How to store heavy slabs for easy access and display

[doc henderson]

Howard, I like your system, and I bet the slabs continue drying with some air movement in your building.  I saw pics from other countries and all the slabs are leaned on edge alternating side to side on a rack.  they seemed to be straight.  your building keeps the sun and rain off, but airflow and not dead stacked.  I am not sure all the weight and strapping fixes tension in a 3-inch slab.

[WV Sawmiller]

Doc,

   In Africa and on Okinawa I've seen boards stacked like the letter A with a rope or cable like a clothesline and boards leaning up against the line from both sides. Only the bottom corner of the board touched the ground. I don't know how flat they dried like that but they sure got plenty of airflow.

[WV Sawmiller]

 

 


 
Broke down a pallet of thin air dried ash and a handful of spruce and put them in the vertical bins. They were in the bay next to the last one I floored.



 
Another empty stacking pallet and a couple more to go then I can put a floor in this last bay too. Little by little I'm getting there.

[Old Greenhorn]

You know Howard I am so impressed at how this is working for you and how good it all looks. I sure hope it makes you feel good, it should. 
 In fact, I went back through this thread, and then the SISTER THREAD as you called it. I read a good part of that thread also and enjoyed it. Some things stuck out. This whole thing started out with that shed build. 2020 I think. But the project to put in the racks, and the floors only just started back in January. Now you just about have the whole shed with floors and racks. It sure does look good and you can correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems as if, with the racks and the dry floor space they open up, you sure can get a whole lot of stuff in there.
 I would have to say, and again, correct me if I'm wrong, that the committee got this one pretty right and your adjustments to suit your needs and materials just made it work right for you.
 I think you should be pretty proud of how it's functioning for you. You did a fine job and when those doors are on it will be better than perfect.
 Let me ask you this: When you started, did you ever expect it to come out this nice? I mean, I'm sure you expected to get the functional aspect nailed well, but the floors, racks and doors, were they on your mind at the beginning? Funny how projects grow, ain't it?
 Good for you.

[WV Sawmiller]

Tom,

    Yes, I am well pleased with how this has/is turning out and I confess I had never originally thought about putting floors in the building. I still credit John with the most significant part of the final design for the bins themselves but input from Moody on the floors, Robert showing his designs and the many others who commented triggered more thoughts and I incorporated my own ideas from using the rafters and wall nailers as support and bracing to make the bins more secure, cheaper and generally more fun to build. Even suggestions that were not used were not always rejected and they trigger other thoughts that were very helpful and much appreciated.

   Because of the nature of the rough slabs and crafts I am generally storing this kind of build allows me to use low grade stock lumber or even logs that would not sell well but work fine for my needs. In some cases I have even been able to point that out to others and make them realize their logs can become lumber or crafts that will be useful and attractive and helps with sales of services. 

   The basic design may work in a high end environment but the materials, fasteners and finishes would probably have to be upscaled to meet the target audience and items on display/stored. 

    That reminds me I used to work with a maintenance management software product our company produced and marketed. We'd have an annual user's conference where our clients and future customers met and discussed how they used the product. The best benefit was the attendees would meet and talk with their counterparts from other industries. I remember one of our clients was a steel producing company with huge equipment and related problems but their maintenance manager found the answer to a major problem he was tackling by talking to another of our clients who had a chewing gum factory who had had and solved a similar problem in his business. The scale of their equipment and end products were hugely different but the problem and solution was the same. 

[WV Sawmiller]

 

 
I was going to TSC today to get the lag screws to hang the doors on the shed but at the flea market yesterday I found the 2.5" X 3/8" lag screws a guy was selling which are near perfect. I bought all of them (Probably 100 or more) plus probably 100 1.5" X 3/8" bolts plus a bunch of 1" wood screws and several other assorted size for $7. These were what I needed now and a great deal I did have to drill out the holes in the hinges as they were designed for 5/16" it seems. Not a big task,


 
I had to add one more 1X12 as the hinges, previously bought at the flea market for this purpose, extended out past the one board I had on the frame. Just added more weight. This was a heavy bear to stand up and walk into place. I pre-drilled for the hinges and installed them with my electric impact wrench. Piece of cake!


 
I attached the 2 bottom hinges to the upright and ran out time and battery juice for my drill but this was safe to leave so I'll go to town with my wife and work on this some more when I return. 

[WV Sawmiller]

   Well, I went by TSC and got a couple of 6" lag screws for each hinge. They cost $10.45 plus tax making my flea market purchase look even better but the 3/8" drill bit would not cut the metal on the hinges and I need to look for a better quality bit tomorrow bring the cost back up. I even moved the belt on my drill press to speed up the motor but it did not help. The first bit I used did good but got dull.

   Since I could not hang the second door I went ahead and finished the first one. Because the door or opening were not perfect square I had to trim the last board covering the door and the one on the side of the door frame. Only a fraction of an inch and no big deal but the door still needs a little trimming to even the top and bottom and either the upright is not perfectly plumb (Imagine that using a green locust pole for an upright? :D) or it is binding at the top. I'll try sanding that area and see if that helps. I could use it now but it can be much better.

[Old Greenhorn]

Howard, for cutting steel you want to slow that drill down, not speed it up. Something well under 1,000 rpm and 300 - 600 would be better. Also a few drops of oil, kero, or diesel will help a little. Clamp that sucker down good or screw it to a 2' piece of 2x6 because it will grab when it punches through.
 Yeah you got a heck of a deal at the flea market. I would have jumped on that with both feet. ;D

[WV Sawmiller]

Tom,

 Thanks for the advice. I'll slow it down before I start again. I did try spraying WD40 on the cut while drilling as I did not see any oil handy. It did not help. The first several hinges I did (there are 9 holes per hinge) and they are thin enough they did not grab too bad. I'm not having problems with them jumping around at this stage.

[beenthere]

I've found Blue Creeper works excellent as a cutting oil when drilling. 
Been drilling a lot of 1/2" steel plate lately, and a few drops of BC makes for smooth drilling. 

[doc henderson]

most common reason to dislocate a finger joint is something held by hand and a drill bit grabs, especially on a press.  It spins the piece a rotation and knocks the finger sideways.

[thecfarm]

I would of brought the lag screws too. And I don't even have a project lined up for them.  ;D

[WV Sawmiller]

   I went by our local hardware store and got the best grade of 3/8" drill drill bit he had, slowed the drill press down to is slowest speed (I think it was about 720 rps IIRC), and spotted a pint of old mineral oil in the tack room (I was going to use bar oil but saw this instead) and drilled out the rest of the holes in the hinges. The combination of improvements worked very well.

  I hung the next door then put the rest of the wood on it. Putting the covering on first would have made it too heavy to lift and handle. I had to cut a few ends off some 2X4 nailers and sand some spots that were binding. Then I nailed 2 more 4' 2X4's up as nailers and add 4' more siding.


 
The white boards are newly cut. The reddish ones have been installed a while and have faded a little. There is some pretty blue on the left in some fresh cut poplar 1X12's. With wide boards like that covering on the doors and side of the building goes up real quick.

  I need to do a good police call can pick up some cut off pieces, move the sawhorses and ladder and move on. The doors are not a perfect fit at the top but they close and will work for now. The short boards in the middle just rotate to keep the door closed.


 
I have a little over half the front enclosed and doors on 2 of the bays enclosed. I need to cut and install another upright on the bay by the ladder.

  I have a 60" wide door on the right hand (#4) bay and and a 46" wide door on the #3 bay. I found it is much easier to make the door fit if you don't put the siding up on one side till after the door is hung. :D I have the hinges for the #2 bay so can work on that when I am so inclined and eventually I'll floor and wall in that first bay.

[TroyC]

Howard, nice job! Looks like you can use some shorter boards on the left side of the shed 

[WV Sawmiller]

Troy,

   Yes it definitely stair steps down because of the grade. I think I was cutting the sheeting at 12' on the right side and the last piece shown on the left was 11'2" and they will continue to get shorter as I go uphill. 

   The #3 bay steps down over a foot for the floors from bay #2. When I eventually floor the first bay I may stair step up about 6" I think. I certainly would have as much height in there as the others but this is WV.

[Old Greenhorn]

Looking good Howard, now you have a place to close the door and hide from Becky. :D
 I assume you did put some diagonals on those doors right? They will settle in over time and sag no matter what you do. When I did my shed I put in 2 diagonals. This is the only photo I could find in my gallery:


 

 It shows the frame blocked up inside the jamb to match the shape and then I screwed the diagonal in. After that I put the sheathing on and hung to door, I could have done as you did an just put a couple of pieces on to keep it 'square' then put the rest on after hanging, but the door only weighed about 100# and I could wrestle it in (then).
 After just a couple of months it started to settle, so I put a cable from the upper corner on the hinge edge to the opposite corner on the outside bottom with a turnbuckle in the middle, which allowed for adjustment over time and conditions. I should note I had a bunch of tools mounted on the inside of that door which added to the weight. I haven't visited the shed in at least 6 months, probably more, but I assume it is still standing and still has some of my stuff in it.
 Anyway, if you have problems going forward, the cable idea give you a rolling adjustment as opposed to trying to get it perfect once, because hinges wear and things change over time.
 Looking really good man. Now you need those solar lights inside I mentioned a year or so ago. :D

[WV Sawmiller]

Tom,

   The only diagonals currently in the doors are 4 - 1X10 - 45's at the top and bottom corners to help square up the 2X4 frames. I think I will check some of my cut off pieces and nail or screw some more 45's into the corners or at the center bracing. That is an easy fix/addition. The current 45's are on the outside of the framing not inside the corners. These are heavy doors and yes I can see potential for sag as you suggest.

   As you can see I used 3 heavy combination strap/butt hinges. The strap attaches to the door and the butt attaches to the uprights.

    What kind of hinges did you use on your shed door?

[doc henderson]

Tom. we really should go back and take inventory of our suggestions, so that Howard does not forget any of our ideas!

[WV Sawmiller]

 smiley_hanged smiley_hanged smiley_hanged

[WV Sawmiller]

   My next dilemma is how to hang the next door. : I should have put the uprights in before I added the gravel and built the floor. Of course if I did the upright would have been in the way of cleaning out the bay and adding the gravel. :  

  I have an upright on the left but a shelf sticks out about a foot with small crafts store on it. I could either move the shelf and hang the door to that upright or add 2 more uprights. I have to add an upright on the right side of that bay where the new wood with blue stain is installed. The opening showing is a little under 7'. I'd probably be better off to move over a couple of feet and use 2 new uprights. I can bolt them to the 2X12 header above and run some 2X6 framing to double as supports and nailers on front. I'll likely have to notch out a little on the front of the floor and maybe into the gravel a little. Just you watch - there will be a big rock right where I need to dig in too!

 Why is nothing ever easy in my life!

[WV Sawmiller]

 

 
   Well, the last bay is empty and nearly ready to start flooring work. I moved stacking pallets, plastic pallets and cinderblocks out of the bay. I still have a little corner shelf with some short slabs on it in the back left corner. I will temporarily move the slabs and tear out the 4-5 1X6's nailed across the 2X4 nailers. I need to did that corner out to help level the bay. My limiting factor as to height is a couple of rocks too big to move. You can just see one against the left wall and there is another out in the middle away from it. If they weren't there I could make the floor lower and get more ceiling height. In fact I could run the floor level with the one on the right. I will see if I can just leave them there and work around them. If I leave the gravel below them and do not put a sleeper or floor joist (my famous 2X2 strips I nail my flooring to) that would allow the rock to stick up 4 inches. I will see if I can do that. I don't have anything to drill, break up or blow them up so will have to build over and around them and possibly stair step down 4-6 inches to the next bay..

   This is the shortest bay in the shed. You can see shelves at the back wall and on the front section on both sides. I will leave those shelves and built short bins below them and store short slabs, lumber and tomato stakes there in those bins. I may even move the benches over here as they don't need much height and that would consolidate my crafts more in this one bay with benches on the floor, crates and birdhouses on the shelves overhead and tomato stakes and lath strips (Sides for crates) in one area. I might build a shelf on the 2X12 header in the middle and take advantage of that for storage of small items. I'd probably have to brace it to the rafters above to prevent sagging. This might be the place for a 45 on top and the shelf screwed to it instead of below as I usually do.

   Once I get this somewhat level and gravel added I'll add two more uprights for the door here and in the bay next door and I can finish walling in the front. The end is in sight!

[doc henderson]

what kind of rock?  I would put a concrete blade in an old skil-saw and use wood runners (think like a chainsaw mill) and cut slots across the top of the stone, then drive a wedge to break off chunks and wind up with a fairly flat base to build over.  NO SHORT CUTs!    respectfully, the design committee.

[doc henderson]

or maybe you can trade a slab for a little concrete saw work if you know a guy.

[WV Sawmiller]

Doc,

  Thanks for the suggestion. I will see  if I see any 7-1/4" concrete blade at the flea market tomorrow. I can not cut parallel to the ground like a CSM but I might can cut parallel grooves and break it up. I don't know what kind of rock it is. I don't think it is sandstone which would be pretty soft to saw. When I hit it with a pick it just bounced. If that doesn't work I' try to frame around it and let my floor boards rest on it as my limiting factor.

[Don P]

When are you passing by next? The electric jackhammer and percussion drill are something to walk around right now.