As I reorganized my shop one weekend, I realized that I had clamps
all over the place: hanging on the edge of a workbench, leaning against the router
table, standing in the corner, etc. I really needed a place to store them all
so that I could keep them in better condition, locate them easily when I need them,
and stop tripping over them.
I have seen many people simply mount a 2” x 4” to the wall and use
that to hang their clamps from. I like this idea – it is simple and extremely
functional. However, I was running out of wall space and couldn’t figure out
where I could possibly hang a board for this purpose.
I ended up using a corner of my shop (garage) that doesn’t actually
have a wall. This is the corner where the furnace for my house is situated.
The furnace is recessed back into the corner and so that denies me the wall space
I need for important purposes such as clamp-hanging.
So, I built two supports out of 2” x 4”s and attached them to the
nearest walls on either side of the furnace. Then I used a third 2” x 4” as a
rail to horizontally bridge the gap between the two supports right in front of the
furnace. This rail is what I use to hang my clamps from.
Since the furnace may need servicing from time to time, I needed to
make the clamp rack removable. The two rail supports cradle the rail in the
front and back so that it can’t move forward or backward. But I also needed a
way to make sure that the clamp rail, and all my clamps, didn’t come crashing to the
ground if the rail shifted to the side.
The rail can’t shift to the right because it butts up against a
wall in that direction, so I only needed to prevent it from shifting to the left.
So, I notched the right end of the rail on the bottom so that it has a kind of
a hook on the end. Then I made a corresponding catch in the right-side rail support
to catch the hook. The rail can only be removed by picking the right side straight
up – something that is very unlikely to happen by accident with 12 to 15 clamps
hanging on it. But, it is also easy to remove in case the furnace, God forbid,
needs to be repaired.
The clamp rack works great. All my clamps are organized and
easy to find. And the only things I trip over now are scrap pieces of wood.
What the hell should I do with all those??