Making More Lumber Stack Levelers

About a year and a half ago I came up with and built the first adjustable lumber stacking bases.  I absolutely love stacking lumber with them and I’ve been meaning to make more for a while.

For more information on the bases and plans, see the original post

I picked up 6 lengths of each piece of stock – 3″ C-channel and 1.5″ square tube.

As I started breaking things down, I was able to stack more and more parts into my saw.  It was really nice to be able to saw multiple parts at once.

Once I got most of the square tube broken down, I transferred the hole locations from one that I previously made.

This way I could start drilling the holes while the saw was cutting the rest of the parts to length and while I had it set to knock the corners off the C-channel.

A few holes in, the belt in my drill press finally broke.  When I was building my bandsaw mill, I stalled the drill so many times that I had worn a flat spot in it.

Luckily it was easy to find a replacement belt.  I brought the old one to a local auto parts store and the found a belt that was the same size.  Installing the new one was pretty easy.  The split pulley in the back can be separated and put back together with the new belt in between.  The hardest part is compressing the spring while installing the clip that hold the top pulley to the shaft.  To make this easier, I used a pair of clamps to compress everything while I installed the E clip.

With the new belt installed, the drill not only runs quieter but it also has noticeably more power.  I could feed faster and didn’t have the drill stalling nearly as easily.

With the drill working again, I can continue drilling all the holes in the remaining tubing.

The next step is going to be welding but before I head out side to do that, I’ll take a few minutes to clean up the shop.  I don’t use cutting oil when drilling or cutting mild steel so clean up is very easy with a vacuum.  I’ll vacuum up the shavings and chips around the drill press and clean up the chip tray on the bandsaw.

The last time I made these, I lined the bolts up inside the holes by feel.  A few people recommended I sleeve the bolts to make it easier.  I couldn’t believe I didn’t think of that at the time!  Anyways, I found a piece of DOM tube that was close enough and cut some sleeves.

With the bolts sleeved, I can place them into the holes in the top tube, set them down on the C-channel.  I tacked the bolts in place, removed the top bar, and finished up the welds.

I was working on these before Thanksgiving and when my dad got into town, he helped me work on the bases.  I would be welding while he was cleaning up the slag and rounding over all the corners on the ends of the tube and C-channel.

The last little detail was to debur all the inside edges with a deburring tool.

Now for some paint prep.  I’m using the same paint system that I used on the sawmill which has been holding up incredibly well.  The steel first gets a thorough degreasing wash followed by an etch solution.

Once everything was dried, two coats of paint are applied.  I used the sleeves here as well to help keep paint off the threads.

In the end I ended up with 10 24″ bases, 12 32″ bases, and 4 48″ bases.  My dad and I used a bunch of the 32″ bases when he was in town.  We slabbed a 12′ red oak log and moved a stack of lumber from out back into the basement to finish drying.

PRODUCTS USED

Lincoln Electric 210MP Welder: https://amzn.to/2TkYlWf
Lincoln Electric Viking Welding Helmet: https://amzn.to/2UrIEwJ
Mitering Metal Bandsaw: https://amzn.to/2WlXarD
Triton Multi-Stand: http://amzn.to/2AZs6a8
Combination Square: https://amzn.to/2Wtfvmn
Triton Super Jaws: http://amzn.to/2eB0smV
Triton Engineers Jaws: http://amzn.to/2ftAyPE
Super Jaws Side Support: http://amzn.to/2eB18Zv
15/16″ Drill: http://amzn.to/2pFGbPx
Cordless Angle Grinder: https://amzn.to/2TggN25
Deburring Tool: https://amzn.to/2BbjFGy
Degreasing wash: http://amzn.to/2e4E5TA
Metal prep wash: http://amzn.to/2e6ZnkR
POR15 Paint: http://amzn.to/2e71uoE

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