Storing steel stock

[930dreamer]

I need some ideas on storing steel, inside/outside, moble stand? It seems as some as I stack the pile I have I want to move it.

 

[Monza Harry]

I need some ideas on storing steel, inside/outside, mobile stand? It seems as some as I stack the pile I have I want to move it.

930 D' one of the first things I built for my shop was a steel rack, back while I still lived with Mommy and Daddy. I built this for end access [pulled the steel right out the door, doesn't work that way now] and with the plan for future construction into my work bench. The weight of my "stash" helps when reefing on something I shouldn't be doing that way is helpful. I am adding some "cubby Holes" for smaller pieces to the front now that it is my bench. I made my bench/steel rack 8' long and 30" deep and 36" tall The steel rack is divided into 4 slots(?) 3 @ ~10+" tall and 1 @ 4" tall and about 12 wide and the whole 8' Dp.
Randoms [smaller round and square solids] come in at around the 10' mark lengthwise, tubing often comes in at 20' long so cut in half there is some stick out but this allows more "wiggle room" to get the pieces out. If I had more room it would be 12' Long. My smalls cubbies will be 2 rows wide at ~12" wide and line up with the ones across the back for my bar/tubing. Front access to the longer pieces would be nice but that would be a single function piece in my WAY overcrowded space and I still want more.
Harry
[I don't have a pic and it is like everything in my/(our) life(lives) un-finished/evolving. I will try and add a pic when the pile in front of it is transparent/gone maybe never at my current pace.]

 

[ndnchf]

I went to Lowes and bought some superstruts. Attached them to an I-beam in the garage. This got most of my steel stock up and out of the way.

 

[930dreamer]

Most of my inventory is over 2' and some are heavy. I have a bunch of oil field pipe also. Space wise I have a lot just unsure where/how to store and I don't want to keep moving stuff(story of my life).
Lots of space in the loft but nothing to lift it up there.

 

[creativecars]

I am about to move my inside stock. I am making an area under some shelves that will hold stuff up to 10' long, it will just be sitting on cement blocks to keep it off the soil cement floor. (No real concrete in the barn I will then have a place over 4' wide that will go to the ceiling, about 16' in the center and to stand up to 4x8 material, expanded and sheet metal.

 

[isb cornbinder]

I built a shelf under my big workbench for long pieces. My big workbench has a 5/8 steel top. The base is made from sections of heavy duty adjustable shelving. I do not have a picture of the workbench that shows a clear view of the bench.
I stand sheetmetal against a wall and out of the way.
I have all of the "shorts" in a LISTA CABINET where they are sorted by metals, round stock, square stock. all-thread shorts and others.

 

[The Cobbler]

a good friend, very well organized, built a shed on his city lot to house steel related stuff only . he has racks down both sides, shelves above that with a small garage door on the end wall . I imagine he can store 10' material along the sidewalls .

 

[nadogail]

I welded 12" arms to 2" scrap Schedule 40 pipe which is tied to the 2X4 laterals of a board fence. the uprights are about 2' apart.

The arms have about 12' vertical separation between them. Every thing is out of sight and off the ground. Except for the lag screws, everything was repurposed from salvage material.

 

[930dreamer]

I feel bad I just cut and trashed at least 100' of old 3/4"x12" T&G from a wall in my shop, i can't save everything.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I made some steel storage space attached the I-beam that runs across my garage.

Angle iron supports with expanded metal tacked on of of it. One side for steel and the other for aluminum.

 

[Metalcrafter]

I made this A-frame cart this weekend for my steel. Now I can move it throughout the shop.

 

[Jeff Ivers]

I built this and put it in my barn where it holds some round pipe, disassembled bed frames, other angle, 1" and 2" square tubing.

 

[dr_clyde]

Here is my main stock rack.

I made it about 6 or so years ago for a shop I worked at.

When I took over the building they were in I got the rack I had built.

It is about 20 feet long, and is anchored to the floor as well as cross braced to itself.

It literally has many tons of material stored on it.

I have it set up such that you can pull off a bar and set it into line with either the cold saw or the horizontal bandsaw.

At some point I needed a place to put small drops, so we bent up these trays from some 11ga steel and they hold an incredible amount of weight.

We also have another smaller vertical rack that stores stuff too long for the shelves but too short to fit between the uprights.

 

[lis2323]

This is what budget conscious retired farmers do.


Here’s a shot of my steel storage for “up to full lengths” which is adjacent to my cutting area..



and a pallet racking storage area for sheet stock and square tube off cuts. This practice is not practical or cost effective for a pro shop obviously. But being a retired farmer I can afford the time to inventory material crops. [emoji849]



More small storage

 

[MP&C]

Most of what I store is sheet stock, anything smaller than 2’ x 4’ goes in this rack that I built..






Anything larger leans against the opposite side (outside) of the paint booth as it is an open path on that side to get to the entry door on the booth

 

[kazlx]

Long bar and tube get stored vertically in 'finger racks' in a corner. I try to saw up as much bar stock as I get when I know it's getting used for a job. I keep my small drops in fiberglass tubs separated by rough size and shape and material.

 

[2oolhound]

I have a long narrow shop with the front end being only 8' wide. There is an attic that starts 8' inward from the front doors so I used to heap my steel up there causing the joists to sag. It always seemed like the piece I needed was at the bottom of the heap also. To keep the weight off the attic floor joists I built 3 rectangular frames out of 4x6x1/4" tubing. These were wide enough to sit above the upright posts that supported the attic floor so all the weight on the rack is supported by the upright posts against the lower walls. On the uprights of these frames was welded 2" pipe arms 32" long on each side of the rectangle leaving a 32" isle down the center. These 3 rectangles were spaced 42" apart between the front 2 and the third one is 48" further back. I have 14' long pipe up there and down to 4' lengths as well as angle, bar and other bits. There is a 110V winch just forward of the attic which allows me to hoist heavy stuff up and down but usually I can bring it up or down by hand from the isle.

My crude diagram shows the 4"x6"x1/4" tubing rectangles in red and there is 3, one behind the other.

 

[sberry]

If I started over could make it hold a bit more. I only have a simple rack for 20 ft, it doesnt stay long for long. Farmer design center.