In an ongoing effort to get organized, this is the second project this year to address that need in the garage shop. Earlier in the summer, shelves were added below the cabinets allowing for quick access to screws, bolts and other hardware. This time around the focus is the ever increasing clamp collection.
Several years ago, when the amount of clamps was much smaller, a 2×3 with brackets was sufficient to hold the clamps. It got the job done, but is not an ideal method because the each clamp has to be “clamped” to the wood to hold it in place. The more that were added, the harder it became to do that. Also, when pulling a clamp off, there was a tendency for the protective plastic pads to come off.
In the first picture the area has already been cleared of extension cords and air hoses, so it appears much more organized that when I started the project. Also, the ladder has been relocated so that entire space can be utilized for storage.
Design
A very common design for the clamp rack is to have a shelf with a series of “U” shaped cutout for the clamps to rest on. That will work for this project, and the other design consideration is that these shelves should span a typical sixteen inch on center wall stud layout. Each rack will span the stud gap, 17.5″ wide, and will allow for multiple racks to be daisy chained together. In a small amount of room, the styles of racks can be mixed and matched and expanded with time. Seems to be the most flexible design for this space. Construction is with 3/4″ plywood, glue and screws. A half sheet of plywood was purchased, but a quarter sheet is all that’s need to completed this specific project.
A measured drawing is available for this project, located at the bottom, by the gallery.
Construction
As will all projects, the various pieces are ripped and cut to length.
The holes for the radius part the “U” was done at the drill press with a 1 1/8″ spade bit. The fence was set such that only the horizontal location of the hole had to be determined.
When possible an operation was performed on multiple pieces to increase consistency and speed up the project a little.
The top and back pieces were glued and screwed using three screws, the corner brackets have a screw from the top and back. When finished, they attached to wall perfectly and are completely modular.
Apologies for the blurry pics.. a combination of my shaky hands and the Galaxy S3’s came’s mediocre low light performance. Next, clamp rack for the bar style clamps.
Gallery:
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