Welding Tips and Tricks

I have some cheapie walmart/big box store garage racks, and the particle board was sagging quite a bit with the weight...







...so I used Fusion 360 to draw out then build a support frame. Here is the design (upside down).





Cut the pieces to length, a few short tack welds later....




I was not about to fully weld it out, as I knew it would warp since I had no way to constrain it in the z-axis, so mostly just a few hot tacks, 'bout 3/8"- ½" long here and there.

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Much better to support the weight. I'm not about to set a big-block engine on it either, just something to better support tools/random stuff on the racks.

I recently bought some pallet racking for our shop at work. I found a place that deals in used stuff. Bought 2 side rails for standard teardrop beams. 12’ tall. For 60$ us each. Then got 6 12’ cross beams, light duty rated at 2100 lbs per shelf. Each cross beam was 35$ us. Check around at you storage equipment places, you can often get good looking used stuff for cheaper than the light weight home owner stuff from Home Depot or box store.

I already had these from a few years ago; not looking to acquire more Thanks!

I had been thinking of doing similar. Wasn't sure welding to the frame would be good. I think I'll put it on today's list as I am out of parts, thanks Oscar. I store engine blocks on my shelves and after 10 years the sagging is bad.

Yea that would cause some sag! What material is the shelf made from? Wood? Or particle board like mine? I've added four 50lb tins of rod in addition to those 5lb boxes, and still no visible sag. It probably has a little bit, but I can't even tell just by looking. I just need to get more 1" flat bar to do the rest while I'm at it. Even though steel is still expensive, I'm not holding my breath that its coming down anytime soon. If you were to make it kinda like mine, you could even make them full "I-beams" instead of just T-beams, and they would be even more capable.

Now that'll hold some weight for sure . Also, admiring your Boehler 7018 collection, haven't been able to get my hands on a box of those yet but it's been on my list for quite a while.

yeah saw that, firecracker sticks and low hyds....in actual stickstorage cases......clearly marked and well organised and a enough for a swing or two in the field. Guessing you pipeline a lot Oscar or have done before.