Rack It - Timber Rack

In November 2010 I first posted about building a wood rack for long lumber. Well... 4 1/2 years later the project never got off the ground, so I took a different strategy. Down to Bunnings for some metal shelving. I'm using 3 x 900mm wide 2.1m tall shelving units. There are lots of advantages to this system - quick (took less than 2 hours to buy and install), easy inspection and access, termite proof, and eacg shelf rated at 750kg. Wasn't cheap though.     

Woodscrap Bin Complete

The Woodscrap Bin is complete in the shed. I finished it with two coats of feast watson clear statin varnish and wheeled it into the shed. So far so good and shed is a lot tidier for it.  (There is extra-wood behind the bin in the photo.)

Bin 1 has offcuts of coastal black (including burls) and radiata pine.

Bin 2 has Tasmanian Mrytle (clear, figured & burls), silver ash, and silky oak. It also has some small pieces of huon pine, red gum, olive wood, ebony, purtle heart and blackwood.

Bin 3 is mostly Australian Red Cedar and some more blackbutt.

The back tray has some masonite, plywood, MDF and old templates from various projects.

Now to upgrade the workbench.

Wood-scrap Bin

In a further attempt at a little organisation I've made head way on a woodscrap bin. Currently there is scattered timber leaning on the shed walls or hidden away on shelves. This timber will be sorted into the woodscrap bin or into the garbage bin. The front lip will be for the small amount of sheet goods I use.

The construction is rather simple. Initially I wanted some quality ply but instead sourced this solid pine patchwork panels which (1800x600x18). Construction is pretty simple - screws and glue. I picked up some quality castors with dust covers over the bearing... but forgot to get the right size bolts.

Will trim and roundover the edges. Still considering what if any finish to place on it.

Further thoughts on the lumber rack...

The idea of a new lumber storage rack has been revolving and evolving in the back of my mind for a while. To make it capable of holding medium to large slabs the current design is sizable - 0.9m deep, 2.0m tall, and 2.4m in length.

In my original post I was using Radiata Pine based on a design by Daniel Klauder. I'm now considering using Blackbutt Decking (65x19mm) to provide a thinner material and of course match the workbench. For a project this size around 100 linear meters of timber would be needed.

The main structural change to the design is the use of a second vertical post. This allows greater resistant to vertical pressure and spaced at ~165mm allows 150mm (6") ducting to be tunneled for dust extraction. In addition to this it will allow me places to mount electrical and lighting connections. 

The rack will be made in 4-6 vertical sections which will be glued and screwed. The vertical posts are made with spacers between the racks then sandwiched between two straight vertical pieces. These will then be bolted to lateral supports (4 in the current design, 3 and cross beam in the previous design.) This would allow it to be reduced to transportable parts.

Any feedback welcome.

Inspiration for the project on Daniel Klauder's Blog.

Another style rack from Julie's Blog.

Plans for Wood Storage

I need to sort out my wood storage. The existing system of piles of timber and stickers is taking up too much room and requires a total restack if you wish to access a board on the the bottom. My design is limited by not being able to use the walls to anchor any shelving system - it must be free standing. 

Inspired by Daniel Klauder's design, here's a rough sketch of a design based on 70 & 90mm x 45mm structural pine. It's 1.8m tall, and 2.4m wide.