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Welding up a new Lumber Rack

Welding up a new Lumber Rack

Well my lumber storage is out of control so todays project is going to be a little different.  I am going to   get organized and weld up a lumber rack

 

So what I came up with is a rack that has a maximum of 6” spacing between the shelves. This way I will never have to dig more than a few boards down to get the one I am after.

 

I’m building the rack out of 1” sq tuning.  Since I’m primarily a wood worker, my metal working tools are limited.

So to cut the tubing I am setting up a jig complete with a stop to hold the steel and make repeatable accurate cuts without having to measure each piece.

I started out cutting the vertical Supports, once one was cut I just slid the steel down to the stop and cut the next one.

Then I reset the jig to cut all the shelf supports.  As long as I rode the edge of the plywood I would get square accurate cut every time.

And Now I was on to assembly and another jig.  I cut a bunch of 6 in spacers to help space out the shelves evenly.

With my spacers cut I screwed them down to the table between each shelf, creating a quick and easy way to keep all the parts aligned.
I clamped on a couple of support blocks to rest the vertical supports on while I got everything lined up

I used a clamp to help keep the shelf in plane with the vertical support while I tac welded it in place.  I then alternated welding the top pieces then the bottom pieces allowing more time for the tops and bottoms to cool to prevent the heat from bending the vertical support.

Now that I had everything welded up it was time to do the hard work and move all that lumber.

I was hoping to get the rack finished before the wood for the next project was delivered, but wat are you going to do

I started out by screwing a ledger board to the wall to act as a third hand allowing me to rest the steel racks on it while I bolted them to the wall.

My shop was built using insulated panels instead of traditional stick framing.  The insulated panels are great for insulating the shop and even better for hanging things on the wall.  Each foam panel is skinned with OSB then drywall so you can hang anything anyplace.  So for my rack I spaced them about 2 feet apart, which seemed like plenty of support for an 8ft long board.

So its been a few months since I finished the rack and everything seems to be staying nicely organized so far.    Even better yet, my welds are holding, and it hasn’t fallen off the wall crushing me to death.

Welding Up A Lumber Rack (Shop Organization)


I’m the owner of Benham Design Concepts, a mixed media art studio where I design and build custom furniture and other works of art using wood, glass, stone, and various metals.
In this blog, I talk about the art I create, my journey, and the things I learn along the way.

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