[TheForge] Re: Streel racks & small stuff

[Ralph Sproul]

	Mike, I like vertical steel storage, but don't know if it was me that
ranted on to get you in that direction?

	I have a sliding barn door that goes behind my vertical steel
rack...........Or I would have put the pipes, conduits, culverts, pvc pipes,
etc- behind the rack to slide small stock into like a fellow I know has.  It
works great and is a good space for it just behind the stand up steel -
BUT - you must have access to one end or the other.  With mine - it was the
end of the barn on one end and the sliding door on the other, so I was kinda
screwed for that option.  Having a 20 foot stand up rack is a nice thing -
but if I'd had access to one end or the other for sliding in small stuff
could have made it better.

	I find I keep the 1/8, 3/16, and 1/4 stock cut in 4-6 foot lengths standing
in a  12" pipe (x 3 foot cut off) in two places in the shop - I rarely need
anything longer in those size stocks - so that ends up being my solution to
that problem. I keep flat stock in one, and rounds and squares in the other.
I don't use that much stock smaller than 1/4" very often.  Most of my work
is large (so I can see it). The small stuff gets turned into back bars,
staples and other 2-6" parts - so you don't get a lot of waste from 4-6 foot
pieces.
     	 I hate wearing reading glasses to do small parts - I keep falling
over when I stand up.  :-(
	Guess I need to get bifocal safety glasses if I'm gonna do small stuff.  I
heard Advantage Gas started stocking them - so they'll be on my list next
trip there.  I've bought my magnifyer safety glasses from them in the past,
but having actual split line bifocals would make small parts great as I
wouldn't have to keep puting glasses on and off - and they get wrecked when
you set them down to do something else more often than not.

Ralph

-----Original Message-----
From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net]On Behalf Of Mike Spencer
Sent: Wednesday, December 21, 2005 10:47 PM
To: theforge at mailman.qth.net
Subject: [TheForge] Re: Streel racks



I took advice from TheForge (was that you, Ralph?)  and went with
vertical storage when I moved into the new shop.  I have short, medium
and long pieces of old water tank welded together and lagged to the
wall for, roughly, 2', 4' and 6' miscellaneous pieces.  Shorter
offcuts go on a shelf or in a bucket.  No rack, just 20d spikes every
foot or so in the plate that keep the 10'+ pieces from all going over
in a disastrous jumble.

I'm really happy with it.  My only complaints are:

    Thin stock -- 1/4" sq, 3/16" round & sq, 1/8" by anything less
    than 2" etc. -- sag too much on end and lie on the floor.

    I hate to cut such pieces of (expensive) HSS as I have so there
    are a few 24 footers on the floor.  (The max length that I can
    store upright is about 10'10".)

Eventually I'll rig up some kind of overhead storage for the stuff
the floor.   For now it's pretty much okay.


- Mike

--
Michael Spencer                  Nova Scotia, Canada       .~.
                                                           /V\
mspencer at tallships.ca                                     /( )\
http://home.tallships.ca/mspencer/                        ^^-^^
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