The Bucket Rack

Continuing the theme of opening up workspace and improving the studio organization I’ll write a bit about the bucket rack.  I added this storage space about eight years ago and it has worked out pretty well.

The buckets filled with short steel stock.

The back side faces north.  Forsythia has spread across that side now so they are not as visible today.

Now the buckets are sheltered from wet weather by the trash bag envelope.

There are twenty nine 5-gallon plastic buckets resting in a frame made from 1” square tube.  The buckets lay at about a 30º angle for good visibility of the contents and easy loading and unloading.  In the beginning I used them to store short drops, tool steel, harrow tines, railroad spike and other small items.

As winter approached I put each bucket inside a large trash bag which I could tie shut to keep out rain and snow.

I’ve decided that I no longer need most of what the buckets now hold so I’m going to dispose of those things and use them to store tools and dies which are only used occasionally.  I have a spreadsheet which details the contents of each bucket.  As long as I keep that document current it should be easy to find anything I need.