Mobile stock storage rack

[Mcgyver]

I for sure I do not practice this, but there is a rationally thinking part of my brain (small and very hard to locate sometimes) that suggests tossing it all out and buying what you need each time is really the only way achieve true material organization - outsource its organization to MR Metal, Metal Supermarkets and Mcmaster Carr.

But I do like going out and making something without the hassle of driving anywhere, so I endure various ok but not great storage means. I've got long stock leaning on machines and walls, have 3 16' long expanded metal trays at the back of a bench, sort of of like shelves but an angled front, lots of benches with shelves 4" height shelves underneath for shorter pieces that also hold wood boxes of small pieces and so on.

Depressing thinking about how crammed it all is. I need an eight car garage me thinks.

 

[Canadium]

I for sure do not practice this, but there is a rationally thinking part of my brain (small and very hard to locate sometimes) that suggests tossing it all out and buying what you need each time is really the only way achieve true material organization - outsource its organization to MR Metal, Metal Supermarkets and Mcmaster Carr.

But I do like going and making something without the hassle of driving anywhere, so I endure various ok but not great storage means. I've got long stock leaning on machines and walls, have 3 16' long expanded metal trays at the back of a bench, sort of of like shelves but an angled front, lots of benchds with shelves for shorter pieces that also hold wood boxes of small pieces and so on.

Depressing thinking about how crammed it all is. I need an eight car garage me thinks.

I can very much appreciate the inclination to buy only as needed to avoid the problem of storage. Makes perfect sense as long as one has the ability to acquire anytime as needed. However I now have to cope with a new handicap of not being able to drive and hence not being able to get out to the steel suppliers whenever I want. The obvious answer seems to me is to hoard even more than before!!!

 

[Susquatch]

I can very much appreciate the inclination to buy only as needed to avoid the problem of storage. Makes perfect sense as long as one has the ability to acquire anytime as needed. However I now have to cope with a new handicap of not being able to drive and hence not being able to get out to the steel suppliers whenever I want. The obvious answer seems to me is to hoard even more than before!!!

Oh man, can I ever sympathize with THAT! I am allowed to drive now, but I vividly remember having to beg the better half to drive me someplace she didn't think I NEEDED to go to buy something she didn't think I NEEDED to buy. I often bought more than I needed back then just to avoid having to perform the anticipated grovelling at her ankles.

I feel your pain Ian.

 

[Dan Dubeau]

I enjoy two very different design/build philosophies. One is clean sheet designing, where I model everything with optimal material selection and sizes, then go buy/order new stock and start from there. The other is rummaging through the stock rack like a hungry racoon with an idea and building the project around available stock as I go. I use both somewhat equally, enjoy both somewhat equally, but the slight edge goes to building from the stock/scrap pile. I just find it a bit more mentally stimulating.

I also enjoy scrounging for material and may have a slight problem in that regard.......The problem being I don't have enough space to store it all lol.

Living in the country, it's also a pain in the ass driving to get material and hardware when I need it, so I tend to hoard stuff on spec. It wasn't so bad when I was working and could pop out at lunch to buy stuff, stop on my way home, or have it delivered to the shop, but now it's a special trip that never gets made. Or when I do make it, I stock up for a couple projects in advance. Which leads to even more clutter, and sticks of material everywhere.

 

[Tom O]

Oh man, can I ever sympathize with THAT! I am allowed to drive now, but I vividly remember having to beg the better half to drive me someplace she didn't think I NEEDED to go to buy something she didn't think I NEEDED to buy. I often bought more than I needed back then just to avoid having to perform the anticipated grovelling at her ankles.

I feel your pain Ian.

You need a good buddy.

 

[140mower]

. The other is rummaging through the stock rack like a hungry racoon with an idea and building the project around available stock as I go.

..... I never thought of myself as a raccoon, but I am pretty sure that you were describing me, and just being polite enough to take the heat.

I also enjoy scrounging for material and may have a slight problem in that regard.......The problem being I don't have enough space to store it all lol.

..... I pride myself in making almost everything I do out of "dumpster diving" for my materials. Sometimes I think that the only reason I go back to plowing snow in the winter is to maintain my salvage rights to their scrap pile.
I did really well last time as they were purging themselves of some excess hydraulic pumps and motors etc.
Not that I would or anything, but any reason not to power a lathe with hydraulics..... Just asking for a friend.

 

[Dan Dubeau]

..... I never thought of myself as a raccoon, but I am pretty sure that you were describing me, and just being polite enough to take the heat.

..... I pride myself in making almost everything I do out of "dumpster diving" for my materials. Sometimes I think that the only reason I go back to plowing snow in the winter is to maintain my salvage rights to their scrap pile.
I did really well last time as they were purging themselves of some excess hydraulic pumps and motors etc.
Not that I would or anything, but any reason not to power a lathe with hydraulics..... Just asking for a friend.

I would LOVE to pick from a pile like that .

My problem with dumpster diving is that I can look at something and say "I can make xyz from that" etc. If I can think of a project to make with it, I find a spot to stick it. It's very easy to accumulate material and stuff for more projects than I'll ever complete in a lifetime.....

I don't see any reason you couldn't power a lathe with hydraulics. Not the most efficient, but it would be cool, and I'd like to see that project thread

I almost dragged a old large lathe home once for free, and my plan was to power it from the tractor pto through a hole in the wall of the barn . Hydraulics might have been easier, but you have fancier dumpsters to dive in than I do.....

 

[Susquatch]

I don't see any reason you couldn't power a lathe with hydraulics. Not the most efficient, but it would be cool, and I'd like to see that project thread

I KNOW you could! You should see some of the stuff that runs on hydraulics. And yes, it would be really cool!

But I'm not doing it either.

 

[140mower]

But I'm not doing it either.

Party pooper...
Now who am I supposed to copy....

 

[Tom O]

Put yourself in the limelight even you can shine!

 

[ColinB]

I made four, two height, wall racks. The studs I chose allow me to store anything from 4'2" to 20' (shorter lengths on the right and left two lower racks + long across the top of all four racks). I try to keep the ends even, so that I can at least see what alloy/shape I have, even if I don't know the length until I start shuffling pieces. I pull up my stepladder or stand on my bench to access it.
Stock from bucket height to 4' goes in buckets, with the longest in corner buckets, so it can lean on the wall. That's separated into steel and aluminum/plastics.
Anything of less than bucket height used to live on a large baking pan on my bench, but that got annoying and I'm currently downsizing my bench, so it has gone into a bucket. If I need it, I just put my gloves on, dump it on the bench or floor, then back into the bucket with the rest.
Luckily I have a friend in the wood flooring business who can provide as many, quite thick, 20l buckets as I desire.