Looking for design assitance with my lumber rack

[LewisCobb]

Hi Folks -
I have been designing a combination lumber rack / chop saw station for my woodworking shop and have attached a couple of pics of the progress so far.

I'm planning to build it out of 2"x3"x3/16" box steel for the uprights, and 2"x2"x3/16" rectangular steel for the arms. Some welded flanges on the ends of the arms and then a bolt through the flange and upright with a pin affair taking the torsional load against the front face of the upright - picture shows the idea.

The majority of the weight will bear down on the concrete floor through the uprights, but it will be bolted up to the wall securly with lag bolts as shown.

There will be a chop-saw station on the bottom of the rack as shown, built over another row of arms.

I'm starting to wonder about getting all the arms exactly perpindicular to the uprights and if there is any way to design in some adjustment to the design. About the only way I can see to adjust the perpindicularness of the arms would be with small shim stock in between the pin and the front face of the upright.

Any comments or suggestions from someone that may have designed something like this in the past would be much appreciated.

Thanks !

Lewis

 

[Kyle Smith]

Just my first impression for what's worth. I would only have three uprights and then put a plate across two of them for short stock that cannot span two of the uprights. If you can weld those gussets on the arms why not just weld the entire upright together unless you foresee making it adjustable in the future. Considering your material your design is pretty overkill for the mass of wood that can be put into your racks. I like the design overall, but I am suspect to how easily you could put material into the highest rack, it appears to be at about 8 ft. high.

 

[Ries]

I have had a similar rack to this, but used for steel, in my shop for close to 20 years.
It works great. I have 2 bolts that go right thru the vertical, rather than just one, but mine holds somewhere between 2 and 5 tons of steel at any given time. Its made from 2x2x 1/4" square tube, and the brackets have gussets welded in, but otherwise, resembles yours.
Mine is freestanding, not attached to the wall, and it has "X" bracing across the back, as well as feet on the bottom. Hasnt fallen down yet.

I would not worry about exact level and alignment- long stuff, even 2" square solid steel, sags between supports anyway.
For short stuff, as mentioned, a wooden shelf works great- I would just cut 1/2" or 3/4" plywood, and screw it down here and there with self tapping screws.

One thing I would recommend- buy, or build, a Biesemeyer style saw stop. In a permanent install like this , it makes it so much quicker and easier to cut to length. On my wood chop saw, I broke down and bought a factory model, but I just built my own for my cold saw, and bought the stick down tape measure.
http://www.deltaportercable.com/Products/Biesemeyer.aspx

Here is a pic of my cold saw- you can see the home made saw stop system on the left, and the rack on the right. Since steel is so heavy, my rack starts at floor level, and the highest shelf is about 5 feet up. One is right at saw level, so we can just slide 20 footers right into the saw. The saw stop table on the left is 11 feet long, so I can cut any size piece from a 20 footer. I actually have a small trapdoor in the wall at the far right side, so when I get longer stuff- say, random 24 foot lengths of some pipe- its easy to rack, and cut, that, as well.

 

[Finegrain]

Unless you need to move the shelves up and down, I'd weld it. Way stronger than a single bolt. That lower bolt is just a pivot point. Seems to me over time the upper bolt is gonna egg out its hole and the shelves will start to sag.

As for keeping things perpendicular, I'd actually give them a bit of "up" angle, a couple degrees or so, just to bias stuff going back to the wall.

BTW, that seems like a gawdawful lot of metal for a wood rack. I gotta think you could do with fewer uprights. Metal ain't cheap -- you might get a surprise when you go to price the stock.

Regards.

Finegrain

 

[LewisCobb]

Wow - good feedback and in such a short time. I agree the design is a little excessive....well, maybe really excessive. It's only a few more clicks in the cad system, but when it's time to haul out the wallet that's another story

I'll re-think things a bit with the suggestions that you've provided and see where it leads.

The stop and measuring tape was already on the "have to add" list so it seems I am on the right track somewhat.

 

[Duffy]

About 18 years ago, I built a lumber rack. It was built from lumber as follows: Each support consisted of a pair of 2x6s separated by short fillers which determined the shelf spacing. These were set on 32"centers,(two studs,) and the arms were 2x6s inserted between the uprights, and tapered on the bottom edge to about 2". These arms were 42" long and I loaded them with red oak and cherry piled 18" deep. The rack still stands. If I were to do it again, I would use the same upright system but arms only 30" long. The extra length is not really usable as you cant get to the back. The uprights need only be fastened to the wall, (or preferably the ceiling joists,) to resist overturning forces. Columns this short and this size should not buckle. The load on the floor will be no problem since each column is about 24" square. Kyle is correct, box section steel is structural overkill, and in Oregon it is YOUR DUTY to buld a lumber storage rack in LUMBER! Never mind how much cheaper it will be. The arms, by the way, should be of reasonably good grade-no big knots. Mine measures 13' 5" long and has held over 2000 lbs per shelf. It requires 24- 8'x2"x6" fir. Will you buy TWO 8' box sections for that? Duffy

 

[LewisCobb]

About 18 years ago, I built a lumber rack. It was built from lumber as follows: Each support consisted of a pair of 2x6s separated by short fillers which determined the shelf spacing. These were set on 32"centers,(two studs,) and the arms were 2x6s inserted between the uprights, and tapered on the bottom edge to about 2". These arms were 42" long and I loaded them with red oak and cherry piled 18" deep. The rack still stands. If I were to do it again, I would use the same upright system but arms only 30" long. The extra length is not really usable as you cant get to the back. The uprights need only be fastened to the wall, (or preferably the ceiling joists,) to resist overturning forces. Columns this short and this size should not buckle. The load on the floor will be no problem since each column is about 24" square. Kyle is correct, box section steel is structural overkill, and in Oregon it is YOUR DUTY to buld a lumber storage rack in LUMBER! Never mind how much cheaper it will be. The arms, by the way, should be of reasonably good grade-no big knots. Mine measures 13' 5" long and has held over 2000 lbs per shelf. It requires 24- 8'x2"x6" fir. Will you buy TWO 8' box sections for that? Duffy

Always good to get a reality check from people that have travelled the road before - I understand your description with the exception of the weight of the columns being spread over 24" square each. ... wait - I just figured it out - 3, 2x6s on end 4.5x5.5=24.75 sq. in.

thanks for the input !

 

[dsergison]

my materal rack is thus

http://www.sergisonmachine.net/images/rack.jpg

3 2x4's screwed into the joists above only.

then i took a auger in my cordless drill and bored a 3/4" holes at abotu a 5 degree leaning back angle. then i put lengths of 1/2" or so Black steel pipe in the holes.

it's SOOOO far below your standards. but it does hold an amazing lot of crap.

 

[Limy Sami]

Structurally it's all been said, however for wood storage I'd face the tops of the arms and front of uprights with wood, slighest bit of damp (it could be in the wood) and metal will stain some timbers.

 

[wlbrown]

design assistance

SIR,
suggest you have more space on the left side (end)
of the saw. being boxed in on that side could be
a problem if you have very long boards.
good luck with your project.
wlbrown

 

[Bill D]

Not sure but it looks like you should try to bring the fence forward a few inches so long stock can run in from the window? Of course you may have planned to have a long parallel board to kick stock forward when needed to go through the window. I have an old port hole that I will mount in the wall someday for long stock to go through the lathe headstock.
Bill D.