Metal storage solution please

[josephny]

I decided to free up space in my workshop and move the small collection of raw metals out to the carport.

But now I don't know how to organize the material so that it takes up as little space as possible but it still accessible (and inventory still identifiable).

I have these 3 metal wheel carts that I was thinking could be used.

Here's some pics.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[cherokee]

I can tell you what I do. I am real leery on having it on a shelf that is bolted to the wall, personally I think it gets heave real quick.

The long stuff I will stand on end and use tie down straps to keep the stuff from falling on its own, you could do this with your round and square stock. The angle I generally just leave it on the ground if it is a good sized bit, the little things I do have some shelf......things setup but I try not to load them too heavy.

I am not real happy with my system so I will watch this thread. I am in the middle of a huge rework of it all, so everyting is just everywhere or I would take a few photos for you. Right now it is just laying on the gravel out of the way while I get power run for battery tenders for the mowers and tractors and such.

 

[Zeke]

Wall racks and lots of them. Don't let them stick out to far and don't overload them. Too hard to pull out the piece you want on the bottom. Keeping the load near the wall is better anyway.

 

[dcg9381]

I welded up roller racks, racks are about 15' long. I'll attach a photo when I can.

 

[cvairwerks]

single sided A frame or a cantilevered rack bolted to the slab.

 

[josephny]

Thanks very much guys!

Many of the pieces are 20' long, some are 24, so I don't think there is an option to stand them up.

And, then lengths make any frame to hold them pretty huge.

There are a couple more piles not in the pictures.

The walls are not sturdy at all, so I wouldn't want to attach anything to them that required structure.

And, I tend to get designs/layout wrong the first 20 or 30 times, so I'm loathe to make permanent attachments, like to the concrete.

I must be having a block because I can't envision a solution.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Go look at the cantilever racks at supermarkets, the ones they put cans and jars on. They can be single or double sided.Then go online and find some.
I was lucky enough to find a store putting in new racking, and got 2 rows of 30' for free.

 

[Zeke]

Build the racks right and they will HELP the building strength. The only downside to have legs in front is not being able to pull some length out straight toward you. You will have to take them out either end. Placing all this metal on racks at the wall takes up the least floor space.

You certainly have the material.

 

[whateg01]

I built a cantilever rack for my long stuff. Anything less than about 7' gets stood up on a cart with dividers. Short stuff gets "stacked" on a shelf.

 

[whateg01]

Go look at the cantilever racks at supermarkets, the ones they put cans and jars on. Then go online and find some.

Short versions of the stuff Lowe's puts their lumber on

 

[kwb]

There is no reason for the whole thing to be one piece. 3-4 identical slender units with 5-6 shelves that are at most 12"

Something like this - size pieces as appropriate to what you put on them, bolt it to the wall and take most of the bending load out of the vertical part.

 

[Kaizen]

Thanks very much guys!

Many of the pieces are 20' long, some are 24, so I don't think there is an option to stand them up.

And, then lengths make any frame to hold them pretty huge.

There are a couple more piles not in the pictures.

The walls are not sturdy at all, so I wouldn't want to attach anything to them that required structure.

And, I tend to get designs/layout wrong the first 20 or 30 times, so I'm loathe to make permanent attachments, like to the concrete.

I must be having a block because I can't envision a solution.

Do you envision using 20 foot long pieces often? my max metal storage is 12' by choice.

 

[LXCam]

What I had at one time in my garage/shop was 20ft sticks of 6” abs suspended up high to hold all my 20ft lengths of stock. In your case with all that stock being exposed, using something like that with end caps in place would help mitigate rust.

 

[LeeG]

I built a rack along my wall. It is supported entirely by the slab - no weight at all on the wall.



Lee

 

[Metal-Marc]

Sell it all on marketplace.

 

[ATC]

Drive by a welding shop and check out theirs.

 

[nadogail]

Mine has 2" iron pipe for uprights that sit on the slab and the 10" long arms are welded to the uprights. The best part is that the pipes and arms were free.






'"arms are welded to t

 

[josephny]

Wow! Thank you all so much for your help and inspiration. So many great ideas and solutions, but I went with bit of a bunch and compromise on all.

 

[LeeG]

Wow! Thank you all so much for your help and inspiration. So many great ideas and solutions, but I went with bit of a bunch and compromise on all.

Good work. I wish I had that kind of space. You might want to think about having some expanded metal to make a shelf so you have a place to store flat bar and less rigid material that won't take that kind of span.

Lee

 

[ATC]

Looks great!