Materials storage rack?

[Thumper68]

I'm starting to build up a selection of longer materials again and need a way to store them, I came up with this design and would like some feed back if you see any flaws or improvements that it could use before I order materials.

This will be outside the shop on the east wall, right beside the overhead door so stuff can be pulled out and move right in for processing.

For scale it is 8 feet tall and the base is 24 inches the material supports are 14 inches with a 12 inch spacing between supports, there are 5 total uprights for a total span of 20 feet to carry the mostly 24 foot lengths of steel.

The structure at the top is for metal roofing to keep most of the rain and snow off.

It will be set on a level concrete block base and lagged into the wall at the top.

Materials are 1 1/2" 16 ga square tube, the gussets are 3/16 and the end caps are also 3/16.

View media item 74613

 

[Thumper68]

That's a nice rack.
I prefer the ones sold at home Depot as Stanley or somesuch.
The ones that assemble without tools, have the wire bottoms and are about 170 bucks.
Quick, easy, and holds odd flats like that 2ft x8ft cutoff of plate or the 12"x18"x2" aluminum box you picked up for scrap. Also allows for a small or large box to sit on it to throw cutoffs and mistakes into for later use, to cut your hands while you sort through that shitbox.
I tried the style you show and it just wasn't for me.

(and yours won't hold pieces smaller than your centers. If you're two feet between arms it won't hold a 20 inch. If your 6 inches between arms it won't hold a four inch)

I have inside storage for smalls as well as some old steel shelving outside for more smalls (The inside rack gets cleaned up a couple times a year and less usable stuff goes out side)

This is for larger stuff 5+ feet in length, Right now I have about 15 20+ feet lengths sitting in a pile plus 20 or so form 6 to 20 footers, it is a real pain to get the piece I need out.

I really can't see my supply of longs getting smaller as every time I go to the steel yard I pick up a few more pieces to add to the on hand pile. Sometimes it is a pain to be over an hour from the suppliers. It is also a pain no matter how far yo are from the supplier to stop progress and run to get a small piece to finish a project.

 

[bggrnchvy]

Don't weld on returns on the arms, use removable pins. It makes adding/removing material a lot easier. A simple piece of pipe with a washer welded to it works great slipping in/out of a piece of loose fitting square tube.

I think you're undersized on your material selection if you're planning on actually putting much up there. The spine and feet would benefit from both a W or S flange beam (or rectangle tube) for both the thicker rail to weld the arms to, as well as a deeper section to handle the bending moment. 16ga is something I'd spec for a hand rail, not a material rack.

 

[bullnerd]

Removable ends(Like mentioned) and I like flat arms more than angled arms.

 

[4 FN 27]

T68 looks good. I would consider going up a few gages in thickness. Bottom legs and verticals at least .125 wall 2 x 3.

I built mine using the .125 x 2 x 3 with .125 x 2 x 3 Arms on the bottom 3 and .125 x 2 x 2 on the top 2 arms.

I added a cross member tying all the bottom arms together so I can move it with a Forklift or a pallet jack. Had to do a bit of fixturing and straightening to keep the uprights flat with all the welding on the front side.

Worked out great. Send me a PM with an email address and I can send you my model in a DXF or whatever you might want it in. You can stretch and pull it to whatever you want.

 

[Thumper68]

All great Ideas guys, Thanks!!

 

[bullnerd]

"I prefer the ones sold at home Depot as Stanley or somesuch. "

Is there a picture or link? HD site blows! And there's over 1k racks!

 

[dr_clyde]

I would go up to 3" square tube, using at least 7ga wall. If you plan to load this with steel, even a small amount of steel can add up very quickly. Unbelievably quickly.

I would also eliminate the tilt toward the back. When you need to get to something at the bottom of the pile, you don't want to be fighting it. With the stubs on the front, you won't lose any material.

Here is a rack I built some years ago for the brewery shop. It is similar in size to the one you're looking to build. It is X braced and anchored to the concrete. It is very sturdy.

If I could build it again, I would make it 24' long, instead of 20' with 6 uprights instead of 5. I don't store short stock lengthwise on it. I added sheet metal shelves on the 4th row up to store some shorter stubs. Haven't really utilized that part yet.

 

[dr_clyde]

If I could stress 2 things, it would be the material thickness and the x bracing. I welded tabs onto the uprights and the x braces are held in with bolts. This is critical to keep the structure from "racking" side to side when loaded with literal tons of steel. You need that wall thickness for strength to resist deformation. The anchor bolts into the floor were also done in the rear and the front of each upright. This combination is very stable.

I did not use gussets anywhere. I welded these with a MM211 pretty much maxed out and I've had zero issues. We discussed it and determined that the added work wasn't warranted.

 

[-Brent-]

My cantilever racks (I have two Jarkes, a Button On and the other with bolted on arms) and they both have much heavier "feet." Also, the backs are straight upright.

 

[dr_clyde]

My cantilever racks (I have two Jarkes, a Button On and the other with bolted on arms) and they both have much heavier "feet." Also, the backs are straight upright.

Good point on the feet.

On the subject of feet, if you look at my photo, you'll see that the "feet" of my rack are built out of 3"x 6" rectangular tube. The upright extends all the way to the floor, and the foot is welded to the side. It acts as a shelf and a leg.

 

[bggrnchvy]

The material rack I drew up for the last company I worked at used two pieces of C4x4.5 channel parallel with the ground (one mid height, one top) that bolted to the back of the W beam spines to keep them spaced and upright. Then they just got cable stretched from opposite corner to corner of the entire rack and tensioned with turnbuckles to keep the rack from racking. The rack was 20' L and ~14' tall as I recall.

Home Depot racks are just sections of wide flange beam, same size for the foot and the spine, bolted together at a 90* angle with arms coming off the spine of smaller W flange. Usually they have a piece of tube welded to the end of the arm for the removable pipes to drop into. They're very simple and seem to work well, just lots of drilled/punched holes in the flanges to make it all modular and bolt together.

 

[Thumper68]

All good points guys, I am going to have to go back and do a bit of redesign, the one pictured is based on a commercial unit I had many years ago.

After thinking about it I do think I would prefer the flat arms as well, for ease of pulling stuff out.

I also had thought about a rack that is enclosed on both sides and could only be loaded from the end allowing more capacity with lighter materials, that would not be a big issue for me as I do not own a fork lift any way and if I did I would not be able to access the location.

I have a bit of thinking to do.

 

[bad_idea]

All good input. My only grumble is the depth of the overhang, I think it needs to be a bit deeper to keep rain off of the material.

 

[Sandwillys]

Here’s mine, not for super long materials, but works good in my shop. The arms on the side are to hold flat sheets.

 

[Strouty]

I rarely store long pieces, my shop just isn't setup for it right now. When I am buying stock, it is for a project, so I cut to length ASAP. I store 12' and under vertically, but have no rack, it just leans against a wall. The two garage door tracks act as a safety, but I keep waiting for the wall itself to give up. I do have a few long pieces, but they are stored up high in a very precarious area, it really takes two people to get stuff up and out. Someday I plan on building one and there are some great ideas here.

 

[DatsunLover]

Coworker made this rolling rack for here at Work, each caster was like $600 but with 3 men it will roll, Hard part is Stopping it!!!