How do you store your wood?

[Robert166]

Needed a couple pieces for a project and of course what I wanted was on the bottom. I have vertical racks. Would horizontal be better? It would probably take up more space. And if I had anything over 10 foot that wouldn't work. Other than easily selecting the piece I want, are there other advantages? Curious to know your solution?

 

[Graywolf]

Needed a couple pieces for a project and of course what I wanted was on the bottom. I have vertical racks. Would horizontal be better? It would probably take up more space. And if I had anything over 10 foot that wouldn't work. Other than easily selecting the piece I want, are there other advantages? Curious to know your solution?

I have both horizontal and vertical storage and guess what, it’s always on the bottom. Seriously, there are advantages and disadvantages to both, how your work space is laid out and the scale of your work will be large part of how you store your materials.

 

[Echd]

I accumulate it, refuse to throw out the tiniest scrap, implement loose methods of organization to attempt to group species together, and often go to the hardwood store only to discover upon arriving back that I actually already had a very nice piece of zebrawood that would have done nicely, and the cycle begins anew.

 

[Wiley's Woodworks]

I've had problems storing long pieces vertically. Over a couple of seasons of humidity going up and down they have cupped and twisted pretty badly. No problems with horizontal storage with boards stacked on top of each other. I think the weight of multiple boards holds the boards flatter.

 

[creasman]

A lot of lumber yards (particularly the big boxes) store vertically as a way to making the selection process easier. I'm not a fan of that for the reason others have stated (warping or bowing). I have mine stacked horizontally and use a staging area. Whenever I begin a project I pull out more than what I plan to use onto a couple of saw horses. I can usually find the right board in this mix.

I try to stack the lumber so I have a mix and not just put all the wide boards on the bottom. Still, I find Murphy's Law frequently at play -- the ideal board is on the bottom.

 

[Ted P]

I store boards horizontally. But as with most things, the best laid out system goes to chaos over time (and over crowding). My rack is about 30” wide and goes to the ceiling. Was originally separated by thickness and species but needs to be pulled and sorted again. Was going to skip plane but have never gotten around to that…..

 

[Robert166]

I store boards horizontally. But as with most things, the best laid out system goes to chaos over time (and over crowding). My rack is about 30” wide and goes to the ceiling. Was originally separated by thickness and species but needs to be pulled and sorted again. Was going to skip plane but have never gotten around to that…..

WOW! That is impressive

 

[Robert166]

And they have to be removed from the end?

 

[bob vaughan]

Seriously, there are advantages and disadvantages to both, how your work space is laid out and the scale of your work will be large part of how you store your materials.

The biggie for me is to have a way (or area) to sort through the stock and re-stack what doesn't get used.

 

[Bill Clemmons]

This is my outside storage shed. I label the end of each board for species and length. Width and thickness are obvious.

 

[Rwe2156]

I have both. The only issue I think I’ve had with vertical is board bowing. Vertical isn’t going to make a board cup unless maybe a board is only exposed on one end.

You can store a lot more boards vertically.

 

[bob vaughan]

This is my outside storage shed. I label the end of each board for species and length. Width and thickness are obvious.

I'll often do this marking, but if the board is particularly nice, I'll put a "+" sign on it so I can pull it for a top or sides of a particularly nice piece I want to do. Not all my lumber is FAS so I have a fair amount of cherry and walnut that has objectionable amounts of sapwood and other defects that make the board good for drawer sides and the like.

 

[Bear Republic]

This is my outside storage shed. I label the end of each board for species and length. Width and thickness are obvious.

Nice set up, how do you deal with pesky insects?

 

[Bill Clemmons]

Nice set up, how do you deal with pesky insects?

Several times a year I mix up some insecticide I get at the local farm supply store. I spray our house (inside and out), my shop, and my wood storage. This kills most of the insects, but not powder post beetles. The best solution there is to never introduce them to your wood pile.