Pretty soon, I’m going to have to build a more permanent and larger lumber storage rack or system or whatever. I’ve seen plans that I like, but the fundamental question I’m trying to answer is “Vertical or Horizontal?”
All the lumber stores seem to display stuff vertically, and there are certainly advantages space-wise to this arrangement. However, most of the plans I see, and pics of shops that are posted here, have the lumber stored horizontally.
Specifically, does it matter one whit to the lumber whether I store it one way or the other?? Am speaking of seasoned lumber, either kiln dried or air dried, most at this point is S4S, but I’m starting to gather some well-dried fletches for future work.
forestgirl — you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can’t take the forest out of the girl 😉
Replies
FG,
Much of your answer has to do with how much ceiling height you have, and the lengths of lumber you expect to be saving... I have 11'6" ceilings and often that is not tall enough to store lumber vertically. I have vertical racks and horizontal shop made storage racks that can accommodate up to about 16' lumber (on the horizontal racks). I use and need both and it seems that they are both always a mess! Help!
As far as which system is better for the wood... I believe horizontal is better if it's going to be there for very long. Leaning can, over time, contribute to some bowing in my experience. This can be a real disappointment, so I would suggest if it's going to be stored for more than a month or two, lay it flat. I 'spose it should be stickered too, but I don't go to that extreme, I just lay it flat in my racks.
Really, I think the answer to your question is, use both; vertical for short term and space efficiency (as well as ease of access), and horizontal for longer pieces and longer term storage. These are just my ideas, but I'll tell you wood storage and handling are one of my real nemesisisisisisisis!wb
Jamie,
All the lumber stores seem to display stuff vertically...
That's one of the reasons not to buy lumber from a "box" store. Yes, it does matter how lumber is stored. Lumber should be stickered and stacked on the horizontal, unless one likes working with curved, twisted, bowed, and cupped stock.....Knowing that you have the search function here figured out, there has been much written on this subject. ;-)
Dano
Jamie after work in one of those box stories in my younger years I can tell you the vertical is not the way to go unless it is for very short periods of time. As we all know heat rises and in even a 8' high building the difference in the temp. can be quite a difference. This will cause the moister in one end of the board to be different than the other end (this is more noticeable in air dried lumber than kiln dried). Also the wood tends to warp and twist much worse than if it laid horizontal.
Scott C. Frankland
Newfoundland Wood Worker
Jamie, I'm with everyone else on this subject. If you visit a quality lumber yard with a good stock you normally see everything stacked horizontaly. The big box stores and places like WoodCraft store their stock vertically sometimes because they don't expect to have it around long.
However, if you must store your stock vertically, then do not lean it against the wall. I use 6" and 8" PVC pipe cut in 3' and 4' lengths. I position them vertically on a dolly and streach a bungie cord around them to keep them together. I can stack my stock vertically without any major problems while I'm working on a project. When I buy stock, I buy it when I need it and at various stages of the project.
When I find a deal that is just too good to pass up then I sticker it and put it in the horizontal rack because I have no idea when I'm going to use it.
I lack the space to store plywoods/veneers so I only buy it when I'm ready to start the project. In good weather, I just leave it in the back of the truck, (I have a shell on it), and pull it off as I need it. During bad weather I stack in on the long edge against the wall. Like I said, I only buy it when I need it so it doesn't hang around long.
Steve - in Northern California
omewhere, and I think it was on Scott Phillip's show American Woodshop, I saw an episode where thsi guy was making canoes or something and he stored the lumber outside, uncovered, and verticle. He claimed this made it more easy to pick through the lumber. I think the lumber was green though, and maybe thats the difference. My local hardwood suppliers do it both ways. One stores the rough lumber horizontally and the finish lumber vertically, while the other who sells only finish lumber stores it horizontally. I actually don't understand why there would be a difference. Maybe someone could talk about the rational between the two. The fact that "most people do it that way" doesn't really explain why one way would be better than the other.
TDF
Again, we have great information here -- thanks tons! What's coming through here loud and clear is that short-term vertical is OK, but not long-term. I have to confess, I'd not thought things through enough to focus on the termperature strata problem, and that would be an important one since I heat with a wood stove most of the year.
OK, so I can keep my bookcase cum woodrack for the shorter lengths that are in short-term storage, and I've got to clear some wall space for horizontal racks for long-term storage. I'm fortunate that the fletches I have and the one's I want to buy in the next couple of weeks have been dry for over 10 years, so they should be pretty darn stable.
Will have to do some temperature studies along the shop wall to figure out where's going to be OK to locate the lumber racks. Was planning to put it against a cinder-block wall. Hope that will work OK, but might end up putting some kind of insulation behind it just in case moisture is eeking its way through somehow.
Steve, as you know, I envy you your weather. There's virtually no time that I can count on to be rain-free around here. Although I'll buy a sheet of Baltic birch just to have around, so I can make a jig when I need to sans trip to lumber store, I too have to buy ply only when I need it. I want to make one of those upside-down A-frame things that I can store a few sheets in, and tip them forward to get to the one I need. I appreciate your description of the bungie-cord arrangement!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Hi Tom, somehow on an intuitive level I can understand why vertical might not be great for long-term storage. But certainly couldn't give any specific physical arguments for that premise -- can only envision diagrams with points of force created by gravity on the board as it leans against a wall somewhere. Oops! The only big lumber place I'm familiar with, which is Edensaw in Port Townsend, stores their finished lumber in relatively small amounts vertically like most stores seem to. But if you go back to their big "sheds" -- basically giant warehouses -- where their rough and often very large lumber is stored, it's all stored horizontally with lots of support points.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
FG
Let me toss another bean in the pot. At our shop we store all our lumber, even short cutoffs. on edge. Build your rack the same as you would to store horizontaly but stand the boards on edge. This allows air to circulate all around the board, provides the many points of support, and most important makes it easy to pull out any board you want without moving a bunch of others to get to it. We typically have about 2000' of lumber in the rack at a time and rarely have to move anything to pull out the boards we want. Great time and energy saver.
RichThe Professional Termite, aka Woodbutcher Extrodinaire
Do you have any pics of your storage racks?
Hi Rich, an interesting bean at that! Sounds like a great idea. One of the aggravating things about the horizontal arrangement is the difficulty of dragging out the piece in the middle or on the bottom. This arrangement would help solve that problem. Do they ever succumb to the dominoe effect???forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
FG
There are vertical dividers about every 18" (you could put them closer) to keep stuff from falling over. Some of our boards are 4/4 X 20"wide X 16', those we put right next to a divider. Sorry I don't have a pic to post. Everything is sorted by species and thickness with different ones in different spaces. We have the luxury of room to do this. Being a Pattern Shop we only keep Mahogany, Sugar Pine, Poplar and a little Maple. The rack is about 10' x 10' x 16' made of 1 1/2 pipe welded together. There is plywood fastened in where the shorts go. Overall the system works very nicely.
Rich The Professional Termite, aka Woodbutcher Extrodinaire
Scuze me while I wipe the drool off my keyboard -- 4/4 X 20" x 20'?? EEeeeek!
Seriously, though, thanks for the additional info. It's pouring rain outside today, all day, every hour, so I'm doing indoor projects for the time being. This info will be put to good use soon though. forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
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