Metal Storage
My metal was mostly stored in a big pile in a corner with some stock in other areas of my house. I decided to make a rack to store the bar stock and a box for various plate and small pieces. I used 3" coex pipe for the tubes. It has thinner walls than schedule 40 PVC and it was cheaper. The pipe cut very nicely on the miter saw with a 40 tooth blade. I made 4 pieces each at 6", 11", 17" and 23". I started with (2) 10' sections, but had to cut the flared ends off (about 4"). I couldn't hit my target lengths (6", 12", 18" and 24") with the ends removed, but the sizes weren't critical. Once I had all the pipe cut, I took measurements for the wood frame. I used 1x4 pine and cut all the pieces except the 2 diagonals based on measurements. I also cut scrap plywood for the base. Everything was glued and nailed together. Once the glue was dry, I clamped the diagonal boards to the frame, marked the angles and made the cuts with a jigsaw. I couldn't use the miter saw because the one angle was too acute. These boards were then glued, clamped and nailed in place. The pipes fit very tightly, so they don't wobble and won't pull out accidentally. The box was just made from scrap pieces of 3/8" plywood that I had laying around. I used butt joints with glue and staples. It won't be picked up with weight in it, so I'm not concerned with the strength of those joints. There is still a lot of miscellaneous hardware sitting on the floor, but it is much more organized than it had been.
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Click the pictures for larger images.