck

Larry you should have built it on a slope. The stuff runs down hill don't ya know. Steve

Are those your "stock"?

I just toss mine in the pantry

--As the saying goes no shop is big enough. I made a point to store as much stuff as possible off the floor so I got good at making bar racks that could be bolted to wall studs. Second photo down on this page illustrates my design:

--I've got 'em mounted in the shop, in a shed and in the office for various lengths of stock. Stuff shorter than 4ft goez on a heavy duty metal shelf unit that I got from a catalog.

I post the same thing 8/7/2009 in alt.machines.cnc

see my post....Subject: How do you store your raw stock?

Nobody seemed to like my rack, not strong enough.

links to pictures still work.

Thank You, Randy

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Most of my metal is 12" or shorter. Mostly drops I was able to get from work with a chit. Those are in a 4' sq by 12" deep box I used to carry my ice fishing equipment across the ice. Now it is on one side and there is a lot of stock stacked verticaly.

Wood, well there is a corner of my garage with a couple racks. I have Tamerack, White Pine, Oak and lots of maple. Some of it is > 10 years old. I transitioned from woodworking while it was curing but I still have all my WW tools. I figure I have at least 20 more years, I'll get to it.

Wes

-- "Additionally as a security officer, I carry a gun to protect government officials but my life isn't worth protecting at home in their eyes." Dick Anthony Heller