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Source for steel shelving units (building Workbench Mag setup).....

chrisexv6

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I like the setup seen in Workbench mag issue 304 (someone started a thread here similar to it). I only have one steel shelving unit currently, and its pretty light duty......seeing as how I would be adding doors, etc to it, I was wondering where I could find better quality steel shelving units to use.

Ive seen Gorilla Rack and Quantum Storage listed on Northern Tool, are they any good? If not, any other suggestions?

Thanks.

-Chris
 
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Freejack

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St. Peters MO
I've not bought any yet so I can't comment on the quality, but Lowe's has something that looks like the Gorilla racking for $77 for a 4'x2' section with 5 shelves.

Sometimes you can find it at Sam's for a few dollars cheaper.

I will be getting some for the basement here in a couple weeks. One thing I did notice about alot of these quick assemble shelving sets is that the verticals are two piece, connected together by one of the shelves (not by bolts). My plan was to go ahead and weld the two pieces together. I was also planning to tie the back members to the concrete wall of the basement.

Jake
 

michael Mccoy

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They are the same ones I bought at Lowe's and I'm happy with them. They come in 2 different sizes and I bolted them to the garage wooden baseboards. I did not find it necessary to weld. very sturdy
 

NOMAD

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Once you add a sheet of thin plywood to a back or side they will become extremely strong.
 

devinchi

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Perkinsville VT
I have many of the steel framed-with particle board shelving units.

I have Gorilla racks and a few similar ones from HD. I will 100% suggest the real Gorilla racks. I have a bigger set that is side-by-side as a workbench ( with a custom 3/4'ply with 2x4 base worktop) I also have a smaller set that are now 2 separate bench units. The Gorilla racks go together MUCH better than the ones I got from HD. The HD ones were much shoddier quality, and more difficult to assemble.
 
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Lloydthumper

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I found a deal on ebay shelves for $10 each they were 12"x36" and 6' tall. I had to drive about an hour for them but I bought 20 of them and bolted them together 2 deep I kept 14 of them to make up 21' of rack and I sold 6 of them to a buddy of mine for what I paid for them. I have $160 in 21' of shelving 24" deep I felt like it was a pretty good deal. I am going to use them to put all my tools and as far as power tools on and I am going to buy some of the plastic bins for screws and bolts for one whole rack.
 
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chrisexv6

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Go to Costco or Sam's
they will have the 48" x 18" x 72" units for ~$55
I have bought 5 sets from Costco so far
Here is a link to the manufacturer for the Costco shelving
http://www.whalenstorage.com/products/storage.html

Saw those, was interested.

The only problem I see is that I wanted to build doors into them (like the Workbench article shows) but since the rivet posts on the Costco versions are hidden, I thought it might make it harder to add the doors and door frames.

I do like the Costco version the best though.......well built, and not boringly gray :)

Also, looking on Whalens site, I wish Costco had the wall cabinets!!! They look nice and would do the same job I want to do. Our Costco also has the gigantic workbench......for the price its not a bad deal!

-Chris
 
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grillmasterp

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Saw those, was interested.
The only problem I see is that I wanted to build doors into them (like the Workbench article shows) but since the rivet posts on the Costco versions are hidden, I thought it might make it harder to add the doors and door frames.
I do like the Costco version the best though.......well built, and not boringly gray :)
Also, looking on Whalens site, I wish Costco had the wall cabinets!!! They look nice and would do the same job I want to do. Our Costco also has the gigantic workbench......for the price its not a bad deal!
-Chris

I don't see the problem for adding doors - You could add some wood strips to
to mount hinges or look at different types of hinges such as external mount.

Oh yeah
Costco did have the stainless wall cabinets- they went from IIRC $150 >$100>$50 clearance - http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13243
 
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chrisexv6

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I don't see the problem for adding doors - You could add some wood strips to
to mount hinges or look at different types of hinges such as external mount.

Oh yeah
Costco did have the stainless wall cabinets- they went from IIRC $150 >$100>$50 clearance - http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13243

Darn, I think I missed that one!! Ill check again though, just in case.

At least the stuff is all steel..........SOOO many products out there locally available are just painted MDF. The only stuff thats all steel around here is Gladiator, and you pay an arm and a leg for it.

I can use 3 of the Costco shelves, or 2 + workbench. The cabinets would be even easier because I wouldnt need to add doors myself.

Looking at Costcos website, anyone else notice the MBI stuff looks almost exactly like the Whalen stuff? MBI stuff is overpriced compared to the Whalen clearance though. Maybe Ill head to Costco today to see if anything is left.

-Chris
 
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Ign

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Butte Peak ND
Craigslist search: "pallet racking"

you can cut the verticals to any height you want. It's available in various depths and widths. It's cheap used. It's way stronger than anything with a name like Gorilla Rack
 
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