guillemot
10-09-2005, 09:11 PM
I moved into my current house over a year ago, but I'm just now getting around to finding appropriate places for all of my tools and getting my wood/boat shop into working order. One organizational obstacle has been the lack of storage space for tools. Especially difficult was finding places for my C-clamps. A search of the web turned up many pipe-clamp storage rack designs but none for C-clamps other than hanging them on dowels.
This design is my solution. It is sturdy, inexpensive, easy to make, and leaves all of my clamps easily accessible within an arm's reach of the bench. Here it is:
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid190/pe33482201d739100bfc42db3921f6802/f1f4ba20.jpg
The rack is 55" long and has space for 30 clamps. Of course it could be built to any length to accomodate different numbers/sizes of clamps. It is fastented to the wall with three pairs of wood screws through the back piece that tap into the 2x4's behind the pegboard (mounting that pegboard on the cement block wall was a P.I.T.A.!).
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid190/p087149f9870fe982f3e8929406dda8c2/f1f4ba0d.jpg
My clamps have a narrow neck and a wider "pad". The premise of the rack is to allow the clamps to hang on a flat surface while locking the pads between two pieces of wood such that they cannot slide back out and onto the workspace below.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid190/p7ad0f62abfb2bc712ffd177ec4a700b8/f1f4ba15.jpg
This photo isn't great, but it shows basically how the clamps are held in place. The "neck" rests between the blocks while the wider "pad" sits beyond them. To build the rack, cut 2" long pieces of 3/4 x 3/4 scrap wood and glue them perpendicular to one edge of piece of 5/8 or 3/4" plywood cut 4.5" deep. Space them wide enough to allow the clamps to sit between them but not pull out. I left a 1" space between each pair of spacer blocks.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid190/pa0b114c108d079ea2ba6ea44ecb52dd5/f1f4ba04.jpg
Once the shelf surface is glued up, cut the back piece 3.5" wide to the same length as the shelf. Cut enough vertical braces to support the weight of the clamps and keep the shelf from pulling off the wall. I made mine 8.5" long and spaced them every 18" They are notched to accept the back piece. The back strip is glued to the braces and fastened from the back into them with two wood screws per brace. After this assembly is glued up, glue the shelf surface to the brace/back assembly and fasten with 6D nails.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid190/pba9483c5989d1fedabe7f28440e63d3d/f1f4ba00.jpg
Screw through the back strip into wall studs or some other solid surface to mount it. I did not screw through the pine vertical braces into the wall. They just give the shelf some leverage against the wall. Leave room to buy more clamps in the future - you can see my optomistic expansionist plans in the first photo!
Let me know if any of this needs clarification or if you have suggestions for improvement.
Cheers,
Jeff
This design is my solution. It is sturdy, inexpensive, easy to make, and leaves all of my clamps easily accessible within an arm's reach of the bench. Here it is:
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid190/pe33482201d739100bfc42db3921f6802/f1f4ba20.jpg
The rack is 55" long and has space for 30 clamps. Of course it could be built to any length to accomodate different numbers/sizes of clamps. It is fastented to the wall with three pairs of wood screws through the back piece that tap into the 2x4's behind the pegboard (mounting that pegboard on the cement block wall was a P.I.T.A.!).
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid190/p087149f9870fe982f3e8929406dda8c2/f1f4ba0d.jpg
My clamps have a narrow neck and a wider "pad". The premise of the rack is to allow the clamps to hang on a flat surface while locking the pads between two pieces of wood such that they cannot slide back out and onto the workspace below.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid190/p7ad0f62abfb2bc712ffd177ec4a700b8/f1f4ba15.jpg
This photo isn't great, but it shows basically how the clamps are held in place. The "neck" rests between the blocks while the wider "pad" sits beyond them. To build the rack, cut 2" long pieces of 3/4 x 3/4 scrap wood and glue them perpendicular to one edge of piece of 5/8 or 3/4" plywood cut 4.5" deep. Space them wide enough to allow the clamps to sit between them but not pull out. I left a 1" space between each pair of spacer blocks.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid190/pa0b114c108d079ea2ba6ea44ecb52dd5/f1f4ba04.jpg
Once the shelf surface is glued up, cut the back piece 3.5" wide to the same length as the shelf. Cut enough vertical braces to support the weight of the clamps and keep the shelf from pulling off the wall. I made mine 8.5" long and spaced them every 18" They are notched to accept the back piece. The back strip is glued to the braces and fastened from the back into them with two wood screws per brace. After this assembly is glued up, glue the shelf surface to the brace/back assembly and fasten with 6D nails.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid190/pba9483c5989d1fedabe7f28440e63d3d/f1f4ba00.jpg
Screw through the back strip into wall studs or some other solid surface to mount it. I did not screw through the pine vertical braces into the wall. They just give the shelf some leverage against the wall. Leave room to buy more clamps in the future - you can see my optomistic expansionist plans in the first photo!
Let me know if any of this needs clarification or if you have suggestions for improvement.
Cheers,
Jeff