Entropy455
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- Oct 27, 2011
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I have a small collection of steel, aluminum, and stainless that I use for various projects, and I needed a better method of storage. Thus here are some photos of my new steel rack during construction. The box tube is 3” x 5 “ 3/8”, and the beams are 3” S-type.
The rack is coming together. The bottom horizontal legs are 3.5” x 3.5” x 1/4”square tube. I installed some 1/4” plate to reinforce the joint between the legs and the vertical supports. I stick-welded the rack together using 6011 rod. In this picture, I just finished eating a Costco hotdog that I warmed up within my new negative-temperature oven. It was good, but it made me burp. . . . .
When welding in the garage, you want a way to get the fumes out. I use a small 1-hp dust collector blower, with a 4” black-poly hose. The blower sucks the welding fumes right out of the air, and discharges them outside.
The bottom legs are joined with 2” x 4” x 1/4” rectangle tube. The tops are joined with 5” channel. I stuck some 1.25” x 1.25” solid square bar up top, so that I could store sheets on top of the rack. I’ve got some 2.5” steel ball bearings that I welded onto the end of 1” schedule 80 pipe. My thinking is that I can hang stuff on the ends of the rack also – like chain and such.
The S-beams are installed with a 5 degree angle, so that things will not roll onto my feet. The rack is sitting on some 3/4” plywood that I painted brown. My thinking is that if I ever drop something, or if a piece falls between the supports, it will be less likely to ding up the concrete. I put most of the heavy stuff on the bottom.
I welded some 1” Schedule 80 pipe onto the ends of the S-beams. I have some 7/8” sold round bar (not shown) that will act as vertical restraining bars. Similar to what Lowes and Home Depot use on their lumber racks. The sheets up top are 304L stainless, some 1/8", some 1/4". You can see my big lathe in the background. It’s got a 10-ft bed. The headstock is currently removed. I’m in the process of restoring this this lathe. It was manufactured in 1910.
I’ve got a few feet of 8” OD x 3.5” ID steel tube (hard to find), some nice 5.5.”sold bar, and a whole bunch of 4.5” bar. But the best part is, that the steel is no longer taking up floor space sitting on a bunch of pallets!
The shop is slowly coming together
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