Steel Rack and drop storage

Date 01-09-2013 03:07

I reckon I should post in the tricks of the trade but figure I will get more response here.

I have a very small shop, 30/25. I have accumulated too much steel from jobs, that is just to usefull to throw out. So I am putting in a rack to catch all my stick stuff. I plan on using 4x4x1/4 tube for the legs, uprights and shelfs...got plenty of that in drops, I figure one 8ft span and one 6ft span with one or two pieces of angle going all the way and roundbar pegs sticking out to catch the smaller stuff. I hate scrapping anything over 2ft long, I always end up using that stuff on jigs/fixtures and what have you. What do you guys do to store short drops on angle, roundbar, square and pipe? I am also at the point where I will have to put up a plate rack...I have way too much leaning on the wall. This is no problem if you have 10000 sq ft of space but it sux bad when your steel rack will take up your working floor....I am thinking on putting up a little barn just for storage of the materials...I do not go through it fast enough for just a roof over it. Just looking for trick ideas that's all.

By Stringer (***)

Date 01-09-2013 03:53

How are you lifting your steel? If you have a forklift the smaller plates are often handier standing up like library books. Heavy and multiple go horizontal. Unless you have a gantry crane which means all library books style.

By weldwade (***)

Date 01-09-2013 05:44

Tommy, I am like you and I use things up. For me the steel storage is here and there, this corner and that one too... I will be watching closely for good ideas as well. I keep my plate against the wall. I really need a plate rack. I am almost ready to pour another 24' slab and expand the shop another 24x60. If I do get it done in the near future it will get a plate rack for sure! One good thing about SoAz is its hot and dry, takes a while for stuff to rust here when it's not monsoon season. A steel shed would be awesome!!!

By eekpod

Date 01-09-2013 11:37

For plate storage we stacked them vertically in a rack.
You can make a rectangular frame and say every 10" put vertical supports sticking up say 3'-4' and you can slide the plates in and they will lean against the supports. This way they are not against a wall taking up space.
Ironically many years ago we had giant stacks of full sheets of plate 10'x20' of up to 1 1/2" thick leanding against a cinder block wall. Sure enough one night all that weight toppled the wall over, had it been during the day shift when the welders were there it would have taken out 2 guys. Because it was at night it only took out the machines.

By fschweighardt (***)

Date 01-09-2013 13:51

For all the little bitty stuff 12" or less, I generally put it in a 5 gal bucket. Those little bits are real handy for temporary fixtures, etc

By Tommyjoking (****)

Date 01-10-2013 04:37

I use buckets right now...problem is I need ten different buckets to sort all the stuff. I am thinking on building a tree for just the really short stuff with a lot of different shelves.

By 99205

Date 01-10-2013 19:13

The last shop I was at had 4 stand up scrap racks, 2 scrap pipe racks and 4 scrap dumpsters. The dumpsters were metal specific for sale to the foundry. All of those racks were a mess and the guys hated searching through them.

By Tommyjoking (****)

Date 01-10-2013 23:34 Edited 01-11-2013 12:33

When its your dollars I think you might look at that steel a bit different.....im not a packrat by any means but at the same time I cannot condone throwing away a $10 a foot piece I have 4-5 foot of. With the cheaper stuff all too often we find ourselves butchering a full stick for a buttload of 2-4" pieces for fixturing. WASTE WASTE WASTE....it is not a labor problem for me, it is simply space and throwing money out the door to make more space. 90% of the material I have was already bought and paid for... I stock nothing, I order for jobs only. Therefore whatever is in stock is pure profit.

Far as what goes to the scrapyard: I separate it specifically myself as well.....there is a huge difference between a ton of steel and 500lbs of copper, SS or aluminum. The labor involved in sorting it is negligible compared to the profit of doing so!

Sorting thru drops can be labor intensive to a point, kinda depends on how they are organized really. A drop tree can be a mess of whatever you threw on it or it can be organized in to types of materials....pipe, angle, channel etc. Unless you have a ton of room to play with it will be a pain to sort shorts according to size with any reasonable method. I reckon it all comes down to workflow and space avaliable to determine what you call scrap and what is not. But the kicker is how efficient you are with what you have....that is the real deal between the successful organizations and the competitors. I think on what it takes for me to make the most of what I have right now, all the time. WHY NOT?

Sorry got off the subject of my own post....it was a bad day. Got all the pieces cut and fabbed for my stick rack, making it all bolt together so I can move it easily later. The bottom legs will hold plate and sheet stock, that's where it will have to go till I get more room.

By Dualie

Date 01-11-2013 01:32

I have a rack of "shorts" Most any decent material over 5' gets put in the short rack sorted by type and thickness.

Plate drops get sorted by thickness and size but most anything under 18" in any direction is put in the bin for scrap.

All the non ferrouseparatedrated from the steel for many reasons.