Stock Storage

If you have a storage solution for the standard (maybe only USA standard) 12 foot stock flat bar I'd love to see it. My shop has a 16ft eave height so I can store it vertically anywhere inside that I have the floor space, but I am trying to recover, not lose floor space right now. I am even considering just storing it all outdoors. Bob La Londe

---------------------------------- I store longer aluminum stock outdoors under a roof, and it acquires noticeable surface corrosion from our sometimes humid weather and rapid temperature changes when under the Jet Stream. Fog may be condensing on it occasionally.

My formerly inexpensive outdoor roofing is corrugated galvy, PVC or polycarbonate from the big box stores. Northern sun makes both plastics brittle after a decade or so. The galvy can be tied down between pt 2x4s to avoid fastener holes so it can be rearranged. I bought 12' and 16' warped

The shed I put a peaked roof on has a hinged gable end door to slide in long stock. Its wall studs are the full 8' high, with the added 3" of top plus bottom sills 8' steel channel can be stacked upright in a corner, and 10' -

I've raised long items up to roof beams with a block and tackle at both ends. It wasn't a good solution because I could raise or lower only one end at a time and a tilted pile wanted to slide. It works well enough for a single item like a canoe or a choker sling load. The load hangs on one side of a column, I'm on the other side in case it falls. A fixed rack below the beams was better, it can be suspended at all four corners if there's extra space at one end to angle long stock in. Supporting long stock ~1/4 of its length in from both ends bends it the least. jsw

A fixed rack below the beams was better, it can be suspended at all four corners if there's extra space at one end to angle long stock in. Supporting long stock ~1/4 of its length in from both ends bends it the least.

--------------------------------- If you leave one stock length clear at one end of a roof-suspended rack you can lift a piece by its center with a chainfall hung slightly less than half a stock length out from the end of the rack. When it's at rack height you can climb a ladder, support the end of the stock on the rack and slide it in. The chainfall sling will support the outer end while you move the ladder until the stock balances on the rack.

This way you could move twice the weight you can lift with minimal equipment, since you lift only half its weight at the end. I can slide a

Sawmill practice is to place thin wood strips between rows to speed drying. I found that 3/4" spacing is too tight for mice to nest and foul the space. The spacers or "stickers" allow slipping a webbing sling around the stock, or a forklift fork under it. jsw

When I bought this house it had a 4' wide roof overhanging the 12' x 12' rear deck, covered with corrugated fiberglass panels. The deck wasn't PT and was deteriorating so I rebuilt it. The carpenter neighbor who helped me told me about the overhanging beam rule which made the design more convenient to store stuff underneath, as the outer corners are wide open and there's still almost 9' between the columns and the house for the riding mower, wheelbarrows, shop crane and log splitter plus shelves. I waterproofed the deck with outdoor carpet over heavy duty tarps.

In other words 1x out for 3x in, or supported at a quarter of the length from the end. Later I saw mathematical proof that uniformly loaded beam deflection is minimum with supports at 27% of the length in from both ends. That's for the stock rack.

The panels on the 4' wide roof wouldn't support my concentrated weight and making needed repairs was difficult. I removed it and fastened the replacement to the fascia board with large strap hinges screwed into the ends of the house rafters that let it hang vertical to easily attach or replace the panels from a stepladder. I sized and spaced the hinges for snow and hurricane loads. The 4' roof was easier to frame and cover by myself hanging vertical than if on columns.

Needing temporary covered space for the log splitter out back, I extended the roof of a woodshed 6' with some of the warped 2x4s. This roof has no columns to interfere with driving under it because the shed's open construction for ventilation allowed fastening the 2x4s to the existing joists.

On a finished building I think hinging an added overhang to the eave like my deck roof could be practical. Its size limits are the full or half length of the 8', 10' or 12' corrugated panels and the weight you can swing up and temporarily support while installing the columns. Overlapping the corrugations at the ends allows dividing the roof into shorter sections for easier handling. When removed you have only holes that can be plugged and disguised as rivets with carriage bolts.

My deck roof overhang is 4' x 16' long and its weight is manageable without help. Despite my variations the deck roof looks quite normal, only the hinge barrels are visible and can be painted.

I decided to throw money at the problem. Behind my shop is a 20x60 concrete slab. On the edge of the slab was is where I placed the 40' high cube container leaving 12 feet between the container and the building.

My future plan has been to place two 20ft continers that are current at my parents house on the far end of the slab facing outwards (doors will open over dirt), and one I already have (currently out front) against the building parallel to the 40 footer. This leaves a 4 foot passage (nominally) between the 40 foot containers and the other containers and a 12 x 24 open area protected from casual view.

Its always been my plan to put a 12 x 20 shade structure for outdoor work in that 12 x 24 space for blacksmithing, foundry work, etc. The little bit of blacksmithing I do now is typically done just inside the south door of the shop with the overhead door standing open. I set my little blacksmith furnace on the welding table. The light is not ideal. It makes it hard to see the color of the metal with the direct sunlight coming in the door.

I had planned to add the shade structure after the containers were in place, but I can add it first. I just need to be extra careful when placing the parallel container so I do not damage the shade. After the containers are in place I can move any racking I buy or build inside one of the containers.

I threw money at it and ordered the shade this morning.

I decided to throw money at the problem. Behind my shop is a 20x60 concrete slab. On the edge of the slab was is where I placed the 40' high cube container leaving 12 feet between the container and the building.

My future plan has been to place two 20ft continers that are current at my parents house on the far end of the slab facing outwards (doors will open over dirt), and one I already have (currently out front) against the building parallel to the 40 footer. This leaves a 4 foot passage (nominally) between the 40 foot containers and the other containers and a 12 x 24 open area protected from casual view.

Its always been my plan to put a 12 x 20 shade structure for outdoor work in that 12 x 24 space for blacksmithing, foundry work, etc. The little bit of blacksmithing I do now is typically done just inside the south door of the shop with the overhead door standing open. I set my little blacksmith furnace on the welding table. The light is not ideal. It makes it hard to see the color of the metal with the direct sunlight coming in the door.

I had planned to add the shade structure after the containers were in place, but I can add it first. I just need to be extra careful when placing the parallel container so I do not damage the shade. After the containers are in place I can move any racking I buy or build inside one of the containers.

I threw money at it and ordered the shade this morning.

Which one?

I had the HF 10x20 shelter set up over the sawmill and gantry all last summer. While pretty decent its flaws were rain pooling above the eave rails because the cover wasn't tight enough, the tubes pulling apart in high wind and poor squareness of some welded fittings. I had to deburr some tubing cuts and stiffen the center eave joint by lashing on EMT conduit, so I could remove the center posts while working. It wasn't difficult to set up without help.

The columns could have been higher. I had some salvaged frame tubing from a collapsed garage that slid over theirs and raised and leveled it with hose clamps as stops. The guy lines didn't hold until I replaced the stakes with orange steel spiral anchors from HD. The cover tightens by twisting the corner posts its bolt (edge) rope attaches to, and they sometimes untwisted. Extra guy lines attached with plastic tarp jaw clamps tightened the cover to stop rain pooling.

You are right. I originally bought a small 80lb Russian anvil off of eBay. Was supposed ot be cast steel of a certain hardness, but it acts and sparks like cast iron. It was mostly for cold work. London pattern anvils are handy for shaping metal, but I have a presses, brakes, vises, and hammers. If you are sure of yourself most mild steel can be done cold worked, as long as you don't work it to its fatigue point.

When my son took a blacksmithing class in college he developed a bit of an interest, and I picked up a slightly larger Chinese anvil that IS cast steel hardened into the high 30s low 40s RC.

Most of the time when I need to do any hot work its easiest to just clamp a rosebud in the vise for small parts.

My son and I have done some "art" pieces... more beating on metal for fun than real art. More like craft pieces at best. For me that was fun, and the hobby of blacksmithing allowed me to have a few easy birthday/Christmas present choices for him.

I have also used the forge furnace a few times for upsetting the ends on shop made vise handles instead of machining balls for the ends, heat shrinking parts, and other heat assisted operations. I've alos used the propane BBQ grill for heat shrinking.

I'm more likely to do some foundry work for direct commercial purposes, and its the reason I went with a 12x20 instead for a 12x24 shade structure. So the top blast of a foundry furnace doesn't burn a hole in it.

This one.

This one.

Bob La Londe

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Nice! I've never seen that style around here, perhaps because the horizontal corrugations would retain snow. The snow load design standard here is 70 Lbs per square foot, over a foot of solid ice, although some tarp shelters survive winter. At least tornados are rare.

I patched one that didn't with a tarp with its side edges stapled to and rolled around wood slats screwed to the uprights. The owner bounced snow off with a push broom from inside, until a particularly heavy night storm brought it all down on his truck, with the sharp broken tube ends making several punctures. I considered how to attach vertically aligned corrugated galvy panels, which would have cost nearly as much as the shelter you bought for the panels alone and more for (horizontal) purlins 2' or less apart.

Luckily before Covid I bought many spare galvy panels to quickly replace damaged ones before the firewood underneath gets wet. Now they cost twice as much and are two gauges thinner.

I didn't want to buy a rack, but I just don't have the time to get work done, and build something from scratch. I'm going to put something like this with one extension under the shade structure with all the arms on the top 1/3 and a work bench I already have over the horizontals at the bottom.

Okay, one of two carports is setup. I have the second one, but have not had time to set it up.

I was going to buy heavy cantilever racks, and even ordered some from a vendor who then changed the lead time by several weeks after they had my money, so I canceled the order.

Then I thought about it. Most of my working stock is aluminum. I order upto 900-1000 lbs at a time, and more than half is always gone by the time I make another order that size. Special size stock is usually ordered in less than bar size. Just enough to complete the job it is for. I almost never have more than 2000lbs of aluminum on hand and usually much less.

I ordered two of these:

The new racks should be here next week.

I am already using the space outdoors under the carport between the building and the shipping container for prepping stock with a carbide tooth metal cutting chop saw. It cuts stock in a fraction of the time of the bandsaw. I can't leave it unattended like the bandsaw, but its so fast it doesn't matter.

Here on the diagonally (and politically) opposite corner of the US I store my aluminum bar and tube stock outdoors under a roof too. With our large, rapid and frequent temperature and humidity changes moisture sometimes condenses or drips on it and degrades the finish, though not seriously enough to affect hobby projects. I keep the collet-sized stock indoors.

A metal roof can be bad for dripping condensation.

I had not considered that, but most metal buildings around here are insulated. Sheds tend not to be. If its an issue several sheets styrofoam, and a spray can or 3 of 3M 77 spray adhesive should fix it for the most part.

Humidity is pretty low here most of the year, but we do sometimes get morning dew. I'll keep an eye on it.

I had not considered that, but most metal buildings around here are insulated. Sheds tend not to be. If its an issue several sheets styrofoam, and a spray can or 3 of 3M 77 spray adhesive should fix it for the most part.

Humidity is pretty low here most of the year, but we do sometimes get morning dew. I'll keep an eye on it.

Bob La Londe

------------------------------- I have a tarp attached to the lower side of one corrugated roof's PT wood purlins that helps, as does plastic over the stored equipment. The condensing condition we have but maybe you don't is warm humid air after a cold spell, as in 20F to 50F in a few hours. Dew doesn't seem an issue, it doesn't form on covered surfaces that don't cool by radiating heat to into space. It didn't condense on my unpainted sawmill when the grass outside the canopy was wet.

I wonder if its as simple as, it slows down the change in temperature. Or rather it slows down the transfer of energy. I know here in the desert growing up I could sometimes keep tomato plants alive all winter by pulling a plastic sheet over them at night. There would sometimes be frost on the plastic, but not on the plants. It wouldn't save them from a hard freeze (low 20s to high teens), but it would save them from just cold enough to frost every time.

FYI: I received an email through the contact form on my website the day after we exchanged the first couple messages on condensation that had something to do with condensation, and a link to a Russian domain website. Kinda weirdly targeted and a long way around to get there.

Posting From Polytech. Narkive and Eternal September are both not working for me.

Well now its working...

Well now its working...

Bob La Londe

------------------------------------ Test: I don't see my recent posts either. jsw

Well now its working...

Bob La Londe

------------------------------------ Test: I don't see my recent posts either. jsw

--------------------------- I see this one. Richard, the French-name email was from me to get your address in case of losing Usenet. jsw

For eternal september you need to use non SSL. Something is screwed up with their SSL connection