Panel saw/sheet storage

[Carl Beckett]

Hi all,

I need to get my sheet goods organized - quite the variation in materials/purpose, from home projects (sheathing/drywall/formica) to woodworking/cabinet sheets (hardwood veneers).

My shop isnt huge, and one trick is finding a way to store these while still making them accessible, including the smaller pieces that can get lost behind the others if just leaned/stacked against a wall. Putting them horizontally in an overhead seems even harder to know what is there and get them up/down. A pully system?? (must be able to take the weight!) Or a hinged overhead that can be swung down to access, and then swung back up for storage??

Has anyone built/used a rack that stores sheets on one side, and has a track for your circ saw/cutoff on the other side? Something like this seems like it would be pretty handy to get the sheets down to a manageable size, and also to store (put it on wheels so it can be moved).

Thoughts? Plans? (I have seen some various plans around so know some of you have done this) Specific features that you would do again, or any that you would NOT do? Do you use the cutoff capability to cut to finished dimension? Is this sufficiently accurate? Should I incorporate a guide for my existing circ saw (how about my battery powered one? - its light and easy to handle), or should I incorporate a commercial guide saw?

Does it take up too much space? Where do you park it in your shop? Move it around? Again, I dont have a ton of space (noting that 'ton' is a unit of measure of 'space')

Or, should I just go spend a ton of $$ and upgrade to a sliding table saw? (threw this one in there to keep the discussion lively.....) Doesnt solve the storage issue but would help with the cutting part.

Give me some tried and proven ideas, with some more creative ones sprinkled in!

[Joe Chritz]

Panel saws that are accurate enough for finish work are usually pretty expensive.

I tend to store my sheet goods at the lumber yard. I have storage for a few extra sheets, probably 6 or so 3/4" full sheets.

For projects I use cutlist and then rough cut everything and finish on the tablesaw. Not as fast as a slider with a fork truck but it works pretty well.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=100321

about half way down is a pic of my wood rack and overhead storage. I hold about 100 BF of lumber up top pretty easy. No my shop doesn't look like that anymore, it was right after construction. Full sheets are on the back of the cart. It rolls out but just barely as it gets pretty heavy.

Joe

[Victor Robinson]

No experience with the issue at hand, but saw this plan and thought I'd post it...

http://www.plansnow.com/dn3106.html

[Randal Stevenson]

Victor posted one like you talked about. My house still has the old coal bin/room, that I tried a bit for plywood. I also found it easier to get as I needed it, and found horizontal storage to be a BIG PITA.
For panel cutting, (and I have gone to that for solid wood as well), I use the EZ Smart system and the Smart table. I find, in my case, it is much easier to slide it out of the truck bed, onto the table and cut to size.

[Dave Cav]

I don't store a lot of sheet goods in my shop but I do keep probably six to ten sheets of anything from 1/8" hardboard to 3/4" hardwood plywood on hand at any given time. I built a flat storage rack that is a little bigger than 4 x 8 feet and has three or four "shelves" in it. Sheet goods slide in from the end. It's on heavy duty casters, and the top is a torsion box. It also doubles as my assembly table. I use it a LOT. The top is a sacrifical piece of 1/8" hardboard, and an extra cast iron WW vise is mounted on one end.

I don't have a panel saw at home. I use a knock down frame made of notched 2 x 4s to support my sheet stock on top of the table and then break full 3/4" sheets down with a small Makita circular saw and a home made guide. Lighter (1/2" and thinner) full sheets and less than full sheets get cut up on the big 12/14" Delta table saw; I have cut up full 3/4" sheets on the TS using the work table as an infeed table but it's awkward for one person since I don't do it a lot.

[Bob Riefer]

Hey Dave, Can you take a pic of your setup? I like the sounds of that

[Dave Cav]

Hey Dave, Can you take a pic of your setup? I like the sounds of that

I'll try to get one in the next few days or maybe Saturday.

[Bill Leonard]

No experience with the issue at hand, but saw this plan and thought I'd post it...

http://www.plansnow.com/dn3106.html

I built this setup. It works well for me. It is obviously not a precision panel saw, but makes breaking down panels pretty easy, and the casters make moving it around easy.

[Carl Beckett]

Exactly what I was looking for. Bill, that is exactly the plan I was wondering if anyone had used. Sounds like it works for you.

Dave - I am intriqued about the idea of doubling up as assembly surface. I will take a look at my shop layout and consider if there is floor space.

Floor space is the key of course - my shop is 24x20 and has to fit everything including a few other non woodworking items. Its big enough, just requires some thought/planning.

And I dont store more than about 4-5 sheets at a time, but also there are scraps or partial sheets, that I dont want to cut down because the next project might need the length.

Some nice ideas here, thanks all!

[Dave Cav]

Hey Dave, Can you take a pic of your setup? I like the sounds of that

I finally got a picture: