I just expanded my workshop, and am dedicating an 8' wall to a lumber rack.
I put in two extra studs, one stud width apart, so I could trap a 2x4 arm in
between them. So, with two of those, and 3 single studs; how much weight
can it hold?
Yeh I know, way too vague for an answer; but 10 board feet, 50 board feet
250 board feet? Those of you with similar racks should have some idea.
I was thinking of nailing arms to the side walls as well, and connecting all
the arms with another 2x4 across the ends, but that might be overkill? Or
not?
Mon, Oct 31, 2005, 1:17am (EST+5) [email protected] (Toller) ponders:
<snip> that might be overkill? Or not?
Overkill is usually about right.
JOAT
If it ain't broke, don't lend it.
- Red Green
"Mark & Juanita" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Mon, 31 Oct 2005 01:17:31 GMT, "Toller" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>I just expanded my workshop, and am dedicating an 8' wall to a lumber
>>rack.
>>I put in two extra studs, one stud width apart, so I could trap a 2x4 arm
>>in
>>between them. So, with two of those, and 3 single studs; how much weight
>>can it hold?
>>
>>Yeh I know, way too vague for an answer; but 10 board feet, 50 board feet
>>250 board feet? Those of you with similar racks should have some idea.
>>
>>I was thinking of nailing arms to the side walls as well, and connecting
>>all
>>the arms with another 2x4 across the ends, but that might be overkill? Or
>>not?
>>
>
> I made mine by not cantilevering the arms, but by including four 2 x 4
> uprights with 3 box frames attached to both the uprights and the stud
> walls, you can see this by examining one of the pictures on my shop page:
> <http://mklange.cnc.net/ShopPics.html> (back of the eighth "after
> modifications" picture). This arrangement currently is holding on the
> order of 500 BF of assorted woods. I really need to take a better picture
> of the rack and add it to the site.
>
> Upsides of this arrangement:
> 1. It adds additional storage space that you wouldn't have with
> cantilevered beams. Note the saw, jigs, and broom hanging from the
> uprights. Underneath the bottom box frame, I have suspended metal
> brackets
> to hold pipe, trim, and other sundry small pieces up from the floor. The
> floor is used to store some 4 x 4 beams (for which warp and twist aren't
> an
> issue), a floor jack, and other items not affected by storage on concrete.
> 2. There is more support for the lumber, I did this on 16" centers
> (I think), so rather than a couple of cantilever beams, I have a pretty
> good amount of support.
>
> Downside of this arrangement: You make all of your lumber pulls by
> removing
> the lumber from the ends, not by lifting straight off the cantilevers.
>
Yeh, I can't do that; I have to take it off the side.
However I will be supporting the ends, so mine ought to be 2/3rds as strong,
and 250 bf is probably enough for me.
Thanks; nice looking shop.
"Toller" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>I just expanded my workshop, and am dedicating an 8' wall to a lumber rack.
> I put in two extra studs, one stud width apart, so I could trap a 2x4 arm
> in between them. So, with two of those, and 3 single studs; how much
> weight can it hold?
>
> Yeh I know, way too vague for an answer; but 10 board feet, 50 board feet
> 250 board feet? Those of you with similar racks should have some idea.
>
> I was thinking of nailing arms to the side walls as well, and connecting
> all the arms with another 2x4 across the ends, but that might be overkill?
> Or not?
>
I have the wood arranged in the vertical position so support doesn't have to
be strong at all. This also has the advantage over horizontal in that you
don't have to remove the wood from the top in order to get at that one piece
laying on the bottom.
"Jack" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "Toller" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>>I just expanded my workshop, and am dedicating an 8' wall to a lumber
>>rack.
>> I put in two extra studs, one stud width apart, so I could trap a 2x4 arm
>> in between them. So, with two of those, and 3 single studs; how much
>> weight can it hold?
>>
>> Yeh I know, way too vague for an answer; but 10 board feet, 50 board feet
>> 250 board feet? Those of you with similar racks should have some idea.
>>
>> I was thinking of nailing arms to the side walls as well, and connecting
>> all the arms with another 2x4 across the ends, but that might be
>> overkill? Or not?
>>
>
> I have the wood arranged in the vertical position so support doesn't have
> to be strong at all. This also has the advantage over horizontal in that
> you don't have to remove the wood from the top in order to get at that one
> piece laying on the bottom.
That's an interesting idea. Have to think about it; thanks.
[email protected] wrote:
> If it's going to be on concrete, be sure to put a piece of plywood or
> the like down. Otherwise the wood may wick moisture up from the
> concrete and twist/warp.
>
I know this is a little obvious, but vertical storage limits you to the
height of your ceiling (about 8 or 9 feet in my case), while horizontal
storage can accommodate lumber as long as your longest (unbroken) wall (20+
feet in my case).
-John in NH
On Mon, 31 Oct 2005 01:17:31 GMT, "Toller" <[email protected]> wrote:
>I just expanded my workshop, and am dedicating an 8' wall to a lumber rack.
>I put in two extra studs, one stud width apart, so I could trap a 2x4 arm in
>between them. So, with two of those, and 3 single studs; how much weight
>can it hold?
>
>Yeh I know, way too vague for an answer; but 10 board feet, 50 board feet
>250 board feet? Those of you with similar racks should have some idea.
>
>I was thinking of nailing arms to the side walls as well, and connecting all
>the arms with another 2x4 across the ends, but that might be overkill? Or
>not?
>
I made mine by not cantilevering the arms, but by including four 2 x 4
uprights with 3 box frames attached to both the uprights and the stud
walls, you can see this by examining one of the pictures on my shop page:
<http://mklange.cnc.net/ShopPics.html> (back of the eighth "after
modifications" picture). This arrangement currently is holding on the
order of 500 BF of assorted woods. I really need to take a better picture
of the rack and add it to the site.
Upsides of this arrangement:
1. It adds additional storage space that you wouldn't have with
cantilevered beams. Note the saw, jigs, and broom hanging from the
uprights. Underneath the bottom box frame, I have suspended metal brackets
to hold pipe, trim, and other sundry small pieces up from the floor. The
floor is used to store some 4 x 4 beams (for which warp and twist aren't an
issue), a floor jack, and other items not affected by storage on concrete.
2. There is more support for the lumber, I did this on 16" centers
(I think), so rather than a couple of cantilever beams, I have a pretty
good amount of support.
Downside of this arrangement: You make all of your lumber pulls by removing
the lumber from the ends, not by lifting straight off the cantilevers.
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
If you're gonna be dumb, you better be tough
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Toller wrote:
> Turns out I am overbuilding it horribly.
My rack is simply 2x4's ripped in half, and crosscut to about 16-18".
Each "arm" then has a triangular 3/4" C/D plywood stiffener glued and
screwed to each side. The stiffeners are about 4" wide at one end,
tapering to the width of the ripped 2x4, and 3 1/2" longer than the arm.
The stiffener allows the arm to mount to 2x4's (spaced 16" apart) run
from the floor to the ceiling joists of my basement shop.
Since all of the force is down and away from the concrete wall, it's
very easy to attach the stringers to the sides of the joists with bolts
and construction adhesive.
The rack took no more than one evening to construct and is dead stable.
Barry
Turns out I am overbuilding it horribly. I have 6 supports, two them them
tied to the walls. A single center support can support my weight; so I
figure all six ought to be good for almost a ton. I suppose something would
fail if I tried to load the 5 shelves with 5 tons of wood, but since my
estimated load is about one tenth of that...