Verticle Plywood Storage

Travis · 09-12-2007, 12:57 AM

I posted a thread June '06 about plywood storage. I have finally gotten around to designing and building a wood storage system. Following advice from the forum experts, I viewed DL's system shown below. It is a cool design. It is hinged and swings around for access.

My question is to those of you who have stored sheet goods in this oreintation, have their been problems with warpage overtime. Warped sheet goods are a real pet peeve of mine.

BTW, below are some PICs of the area I will be truning into shop storage. I will share PICs on the after which I hope will be no longer than a couple of weeks.

Thanks.

skysharks · 09-12-2007, 07:42 AM

Travis
I use horizontal storage for my sheet goods. However I was lucky in that I was able to get my hands on a set of racks that came from a new lowe's. Evidently there was extra and they threw this stuff to the side and left it behind, in a field.
I works great in that everything remains flat with no warpage.
But the down side to this is that everything gets stacked on it, this so if you need a piece of 3/4, it may be under 4 sheets of 1/2'.
Being a man shop then of course everything has to come off to get down to it.
But if you devise some kind roller helper thingy than you can just slide the stuff off of the stack onto this thing, by setting the height. Know where I'm going.
I'll take pics latter for you.

sediener · 09-12-2007, 02:41 PM

You could always add a couple of screw presses to force the plywood to stay flat if you find it warps too much for you.

Marc shows what I am talking about in this video if you don't get it... http://thewoodwhisperer.com/?p=63

- Steve

Travis Porter · 09-12-2007, 03:18 PM

Ummm..... I believe that first pic of the unit hinged on the wall is my picture. Actually, I am 99.0 (maybe I am wrong) that it is my picture. That looks like my router table and lift when I was building it, my bar stool, my cords and hoses, and my lumber rack where I used to have it.

To your question, no, I have had no issues with it causing stuff to warp, the only stuff that warps is the BORG plywood which warps the second I cut it regardless if it has been in the rack or not.

As for the shop storage, nice space. My top recommendation is to get those cabinets up and mounted and sheet whatever walls you are going to sheet.

Travis · 09-13-2007, 01:05 AM

Travis I am embarassed.

Of course it is your shop. In my original thread two folks were referenced, DL and you. I copied your album and gave DL the credit. Good to know that the plywood does not warp. Do you make sure the boards are stored perfectly verticle? BTW, what the heck is the acronym for BORG. I am pretty sure it is referring to Lowes or Home Depot type stores.

Travis · 09-13-2007, 01:07 AM

I do know what you mean John. That is a good idea becasue now I have them stored on the floor and seams every time I need a sheet it is on the bottom and I have to go through them on. I was hoping to eliminate that headache and save some floor space too.

Thanks.

NCPete · 09-13-2007, 08:12 AM

Originally Posted by Travis

BTW, what the heck is the acronym for BORG. I am pretty sure it is referring to Lowes or Home Depot type stores.

You got it! other acronym's and such can be found in the North Carolina Woodworker Lexicon, under North Carolina Woodworker Info

Travis Porter · 09-13-2007, 11:28 AM

Don't sweat it. It was deja vu at first for me and then I looked again, and I was like hey, that is my mess.

As for perfectly vertical, no, I don't do anything special. I do like to make the boards lean to the back though, just makes it swing easier.

A couple of tidbits I learned FWIW. First, where I have the unit hanging in this picture is the pits. You have to swing it out all the way to get any wood out. Not good. I have since moved it and can get to my plywood without having to swing it out all the way every time. Next, make absolutely sure you use heavy duty casters. The ones at the BORG (Big Old Retail Giant) are not sufficient from my experience. Make sure you have around 9 ft of ceiling clearance so you can tilt panels in and out without too much trouble. Lastly, use very large hinges and very heavily screw it to the wall. I put this thing on the wall way back temporarily and was going to permanently fasten it later and forgot about it. Starting tugging on it to swing it out and the entire thing came down at me. It was a very scary experience.

Overall these are nice contraptions. I can get around 10 or 12 sheets of 3/4" ply in it and I can't say that I would change anything.

skysharks · 09-14-2007, 08:02 AM

You know I am starting to ike that type of plywood storage better than mine. It's for the simple fact that you can get at the stuff much easier than mine.
I orginally really liked mine cause everything laid perfectly flat.
However getting stuff out can be a booger.
Unfortunately my building outside walls drop down to less that 8 feet (metal building).

JimmyC · 09-14-2007, 10:23 AM

Mac,

If you truly like the idea, you might try to make it 4' high and 8' long. I had to make one like that for a shop I had with a 7'10" ceiling, it worked out fine.

Jimmy

Originally Posted by skysharks

You know I am starting to ike that type of plywood storage better than mine. It's for the simple fact that you can get at the stuff much easier than mine.
I orginally really liked mine cause everything laid perfectly flat.
However getting stuff out can be a booger.
Unfortunately my building outside walls drop down to less that 8 feet (metal building).

Travis Porter · 09-14-2007, 10:30 AM

Actually, I got the idea for mine based off of a woodsmith or shop notes issue and they did have it sitting horizontally. I did not have the wall space for it horizontal and had high walls, hence why I went vertical.

Thinking about this some after these postings, I would do one thing different. I think I would put some 1/4" plexiglass or Lexan in the bottom to make it slicker so the plywood slides in and out easier.

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