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Tool Storage Rack Side Rails Question

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Bin Support Rack Question

I have a bunch of industrial storage totes that I’m building an organizer for. I have the dimensions down, I have the framing set, I have everything level on a very uneven floor.

But what do I make the side rails out of?

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Although my rack will be made to support ~16″ x 10″ tote boxes with a raised lid, the question could apply to a rack made for portable organizers, small tool boxes, or other fixture where things will slide in and out of.

I’m using 80/20 aluminum side rails so that I can change things around if needed, and because the basement is a little too fickle for engineered wood products such as plywood.

This is kind of what I’m after:

Ken Stanley Organizer Storage Cabinet

Shown here is a Stanley organizer rack that Ken made and shared with us a while back.

 

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I’ll need up to 48 pairs of side rails, at ~16″ long, so around 128 linear feet of material.

Some of the rails will for the industrial totes, others will be for shelves, and some will be extra reinforcement for individual cubbies.

1/2″ thick material rests confortably.

I ordered samples of 1/2″ x 1/2″ aluminum angles, and HDPE and ABS in 2 thicknesses. The HDPE and ABS will require flattening to smooth the saw-cut surfaces, and I might use a router table for that.

Stiffening HDPE with aluminum strips would bring the cost close to that of ABS while requiring more than double the work.

I might go with plywood short-term, unless or until I find something better. Maybe plywood with some HDPE or aluminum screwed or glued on, for wear surfaces?

I couldn’t find 1/2″ x 3/4″ or 1″ aluminum, but a third look shows that McMaster carries 1″ x 1/2″, which is apparently different. They don’t have 1/2″ x 1″, but they have 1″ x 1/2″. *Shrug* It has double the wall thickness, too.

If I go with 1″ x 1/2″ x 1/8″ aluminum angle, the cost would be $1.384/foot if I buy it in 8-foot lengths. 1/2″ x 3/4″ HDPE is $1.66/foot. ABS in the same size is $2.95/foot.

The aluminum angle might just do the trick. I could reinforce some of them with HDPE, for the boxes I know will be really heavy, or support those from the bottom so as to avoid potential rim failure.

With aluminum angle, I need to cut the rails to size, and drill 2 holes in each. No countersinking or counterboring would be necessary. I might have to clean them up a bit, or apply a thin low-friction liner, but that would be easy.

What do you think? What should I build the side rails out of? (Thanks!)

I hate getting stuck like this.

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48 Comments

  1. Aluminum is too soft, it’ll gall when dirt gets in the joint and that’ll gum up the slide motion and make it feel like you’re grinding sand into the slides every time you use them.

    You could go with UHMW, sure, but if you’re really trying to optimize it here why not some SAE 964 bearing bronze? It’d look cool as heck and work great in every respect. McMaster and Online Metals carry bearing bronze flat bar.

    Reply

    • It doesn’t have to be UHMW-smooth, though. Or do you mean as a top surface treatment?

      Another option I considered was cutting HDPE from sheet stock. I would have to cut it to size, but that would be preferable than smoothing 128 feet of rough saw-cut stock.

      A 12″ x 48″ x 3/4″ thick sheet, and saw blade kerf size of 1/8″ would yield ~57 rails per sheet. Each sheet is $63.56 at McMaster, and so I’d need 2 for 96 rails. A sheet of ABS would be quite a bit more, and they don’t have 12″ x 48″ sheets, only $24″ x 48″, at $220.64.

      That seems a bit much.

      I might just have to buy a few more small-sized sample materials and try things out all different ways.

      Reply

  2. I built a rack similar to the stanley organizer that you put up a picture of, but for Ridgid toolboxes/containers. The carcass of it was plywood, but the rails were some scrap hardwood I scrounged (oak, I believe). This allowed me to a) get a good surface finish on the rails with just a sharp table saw blade and no sanding, and b) I use Briwax to lightly lubricate them.

    One minor thing I did after a few months of use was to bevel the front-facing edges of the rails to make returning boxes to their spot require less precision.

    Reply

    • I considered that – ripping and planing down some home center maple, but I’m a little worried about warping. The basement sees big temperature and humidity differentials. I suppose that the environment could affect certain plastics, too.

      Reply

      • HDPE has a pretty high coefficient for thermal expansion I believe, so if your temp swings are substantial, keep that in mind. I imagine your overall length is so short, though, that it probably won’t male a difference.

        Reply

    • Conor, I am working on a similar project for my Rigid boxes, would you mind sharing some pictures of your design?

      Reply

  3. Our choice of wood species for bearing surfaces was hard maple – or if the client could stand an extra cost then we’d go with lignum vitae. Long before anyone thought of metal extension drawer slides – cabinet makers used wood on wood for bearing surfaces – maybe with the help of a bit of candle wax (bee’s wax if you could afford it – or tallow if you didn’t mind the smell and vermin)

    BTW I found this discussion online – that is a bit off-topic but may give you some thoughts:

    https://woodgears.ca/drawers/index.html

    Reply

    • The bins would be riding on thin edges of the lid, which might gouge along wood grain like ice skates, rather than skis.

      Reply

      • If a bin could gouge Lignum Vitae – I’d be surprised. In the early days of steam power it was used for bearings on iron shafts – it itself being sometimes called iron wood. With maple, it often gets used because of its close grain.

        With constant use – I’d be afraid that the plastic cases or bins will wear – and as you worry – might deform too if they are supporting too much weight.

        Reply

        • I don’t know what that first part is.

          I think you’re right about maple.

          But the potential gouging is why I ruled out plywood and most of what the home center has.

          It seems like a waste to use nice hardwood, and it would probably come out too more money than aluminum or plastic.

          Reply

          • You are right about plywood. You use plywood where dimensional stability is more important than strength. We had customers who asked if we could make shelves out of plywood – with edge banding to save on costs. We’d argue against it. Even with solid wood edging, plywood is not as strong and resistant to bending under weight as solid wood. Using strips of plywood as cleats can work – but plywood edges as a bearing surface – as you say – doesn’t sound like a good idea.

  4. I used anodised aluminium angle for my small parts storage boxes.

    I have a rack of 7 of the boxes in the link below on one of my benches. For spacing I started with a box on the bottom with an equal sized piece of 3mm MDF on top of it, then I screwed in the precut predrilled angle on top of that and just repeated the process upwards.

    Being anodised the is no galling and they all slide out very easily.

    http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/Product/ToolPro-Multi-Storage-Case-7-Compartment/299457?menuFrom=1021431

    Reply

      • Try Southern Aluminum Finishing. It’s where we purchase both anodized and mill finish material. They ship anywhere, just limit length on shippments. I typically pickup in Atlanta

        Reply

        • Stuart, I live in Australia so where I bought it from would be no use to you lol! I think it was around 4 or 5 dollars a metre.

          I bought it from Bunnings, sort of our version of your Home Depot however with no online purchasing but rip off pricing haha.

          Reply

  5. I had constructed a Stanley box organizer just like the one pictured and it works just fine but in hindsight I should have just constructed a set of individual shelves for each one to set in. The side railing was a bit fussy and time consuming to do and the only real advantage was that it allowed for the mixing and matching of the deep and normal height boxes.

    For your project my observation would be that if you load your boxes with a lot of weight they may flex and I think they are the weak link in your system and not the aluminum or maple rails. Since you have a fixed size of box maybe two rails underneath the bottom of each should be considered as it would deal with any flexing of your boxes and you have no need to intermix different box heights.

    Reply

    • Most of the bins won’t be very heavy, but some will.

      For the ones that shouldn’t be supported by the top ledge, I could fasten a small shelf on top of or underneath the rails. Underneath the rails, with screws coming up from shelf material below, would help minimize wasted space. The gap would be 1/2″ + spacing gap, if plywood is used, rather than 1/2″ + 1/2″-3/4″ rail + spacing gap.

      That would also help create alignment guides for bottom-supported bins.

      Reply

  6. Maybe do the aluminum rails then screw polyethylene on top for the bin lips to glide on. It should be pretty slick and durable…and replaceable if ever necessary.

    Reply

  7. UMHW – strips to support the rims and strips under the edge of each box… support them with angle iron.

    Reply

  8. I’m going to be the odd one out here and suggest something like laminated MDF.
    Basically anything cheap with a smooth laminated surface. Cut from larger stock, or simply use those iron-on laminate rolls for edging on whatever wood stock you already have.

    Reply

  10. While building an organizer for the storage totes have a lot of cool factor to it. Something that my wife could show with pride or my kids could talk about how daddy build it. I think it would be cheaper, more flexible, much easier to set up and take down to go with a traditional shelving to store them.

    For a mobile set up, metro style shelving with casters are wonderful. They come in all shape of side, they are adjustable in height. They can accommodate a wider set of stuff beside storage totes. The whole shelves with casters can be mobile allowing a more flexible workspace set up/reconfiguration.

    For a more permanent setup, teardrop style shelving that we see at home depot/costco are wonderful. They are come in a wide variety of shape and side. They are very easy to set up and tear down. The Teardrop style is much heavier duty and they can also accommodate very heavy equipment.

    Reply

    • I’ve done that in the past, and that’s how many of my bins are stored now, but the dimensions aren’t ideal.

      My rack will give me greater storage density and ease of use. 3″ trays? Easy. Half-size bins? Sure, if slid in two-deep.

      I went with a 4-bay unit, but can build to any size I want. Withe wire shelving, you can buy specific sizing at retail stores. If you want non-standard sizes, you have to go to industrial suppliers and the costs climb fast.

      I don’t care about the “cool” factor, as nobody will ever see it in the basement but me.

      If my needs change in the future, I can separate it into two units, or cut the vertical legs down from 6′ to 3′, tap the newly cut legs for leveling feet, switch things around a little, and I have a workbench with storage for the middle of the basement floor.

      Let’s say I don’t want to max out the rack with the storage totes. I can build small plywood cubbies and bolt them to the uprights.

      Wire shelving is a great idea, and I loved such setups in the past. But right now I need greater storage density than they can provide.

      My basement ceilings aren’t tall enough for pallet racking.

      Reply

  11. As much as i’m a polymer guy i like metal supports better, with hybrid solutions (the ptfe-fronted, or PE guides to metal rails the most versatile and industrial strength.

    If you could somehow do all ano Al that might be pretty nice

    I can’t help but feel that when polymers get too much control of the project they all end up doing do as polymers are: get fibrous, fuzzy and messy. 🙂

    Reply

  12. I think the boxes are strong enough to be supported by their edges or lips. But like other people, I am concerned about when you pull them out. The bending moment increases while the supporting portion of the box decreases. I think the boxes could easily bend or break. Placing them on full-width shelves would help, but they could still tip over onto you.

    I would be happier with something like drawer slides, either bought or fabricated (I have seen them made from wood: a piece of wood slides in a dadoed piece that itself sides in a larger dado in the drawer frame.) Safer and stronger. Also, you don’t have that wear from sliding friction.

    Reply

    • Good point. These don’t have handles, but are still easy to grip and pull out securely.

      I’m starting to think that maybe small shelves won’t be such a bad idea.

      I could still use HDPE as side rails, and fasten shelves underneath. The HDPE would serve as rails but also guide channels for the bins. I won’t have to worry about friction, but I would have to drill more holes.

      The new question is whether to use self-tapping screws in the plastic, or through-bolts. Through-bolts might be sturdier, but I’d be looking at 98 rails x at least 4 fasteners connecting HDPE to plywood shelves = ~400 connections.

      Reply

  13. McMaster and MSC have plastic and fiberglass angles. Or you may want to go with the aluminum angle with a UHMW strip with a PSA backing on Amazon. I purchased the UHMW with the PSA backing for a router jig about 10 years ago and it’s still going strong.

    Reply

  14. Look into road cases and how they do it. I believe that when you see a case that uses those straight-sided storage containers in a pull-out rack configuration uses aluminum angle for the sliding rails. For those that have suggested it already, I would stay that if it is durable enough to bounce up and down the road 200 days a year it will be durable enough for a shop. Those are usually riveted into 3/8″ plywood. I was thinking of building one of those cabinets that use the straight-sided storage bins to help sort all of our different cables. We often have to mix all of our cables in one case when we travel but it is a pain to sort out once we get to the venue.

    Reply

    • I have a couple of ABS? side rails for my Sortimo boxes, but they’re pricey. They can handle a LOT of weight each, and don’t have all that material in them. They’re injection molded and quite sturdy.

      The Sortimo rails are suitable for mobile applications, and have lips in front that prevent drawers from popping out unintentionally.

      Those are something like $14/pair.

      I was hoping to keep my bin shelf costs below say $4-$5 per shelf, and build things as quickly and easily as possible.

      Reply

      • I was referring more to the aluminum angle as your solution for the shelves and that rivets through plywood are likely strong enough. If you are using the 80/20, I am sure you can just bolt them on. Admittedly, the way to keep these boxes from sliding out in the roadcase application is to have a giant lid on the front and close it. The bins are preferred (I think) because you pack more stuff into an area than you do with angle-sided bins. That doesn’t sound like that is a consideration for your application.

        Reply

        • Hmm, so pop rivets? That might work, I’m assuming with washers for the plywood surface.

          Maybe at least for heavier units. I could potentially have “heavy bin” bays for half the bins, and just rails for the top half. I’m not going to put the 3″ bin holding my granite surface plate, or a 6″ bin with drill press vises at the very top anyway.

          Thanks!

          Reply

          • Yep, pop rivets. I have built a few roadcases for friends but they are pricey. Check out http://www.penn-elcom.com/ for the parts and the aluminum extrusion that is used to build these things. I try to rivet through both sides of the extrusion when possible but washers are your friends for handles and latches. Perhaps riveting two brackets on either side of a divider might be better than riveting into wood directly.

            The one caveat here is that these are built to protect what is inside rather than be indestructible themselves. Yes they are strong but a few rivets needed replacement nothing compared to replacing a rack full of wireless microphones.

  15. I’ve made various design shelves and cubbies for stanley organizers, systainers, L-Boxxes. One solution stands out as best for me for things I use frequently and that is sliding shelves on full extension drawer slides. The shelves have a lip at the front and back.

    For things used infrequently, fixed shelves or the type of supports shown in the pic at the beginning of the post, or even dadoes in 3/4″ ply (for stanley organizers) works ok. I do find that the stanley organizers in the dados are very finicky if they are overloaded.

    All other things being equal I’d make the sliding shelves for anything I want to open on the spot (like a Stanley organizer box with hand sanding supplies), remove what I need, close it, and slide it back in. Better than drawers, though, since I can take the whole box with me to the work area if I need many things in the box.

    For the other solutions, like fixed shelves, or dadoes, having a pull-out shelf in the unit makes life easier since you can put the container on it to access what’s in it.

    But the plywood box with dadoes was so easy to make and least costly. It’s also most flexible since I can put two different sized Stanley boxes in it. So, I’m ok with a mixture of different solutions depending on the factors.

    I also like cubbies for some things and used a simple design similar to Ron Paulk’s mobile workshop cubbies. In fact, you might want to see what he did.

    Reply

  17. Hi Stuart- It’s Ken, the guy who sent you those other pictures. I’m going to email you some more. We are using that EXACT same type of grey bin, and plywood works fine for the rails. We’re using strips of the exact same birch 1/2″ plywood that we used for the containers themselves. We found some Stanley-like organizers (NOT Harbour Freight; these ones are actually less expensive AND better), and the size is slightly different.

    This allows us to create these slotted racks which now fit:
    A. The parts bins.
    B. The grey containers (and their dividers and covers when required), which come in three different depths)
    C. A particular size of open parts bin (also has dividers and covers).
    D. A shelf if you want to have just wood shelves in there.

    Thus, we now have the ability to mix and match any type of container anywhere we want/need it. Furthermore, lots of these slot in between openings between lab cabinets, so we put them on wheels. Sometimes they wheel out of the way to get to outlets and boxes behind, and sometimes we put the wheels on extended planks to allow us to pull out for additional storage. We even considered having that additional pull out storage to be more of the same racks sideways so that we could shoehorn more organization behind the front facing stuff, but decided against that for our usage profile.

    Anyway, we’ve been using sanded birch ribs for almost two years now, and they work just fine with those grey plastic bins. When we make more, we won’t change a thing. If you want to create a work of art, then I’d say go with 3/4 or 1″ birch plywood sides, and dado in slots. Your call on that…

    Reply

  18. While I haven’t done any cost comparison or cost to benefit analysis, I’d wonder if marine lumber is a viable product in this application. Here’s some links to check out

    http://tacomarine.com/category/marinelumber/Marine-Lumber

    https://www.tapplastics.com/product/plastics/cut_to_size_plastic/king_starboard/526

    http://www.coosacomposites.com

    I was originally thinking that composite deck facia board may be a good fit because of its 1/2” thickness, but the textured surface is probably not desirable. And then there’s the potential for heavy bins which may crack the board at the fasteners if only 1.5” wide.

    Reply

  19. Ok, these aren’t about the storage bins, etc., but I ran across them while looking at other stuff. Levrack doesn’t need to be leveled since it’s suspended. But what a neat way to store a lot of stuff in a small space. (click on the photos link)
    http://www.levrack.com/

    Reply

    • I saw that once before, and it does look neat. Way outside my budget and outside the envelope of what I can fit in the basement.

      I considered DIYing some kind of setup on supported rails, but it’s just not practical.

      Reply

      • This looks like the filing system you see at the Dr’s offices. I remember them from a while ago. It is a neat idea if it holds up. I am sure it is super expensive as well.

        Reply

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