Replies

1. 
   forestgirl | Aug 05, 2003 08:10pm | #1

   Steve, I asked this question just a little over a year ago.  Here's the link:
   http://forums.taunton.com/tp-knots/messages?msg=6844.1

   I think the general concensus was to go horizontal for long-term storage.

   forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl   ;-)

2. 
   DavidP52 | Aug 06, 2003 03:05pm | #2

   I built a vertical one that sort of looks like a vertical file tray or rifle cabinet. I hate trying to sort through piles of stacked lumber because the piece you want is ALWAYS on the bottom. Each partition can hold up to 4 eight foot boards which are held and prevented from sagging by wedges, top, bottom and center. There are 11 partitions. Since it's only 11" wide, it hardly takes up any space and there's no harm in putting stuff in front of it.

   Construction is a pine frame and MDFsheets bolted to the wall. The dividers are 1-1/4" dowels set into doubler blocks. Took half a day to make. and is located behind the garage door tracks.

   I also have a sheet goods vertical file that is hinged to floor and ceiling with 4" PVC pipe. Plywood slides into it sort of like a round file holder and swings out 90 degrees and back flat against the wall. Outside end has a castor on it so it rolls as it swings out. I tried the overhead thing and that was unacceptable. This works great. Holds up to ten 3/4"x 4' x 8'.

1. 
   john | Aug 06, 2003 06:43pm | #3

   "I also have a sheet goods vertical file that is hinged to floor and ceiling with 4" PVC pipe. Plywood slides into it sort of like a round file holder and swings out 90 degrees and back flat against the wall"

   Any chance of a picture of that, Boatman? Sounds like what I need but I can't quite get it from the description

   I don't have the headroom in my workshop at the moment but if I did I would store my hardwood vertically. The place I buy it from stores it that way with no problems

   John

1. 
   forestgirl | Aug 06, 2003 07:02pm | #4

   John, do they store all of their lumber vertically, or just the stuff out in the showroom?  The bigger hardwood suppliers I've visited have vertical display in their showroom, where stuff doesn't stay long,  but all that 1000's of BF of warehouse stock is stored horizontally.

   One factor to considered, cited by a Knothead in the thread linked above, is any significant temperature/humidity gradient that might exist vertically in the storage area.  Unlikely, I'm sure, to exist over long enough periods to cause problems, but worth a mention.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl   ;-)

1. 
   john | Aug 06, 2003 09:06pm | #5

   13351.5 in reply to 13351.4 

   "John, do they store all of their lumber vertically, or just the stuff out in the showroom? "

   All that might be considered their day to day trading stock. They don't really have a showroom as such as they are not set up to deal with the general public . It's a long established firm in West London (England!) that I've been using for many years and their speciality is North American hardwoods. Although some of there stock turns over quickly it can be there for quite a long time, and I've never seen a board that looked as if it had warped due to being stored upright. Some of their stock is 16' or more long.

   I like to select my own stuff and the vertical storage makes that easy. Other places I go to it's horizontal and selecting the best stuff for me can be really difficult

   John

   Edited 8/6/2003 2:08:25 PM ET by john

1. 
   johnnyd | Aug 06, 2003 10:35pm | #6

   Thanks for the insight.

   When you think about it, how dry the wood is has got to have something to do with a board's tendancy to take a set if it's stored vertically.  I would think that if you are air-drying a lot of wood, or have gotten a deal on a whole lot that you need to store for awhile, it should definately be stored horizontally and probably stickered.

   Then when you start a project that will require sorting through quantities...put the required stock in a vertical rack. 

   This may change my whole way of looking at storage.  I've already built a 'couple of big horizontal racks, but have ended up with alot of panels and boards sitting on thier ends because I've got xxxx'd off too many times wrestling with them off those racks.

2. 
   DennisS | Aug 07, 2003 01:24am | #7

   Hi Jamie -

   Everything I've seen down at Crosscut has been stacked vertically. At least the stuff I've pawed through.

   I'm thinking that vertical storage would (in my case at least) be a better option since as has been already noted, the piece I want is always on the bottom. I'm thinking that I'd make my vertical "bins" wth a slanted solid plywood back from floor to ceiling (10' ceilng) so anything stood in the bin would have support while 'leaning' against the back of the bin. I doubt that gravity would produce that much more bending force on the stock, any more than the stress of the grain structure so long as the piece is, like I say, supported.

   I did build some rather heavyweight racks for the new shop - out of 1 x 1-1/2" rectangular steel tubes. All welded construction so no adjustability. But they're sure sturdy!! (grin)

   ...........

   Dennis in Bellevue WA

   [email protected]