[coxhaus]

I need to build a large wood rack. It is going to be mounted in a garage on the side where I park my car. I need it not to stick out too far so I think wood is out.

I plan to use 1 1/2 inch steel tubing. I plan to make the arms 13 inches. I am going to use four 8 foot long vertical tubes with 6 arms sticking out. The first arm is going to be 4 feet high to allow plywood to be put on edge. The vertical tubes will be staggered so the first 2 will be closer than the rest to allow shorts boards to fit. This is all in my head right now so it will develop as I build it next week.

I am interested in any ideas.

 

[Semipro]

Lee
After you get it out of your head, show some pictures

 

[TwoSkies57]

Its all about the weight you rack is going to need to support... good welds are a must..a bit of a upward lean for the shelves and most importantly securing the rack to the wall!!!
Plus... I"m not sure, but bare metal racks may tend to stain the bottom boards...

 

[coxhaus]

I plan to paint the rack before mounting it to the wall. The wall is brick so I plan to use masonry screws plus one arm of each vertical post will be on the cement floor to help stabilize it. The floor arm will keep the plywood up off the floor. It will take about 70 feet of tubing. I hope the rack will hold a couple thousand pounds.

I will take lots of pictures. Do you want building pictures or just finished pictures?

 

[TwoSkies57]

Folks always appreciate pics around here... might even inspire a few souls

I've been doing the same thing more or less lately. Trying to consolidate my roughsawn inventory. Its not that I dont' have enough space in the basement, I was taking up too much of what I have for the shop and wood!!!

 

[JOAT]

My racks take a pretty fair load, not sure just how heavy, but have had no problems with the racks being made of wood.

 

[coxhaus]

I have no problem with wood. In fact I would like to use my new (old) floor Mortiser machine to build the rack I just bought. To get the kind of strength I need it would need to be made of 4x4 material which sticks out too far for me. Plus the bracing would eat up more top space giving me less wood storage. I have a wall which only has 14 inches to the side of the garage. Steel will give the strength in less stick out space. The steel will also cost less. But with that said I would use wood if I thought I could build what I need.

 

[DaninVan]

Not happy with the idea of masonry screws, Lee. Can you run the verticals all the way from floor to ceiling? Anchoring securely at the floor and into the ceiling framing would be my first and only choice.
Mind you if the two ends were solid or 'H' framed so the unit could NOT pull out from the wall...
Another thing; having the shelving adjustable would also be non-negotiable for me.
What's wrong with factory made stuff? Tons of this stuff floating around used!
https://www.sjf.com/cantilever_rack.html

 

[MYB506]

I put a rack up in my shop about 20 years ago and it hasn't failed. I drilled holes at a 15 degree angle into 2X4's to accept 3/4 metal conduit and used lag screws to secure the 2X4 to the 2X4 wall studs. The conduit slips in and out so you can adjust as necessary.

 

[Danman1957]

I just built a traditional wood lumber rack from 2 x 4s and it is plenty solid, yes the brackets take up some space, but that is where I store small stuff such as dowels and a few pieces of steel. If you are going to use only steel tubing welded then I hope you're a good welder, and I suggest using 3/16 or 1/4 wall tubing. If you use any thinner, I recommend using braces.

 

[DaninVan]

"Not happy with the idea of masonry screws, Lee"
-Me
Sorry, I should have explained that better. You said it was "brick' Ithink(?)...
I never ever trust any kind of anchor in any kind of 'brick' except for light loads pulling only vertically; concrete is a whole 'nuther story!
Deep inserts into concrete aren't coming out until the wall comes down.

 

[coxhaus]

Dan I think you are bringing up a good point again and I will look at attaching to the cement floor. Dan the plan is to use a foot on each vertical tube to help stabilize the rack. Not much to tie in at the top.

I saw the pipe method on the internet where you drill a hole and put a pipe through. I could weld 13 inch pipe arms to a piece of plate steel and push the pipe through a hole in a 2x4. I like my method better.

I plan to use a very small steel brace cut on a 45 degree angle under each arm using a chop saw.

 

[MEBCWD]

I plan to paint the rack before mounting it to the wall. The wall is brick so I plan to use masonry screws plus one arm of each vertical post will be on the cement floor to help stabilize it. The floor arm will keep the plywood up off the floor. It will take about 70 feet of tubing. I hope the rack will hold a couple thousand pounds.

I will take lots of pictures. Do you want building pictures or just finished pictures?

If it has to hold a ton like you suggest I would be afraid that the brick wall will come down instead of the anchors pulling out of the wall when it dose decide to come down.

 

[coxhaus]

I guess you guys realize the rack is setting on cement with a 13 inch foot. The load is on the feet of the rack.

PS
The steel brace will be on the top on the foot as it cannot be under.

 

[coxhaus]

Mind you if the two ends were solid or 'H' framed so the unit could NOT pull out from the wall...


What's wrong with factory made stuff? Tons of this stuff floating around used!
https://www.sjf.com/cantilever_rack.html

Dan I am not sure what you mean by solid or H framed?

The factory made heavy stuff will not fit in my small space.

 

[DaninVan]

'H' Frame

Dan I am not sure what you mean by solid or H framed?

The factory made heavy stuff will not fit in my small space.

I get that, Lee, but steal their design ideas! They had those professionally engineered and you can bet they aren't shy about overbuilding.
By H frame I just meant a complete floor to ceiling rectangle and braced at the midpoint; diagonals would be even better. Pardon the pun but the intent of the rectangle frames is to stop the rack from 'wracking'.

Which direction does the ceiling framing run, relative to the length of the wall rack?
Mike makes an excellent point about tearing the bricks apart!!!
Brick walls are great in compression but terrible in tension.

 

[DaninVan]

Tipsy

I guess you guys realize the rack is setting on cement with a 13 inch foot. The load is on the feet of the rack.

PS
The steel brace will be on the top on the foot as it cannot be under.

Lee; the problem is essentially the same as tall chests of drawers and ovens toppling forward when the ctr. of gravity is moved forward for whatever reason. If you look at pics of the industrial storage racks you'll notice that
1)... the bottom horizontal member is massive in comparison to the other structural members, as is the attachment to the verticals
2)...the front to back length exceeds the length of the shelf members.
In other words the tipping force can never exceed the ability of the foot to restrain it.
Probably badly worded but if it's not clear what I meant, perhaps some one else can offer a better description.
Also, you might want to include jacking bolts in the 'feet' to allow for levelling the supports, and also making sure the weight is transferred evenly everywhere.

There was a fairly recent very tragic accident in a lumberyard here in BC. A stacked pile of lifts of lumber toppled on a worker crushing him. I don't recall hearing why the stack was unstable(?).

 

[DaninVan]

I think this was the incident...
https://globalnews.ca/news/2473780/two-dead-in-new-westminster-lumber-yard-accident/
Two workers killed, not one.

 

[coxhaus]

Dan the way I read it the wood fell off a fork lift.

 

[DaninVan]

Just in Case

Dan the way I read it the wood fell off a fork lift.

At the time of the accident, it wasn't clear exactly what happened; the fork lift driver reported the incident, and likely was an active participant.
The only reason I thought of it was the tall stack/weight up high/tipping scenario. Once it reaches that magic tipping point...
All our bookcases here at Ft. DaninVan are securely anchored to the wall framing at the tops.
I'm glad you brought this up though. My grand kids will be here at Xmas and I need to check around for tipping hazards.

I wonder how many of the members have installed those anti-tipping brackets that came with all new ranges?
(I didn't...)