The lumber rack is the unsung hero of the woodworking shop. Its responsible for holding our raw materials safely, securely, and in an organized fashion until we’re ready to use them.

Let’s face it: we are all wood hoarders when it comes down to it and most of us over-buy lumber intentionally. So if you plan on amassing anything that can be called a wood “collection” you need a sturdy place to store it all.

How it’s Made

This lumber rack is made entire from 2×4 lumber and 3/4″ shop grade plywood. The uprights are bolted to the wall studs and the bracket supports are screwed to the vertical uprights. The sheetgoods and cut-off storage is tucked away underneath the lumber rack and swings out on casters for easy loading. In fact, I have mine positioned right by the front door so all I need to do is back up my truck and slide the sheets right in.

The Design

The design is very adaptable and can be customized to fit your personal preferences and shop needs. The inspiration for this project came from two folks: my buddy Aaron Marshall and Chet from the forum. Oddly enough, when researching for this build, the most useful and promising information came from our own forum. Gotta love when that happens! If you decide to build this rack or some variation of it, send me some pictures or post them in the Wood Talk Online Forum!

Downloads

Right Click to Download the PDF Plan
Right Click to Download the SketchUp File

“I am just starting out, as a recreational woodworker, are there any key projects / techniques that you would advise I master as a way of growing my skill set. I am planning to build my own cabinetmaker’s bench later this year and currently am working towards mastering the skills I will need for this.”

And here was my reply:

Believe it or not, one of the best beginner projects that will teach you some basic, yet critical, skills is a cutting board. A good quality cutting board requires you to mill numerous pieces of stock perfectly flat and straight and then glue them up without any gaps. When its all said and done, the board should be perfectly flat and smooth. If you can master a cutting board, then you are in pretty decent shape for working on a classic workbench top. Obviously, you’ll need to scale things up just a bit. :) If you are interested in building a cutting board, check out A Cut Above.

Now the other skill I would try to master is probably the classic mortise and tenon joint. You will probably make more mortise and tenons than any other joint in woodworking. Find a system that works for you and stick with it for a while. You can make them with a tablesaw, the router table, a hand held router, a specialty jig like the FMT or WoodRat, or even simply use a drill, a hand saw and a chisel. Regardless of how you make them, its important to be comfortable and competent in the mortise and tenon’s construction. It will pay off big time down the line. You can learn more about making mortise and tenon joints in these two videos: Tenons Anyone Pt. 1 and Tenons Anyone Pt. 2

And if you are going to be making a lot of cabinets, there are a number of things you should start getting practice one, such as dealing with large sheets of plywood. This is not as easy as it would seem and requires a good bit of strategy in the small shop. See one method for doing just that in my Low Entertainment Center video. You should also be comfortable making lots of dados and rabbets. This is something you can do with either the tablesaw and a dado blade or simply use a router. A good way to practice these techniques is to simply make some shop cabinets. Its excellent practice and you’ll end up with some very useful storage when its all said and done.

Obviously, the list can go on and on. But those are the things I would teach a student if they came into my shop asking that very question. And just as an FYI, I wouldn’t get too hung up on “mastering” anything at this point. The fastest way I find to learn is to research and understand a concept, apply it in the shop within the context of an actual project, and then move on to the next thing. There is nothing wrong with practicing, but I am a big fan of practicing “on the job”. You’ll never learn more than you do from your mistakes. And mistakes never hurt as bad as they do on real projects. So for me, the best learning experiences come from actually doing. Of course I recommend using scraps to confirm machine setups before cutting the good stock and I always make a few warm-up cuts before taking vital strokes with hand saws, planes and chisels. But that’s about all the “practice” I do.

And if you are worried about messing up, GOOD! That’s the point. Just don’t forget that many of the projects we would consider “failures” would make our family members and friends very happy. Many of my workshop “oops” projects have found a happy home in a relatives house. Our eyes tend to be significantly MORE critical than everyone else’s.

So what projects do you guys recommend for a beginner? What projects helped you become a more skilled woodworker?

Many of you know that Nicole and I are gamers. We spend many an evening playing games online with our friends. Right now, our “his and her” gaming rigs are sitting on a make-shift table in our bedroom. This table actually used to be part of Nicole’s old desk and was never meant to stand alone like this. Its not long enough, its not wide enough, and its quite unstable. Furthermore, being the unconventional couple we are, we tend to eat at least one dinner a week right there at the gaming desk. So having a little extra room would be a nice treat.

My idea is to make a simple Maloof-inspired trestle table. I haven’t designed it yet and I am still collecting ideas. I was very pleased to see the cover of the latest Woodworker West, featuring a Maloof desk. I love the look of the legs and the double rail. Hello inspiration!! So good to see you today! I also found a picture of a Maloof-inspired table that goes even further in the direction I am considering.

Now of course you know the holidays are fast approaching. And as woodworkers, we need to start thinking about this stuff even earlier than most folks if we want to have our holiday projects done in time. So I was excited to receive an email from our buddy Roberto, looking for help on how to build this advent calendar. I thought this would be a great project and certainly a little more involved than some of the things we’ve done in the past. Aaron is helping me with the SketchUp drawing and hopefully we’ll have that one ready in plenty of time for the holidays.

Yes, this is a picture of my toilet. The reason I am showing it to you is so you’ll see the future home for a new wall-hanging cabinet. A small wall-hanging cabinet is an incredibly convenient accessory for any bathroom, for all that fun stuff like toilet paper, reading material, and cleaning supplies. I am hoping that this wall cabinet will also be the subject of a class at the William Ng School next year.

So that’s about as far out as my brain can handle. What projects do you guys have planned in the coming months??

Are you a Humble Woodworker? Just for fun, take this little quiz created by Garrett over at ToolCrib.com

Relevant Links:

Shapton Ceramic Stones

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