Storage Solutions for Timber Construction & Carpentry
Storage designed around how a working joinery shop actually operates
While timber storage requirements vary significantly when moving from an external yard or warehouse setting into a carpentry/joinery workshop, it is essential that timber be close enough to the bench that the next length can easily be reached, properly organised according to species/size, and stored correctly to allow good air flow – failing to provide timber with sufficient air flow during its storage in a workshop will result in the wood warping, sagging, or otherwise becoming damp long before reaching the saw.
Irish timber workshops, carpenters, and joiners often have to work with limited space, using their shop within an already developed property such as a shed or industrial unit. Therefore, designing a storage system that is appropriate for the space limitations but also provides efficient and secure storage is important. OHRA designs bespoke timber storage systems for such settings, with the focus on your particular needs and processes.
Cantilever Racks
Workshop timber storage is generally done using cantilever racking, which offers the ability to store and easily access the required timber according to species, colour, and dimensions, in a compact and orderly manner.
OHRA cantilever racking uses hot rolled steel profiles, offering a high capacity for loads without requiring a bulky structure, allowing several storage levels to be set up in a limited workspace. Furthermore, thanks to the open arm design of cantilever racking, airflow is guaranteed around the stored timber, ensuring that it remains safe from moisture. The design of the racks is customised to your workshop measurements and requirements.
Key advantages:
- Hot rolled steel construction – offers high load capacities without having a bulky structure
- Several storage levels can be created within a limited area
- The open arm design facilitates airflow around the stored timber, thus preventing any moisture-related issues
Customisable to individual workshop measurements and requirements
Vertical Racks
When it comes to storing boards and other sheet material in the workshop, vertical racking tends to be a preferred choice due to the ability of boards to slide out easily along roller conveyors, thus allowing the required boards to be retrieved without lifting heavy stacks.
With OHRA, the boards can be subdivided by use of separators and separated arms when greater subdivisions are needed. Furthermore, all boards are stored on their edge, in a clear and accessible manner – no forklifts are required for the process.
Mezzanine floors
In case the workshop has high ceilings and the floor has been entirely taken by benches, machines, and storage racks, the overhead area can become an additional space for storage in a workshop, creating a second or even third storage level above the workshop floor.
OHRA mezzanine structures are customised for each client and are able to accommodate rack storage at their top level. The load bearing capacity of the walkway is 350 kg/m2, sufficient for storing large quantities of boards and timber. The following accessories are included: lighting fixtures, ladders, stairs.
Storing Timber Correctly — Why It Matters in an Irish Workshop
Irish weather requires special care for stored timber since, in the presence of excessive moisture, warping, and fungal damage to the wood can occur. Proper ventilation is therefore required, which the design of cantilever racks ensures by allowing air flow in all directions, something that cannot be said about closed shelf storage or stacking.
Timber stored in a cantilever rack is separated in accordance with species and size, while it is individually accessible and does not require any handling during searches – each time a certain piece of timber is searched for and then restacked after use, there is a chance of damaging the wood, as well as losing valuable time.
Real Results in the Workshop
Fehr
The heart of Robert Fehr’s new building in Andelfingen, Switzerland, is a semi-automated warehouse for wooden boards up to 6,0 metres long and 2,5 metres wide.
Schmidt carpentry
OHRA has constructed a cantilever storage system for the Thuringian carpentry workshop Torsten Schmidt, which not only offers more space for panels and timber, but also supports a photovoltaic system on the roof.
Nyfeler
The joinery Nyfeler Holzwaren AG, manufacturer of the CUBORO marble run system and other products, now stores beech log planks and other items in an OHRA cantilever racking system instead of on the floor.
Bati Nature
Bati-Nature, the French carpentry / timber frame construction company / specialised in the construction of straw-insulated houses, has created new capacities for the storage of both wood-based materials and prefabricated wall elements with a special racking system from OHRA. Here, two 24-metre-long rows of single-sided cantilever racks form the walls of a hall-like construction. Between them remains a space of about 6 metres width that can be travelled on, in which the timber frame walls are stored upright. The cantilever columns support a roof that protects both the outward-facing storage levels formed by the cantilever arms from the weather and the floor storage zone between the racks. OHRA needed only about one and a half weeks for the assembly of the specially adapted warehouse building.
Besteiro
At Maderas Besteiro, OHRA cantilever racking enables the efficient storage of timbers with a length of up to 13.5 metres; individually adapted pallet racking with up to 15 storage levels also offers plenty of space for the large variety of High Pressure Laminates (HPL). Compared to the original floor storage and outdated racking, Maderas Besteiro was able to increase its storage capacity by 20 per cent in the same storage space, speed up storage and retrieval processes by 30 per cent and reduce damage to stored goods by 70 per cent.
