Fabricating a steel rack

[justCNCit]

so looking for ideas on how exactly to do that. There is about a 5 foot wide section of my garage ready for it, and I have a good assortment of smaller chunks, long threaded rods, bar and tubing, some sheet. Some of them are 6' long. Storing it inside would be ideal since the climate rusts these parts instantly. Thanks for your input!

[azmachining]

Brilliant, this is a WOW thread alright. How to fabricate a rack huh, well can you do any welding, if you can I'd be amazed and definately wouldn't believe you if you told me so. Sounds like you have a bunch of rems "scrap", so all you need is a drum. I remember my first arc welding job was to modify a stand and weld in some arms to hold pipe, tubing, bar stock, exc. exc. and paint it, I was no more than 12 years old. I think you'll find it easier to use your own brain "once you get the hang of it" then rely on others to think for you. Good luck

[justCNCit]

lol, thanks for that. Being a trained machinist that knows a bit of welding, I was hoping to see some creative ideas on how to use limited space. In the shops I worked in they had racks in varying proportions, on 40' wall for raw material, and then expanded steel shelving for smaller stuff... my uncle is building a system that actually pulls out of the wall and into his shop. just looking for some ideas on efficient construction in a small space.

some of us are forward thinkers and like to get comments on the things we build. typical welder, only one way of doing things hey?

let me just add that I haven't been in a welding or machine shop for some time.

[azmachining]

Originally Posted by justCNCit lol, thanks for that. Being a trained machinist that knows a bit of welding, I was hoping to see some creative ideas on how to use limited space. In the shops I worked in they had racks in varying proportions, on 40' wall for raw material, and then expanded steel shelving for smaller stuff... my uncle is building a system that actually pulls out of the wall and into his shop. just looking for some ideas on efficient construction in a small space. some of us are forward thinkers and like to get comments on the things we build. typical welder, only one way of doing things hey? let me just add that I haven't been in a welding or machine shop for some time.

No you can use nuts and bolts, somethings like this really don't matter.

What your uncle has I think is a pallet racking system, I don't know the exact name of them. The ones we own have steel rollers and guides built into the frame. Might I add these take up a huge ammount of space, like 1/4 acre and quite possibly more then that for the system we have. We use just part of it being that the complete system is humongous. For what you need just a barrel or maybe a cantilever rack would do you.

[Geof]

I store various lengths of material in a rack I made from 1" x 2" x 1/8" Hollow Structural Steel (HSS) and several reflectors from fluorescent fixtures. The rack itself is just two lengths of the HSS about 5 feet long with lengths of HSS about 10" long welded on about 1 foot apart; sort of like a comb. Tabs are also welded to the 5 feet lengths and they are fastened to two studs four feet apart in the wall with lag screws. The fluorescent reflectors are simply bolted to the 10" pieces sticking out so they form troughs to carry lengths of material shorter than 4 feet.

[djr76]

Cantilever style racks are handy, modular, can butt up to a wall, and can be broken down easily if your not storing anything on them.

[Hennessy]

I prefer an A-frame rack with cantilever bars for the longer stuff and shelves at every level in side the A-frame for the short stuff... Casters are a must or it will all ways be in the way.

Hennessy

[handlewanker]

Yeah, I'd go along with the A frame.....five foot long should suit his garage space, with shelves between the bars....and definately casters so's he can turn it round to get to the back side to store the sheet stuff flat against the A frame uprights.

50mm X 25mm sq tube should be OK, angle is a bit more difficult to make joints on, and a hobby welder will handle the square tube fine.

I hope he's got a saw of some type, it takes a lot of sawing if angle or sq tube is used.

Even inside a garage the steel bars in their raw state will rust, so unless you want to have steel bars dripping withan oily coating, I'd advise some kind of protection like a plastic film wound round them.

Short lengths of material can be plastic wrapped and taped.....it may seem nit picking, but handling a once shiny mild steel bar that is now covered in a rust coat is the very pain in the rumpus.
Ian.

[awemawson]

I have angle irons bolted to the wall, with pegs welded on sticking out with an upwards slant. This takes the longer lengths. For short lengths make up a wooden frame packed with offcuts of plumbing pipe in various diameters - I used 110mm down to 35mm - they can be as long as you need but 12-18" is what I have. In my last workshop I made a floor trolley with this arrangement with the tubes vertical, but my new one here is mounted horizontally on the wall.

[djr76]

Originally Posted by handlewanker A cantilever rack is OK for full lengths, but when they get down to shorter pieces.....duh...dey jus' drop on mah' foot...oooohhhh. Ian.

You missed the "modular" part. Cantilever racks can be made to any width, height, arm length ect. There not a 1 size and thats it rack.

[handlewanker]

Huh, AZmachining,
justCNCit, for many years when I was in the business of small time production turning and stocked 12 foot lengths of steel, brass and alluminium bar, from 1/8" up to 1-1/4" diam, I used to store them up in the roof space of my garage, in hanger brackets that were attached to the rafters and formed cradles for the bar lengths.

The hangers, made from 1/2" diam steel rod, were close to the wall, so a few tons got stored up there without any drama.

The rafter ends were resting on beams that ran along the inside of the side walls, and the spacing was about 1.2metres, so any bars shorter than 1.5 metres got stored in a drum in the corner, and got used up on the next production run.

The steel bars were supplied coated in oil so they never rusted, and even after 10 years of being out of the business the residue of the metal is still up there, being gradually used for occasional projects or sold off to interested users on Ebay.

Odd pieces of sheet material just got laid against the wall.

One essential machine needed, when bar material is held, is a saw of some description, and a combi horizontal/vertical bandsaw is one solution.

I have a power hacksaw, that I built many years ago for a project, and it works away to itself while I'm on the lathe or mill, and without which managing a couple of feet length of steel bar is impossible when you just want to cut off a few pieces....hacksawing by hand is for the exercise nuts with big arms.

I like the idea of the angle brackets attached to the wall, with pegs welded at an angle to them for the bar material, very simple, and the offcuts stored in tins lower down etc, but if'n any sheet material is stocked the racking only wants to come down to waist high or whtever the width of the sheet is so that they can be laid against the wall.

BTW, NEVER, and I repeat NEVER store non ferrous material, such as brass, bronze, or alliminium and also cast iron in the vertical position with the end on the concrete floor, especially if'n the floor's made from smoothed concrete.....why?

Because the concrete particles get pressed into the soft metal end, and when you come to take a cut in the lathe the sand particals just wipe the end off of your tool bit like a grinder.

Always store non ferrous on wood or horizontally in tins or racks etc.

The same could apply to steel, but is not so apparent due to it's tougher nature, but should be looked at carefully if'n material has been stored vertically.
Ian.

[justCNCit]

alright well i hadn't visited this for a while thanks for all the responses