[TheForge] Streel racks

[Roger Olsen]

I store all my steel in 10 foot lengths,  I drilled holes into my wall studs
to accomodate 5/8ths round stock,  starting about 16 inches from the floor
at about every 10 inches I have another 5/8ths rod coming out from my studs
about 12 inches and at a slight downward angle, I have four supports for
each horizintal run.

It was a quick and easy solution that keeps my steel separated and easy to
access without rtaking up very much room.  The rods hold the weights just
fine.  I have been using this system for 15 years with no problems.

R.O.
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-----Original Message-----
From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net]On Behalf Of Jonathan Nedbor
Sent: Wednesday, December 21, 2005 7:11 AM
To: theforge at mailman.qth.net
Subject: [TheForge] Streel racks


Regarding Racks for Steel: As convenient as those pipes are for holding and
organizing your stock, remember that they are curved and all the stock will
push down towards the center. The problem becomes apparent when you want to
get a piece from near the bottom of the lot and all the other stock in the
pipe is weighing on it and you are unable to move the upper pieces to the
"side", as they all move to the center. I am speaking from experience. I
have used, for 25 years, a very nice free standing rack with curved arms for
the stock. It is my plan to build a rack with flat arms in my new shop to
get away from this problem. Gravity works straight down and if your stock is
on a flat surface you can move the stock, from above the piece you want, to
the side and keep digging. The curved arms or pipes would not be a big
problem the larger the diameter and if you are not putting too much stock
(layers) in them.

Some shops have a vertical system for organizing shorts (10' or less). It
makes it easy to see the length of each piece and they are not weighing on
each other as much as horizontally. It sounds like Mike has a good system
for the shorts already in place.

That's my two cents worth. So, happy and healthy holidays to everyone, and
looking forward  to seeing a bunch of you at Dave Hutchison's farm in 2
weeks.

Jonathan Nedbor


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