17 replies to this topic

[TomPritch]

I am looking for a good method to store all my scrap wood. Much as wood cost I hate to throw stuff away. You never know when you will need it. I would like to have you share with me what type of process do you use that works. The best way I can think is new long boards be stored on rack, smaller pieces be put on shelves, but if someone would have a unique way to do so, I would love to hear.

Thanks
Tom

[Vic]

To have deep counter tops, my cabinets are all set away from the wall about 9 inches. I store all sorts of scrap behind them.

Here is my lumber storage racks and upright storage. http://www.flickr.co...57625131789919/

And here is my sheet goods storage and behind the garbage can you can see the space behind the cabinets that is full of scraps. http://www.flickr.co...57625131789919/

[capnjack2]

If it's worth keeping for a shim, it stays in the shop. Usually the long stuff gets stickered in the basement of the shop, shorter material can stand on end in a milk crate. Sheet goods stand on edge. Short offcuts go in a box that USED to be home to a case of wine. Really short pieces go in any small shoe box, labeled by species. These can be stacked. Dowels go in a piece of PVC attached to the ceiling or wall, wherever you have room. Some pieces of ply are good to have around for making pushsticks or jigs, if they aren't pretty enough for anything else.

[TomPritch]

Thanks to your feed back. I will apply your comments to my shop.

[Brett]

There may some good ideas in these photos. I work better with pictures.

http://www.google.co...895&safe=active

Here too

http://thewoodwhispe...ory/shop-tours/

[TomPritch]

To the Master Poster...Great ideas one of the pictures with the sheet stock angled lower compartment with adjustable shelves above is what I currently have. Maybe I need to make better use of the space? Thanks again

[Brett]

I don't have a unique way of storing wood, I have shelves on the wall and a sheetgoods rack where the sheets lay down on there sides.

Stuff is stacked all over each other, shorts on longs and long stuff teetering on short stuff. My sheets are overflowing and now all over the floor in front of the rack because there is no room in the rack.

All of the small "unusable" cutoffs go in two garbage cans that I burn in a small woodstove that I plan on installing in the shop for heat when I get the piping for it. So far I have been burning it outside. It is amazing how many scraps that I can come up with and I'm not even building anything! Ha Ha

I really just need to clean up some and reorganize the wood.

[jHop]

I use a salvaged pop box (the type that goes into the fridge, the one that holds 12 cans) that I use to store dowels and offcuts for turning. I purchased a bunch of wood via craigslist, and some of it came in an old plastic crate like those that store office supplies. beyond that, I store offcuts pretty much wherever I can.

(The shop's not really organized right now. Got a lot on my plate, and not a lot on the bench.)

[nateswoodworks]

I store my wood vertically (the back of the rack is at about a 15 degree angle so tipping isn't a problem) and divide it into 5 sections. The first is my real thick stock, second is pine, third is Maple, fourth Oak, and fifth is the rest. Anything other than pine that is less than 4' is put on shelves that are once again divided by species and I mark the length with a sharpie the bottom two shelves is smaller plywood, one shelf is good ply and the second is mdf and hardboard. The rest of the sheet goods are all stored vertically and clampted to the wall to keep everything from bowing.
I used to store my wood horizontally and hated it. It seemed like everytime I needed a peice of wood it would be under 7 others.
Nate

[Chet]

I built this system in my fist shop. It has since been moved twice and I still like it. Everything is pretty compact as I've never had a shop bigger than 23x23. I guess it could be bigger because once in a while it overflows, but I just use that as a sign to get my butt in the shop and start making stuff. It isn't rocket sience, but it really works well for me.

[Brett]

I store my wood vertically (the back of the rack is at about a 15 degree angle so tipping isn't a problem) and divide it into 5 sections. The first is my real thick stock, second is pine, third is Maple, fourth Oak, and fifth is the rest. Anything other than pine that is less than 4' is put on shelves that are once again divided by species and I mark the length with a sharpie the bottom two shelves is smaller plywood, one shelf is good ply and the second is mdf and hardboard. The rest of the sheet goods are all stored vertically and clampted to the wall to keep everything from bowing.
I used to store my wood horizontally and hated it. It seemed like everytime I needed a peice of wood it would be under 7 others.
Nate

Nate, do you have some pictures of your storage area? If you do, could you post some please?

Thanks

[The Swede]

Chet! that is a brilliant solution! Can I "borrow" that idea for my shop?

[Chet]

Chet! that is a brilliant solution! Can I "borrow" that idea for my shop?

Absolutely. Go ahead and "borrow" it.
I'm sure I "borrowed" it from someplace as well.

[Godet]

I second the compliment--really like the use of pipe nipples for the brackets and bungies for the sheet goods...coming soon to a garage near me!

[nateswoodworks]

Nate, do you have some pictures of your storage area? If you do, could you post some please?

Thanks

I know I posted some pics before but I think is was one or two forums ago and I am not having luck finding the pics I already took. I will retake them but it will probably be a couple weeks till I get it done. A buddy of mine is going though a divorce and had to part with a lot of wood, bad for him good for me. He just dropped it off and I didn't get any warning so I still have to mark and sort it. With it being -20 degrees and that part of my shop isn't heated it just isn't high on my list! I will post pics as soon as I can.
Nate

[Chet]

I second the compliment--really like the use of pipe nipples for the brackets and bungies for the sheet goods...coming soon to a garage near me!

Quick tip for you. If you want to build this system, go to home depot to buy your black pipe. They will cut the pipe into lengths for you for free. Yeah, you can cut your own, but why not let somebody else do it.

[Chet]

It took me a while, but I found the plans I used to build my lumber rack.
Not sure if it will help anyone, but they are located in Shop Notes No 17, pages 16 - 21.

I tried to post them as a pdf here, but I couldn't get it to work.

[Dan (theloveofwood)]

THanks for everyones input. I'm slow refining the design for my only lumber rack see blog posts (http://theloveofwood...bel/Lumber Rack).