My homemade 1000 +/- capacity can rotator

[DENALIAKITAS]

I have been a lurker for awhile so i decided to make a few posts to get myself involved more here so here is one about my can rotator.
I was getting tired of tripping over boxes of cans from all of the sales we have had so i decided to build my own can rotator. It will hold about a 1000 cans or more depending on how you set it up and sizes of cans you set it up for. Using standard veggie cans i can get 5 rows wide per shelf and each row will hold 16 cans. Plus storage on top and under it. Smaller cans like tuna cans and tomato paste cans add to the capacity. It all comes down to how wide you want to set each row up to correspond to the size of cans you want to use on that shelf. I also set up the outside row on each shelf with a removable gate and stop so i can make that row into two seprate rows for items i want to stock less of so they dont take a full length row. Anyhow here are a few pics.

[txplowgirl]

Cool! I gotta try that, I've built a couple of bookshelves and i've been wanting a can rack. I gotta do this! Thanks for the idea!

Now, why haven't I thought of this by now? Duh! (Slappin myself upside the head).

Oh, where's my manners, i'm sorry, forgot to welcome you to the boards. Howdy from southern Oklahoma.

[katarn]

That is pretty darn cool. I may have to build something like that for myself one of these days.

[Harp]

Very nice, also looks like your were able to build it fairly cheap also.

[tdawg75]

that is just freakin awesome!!!!!

you havent had a problem with the shelves buckling in the middle with no support? thats ALOT of weight.

[rb66]

900 cans worth of space?

[POPPALUV]

Great first post!!!!! I've been planning one myself for the BOL. Welcome from S. La.

[whacker]

Originally Posted by tdawg75

that is just freakin awesome!!!!!

you havent had a problem with the shelves buckling in the middle with no support? thats ALOT of weight.

That looks like 3/4 in fiber board that stuff is pretty strong as long as you keep it dry.

Also if you had the room in front of the shelf you could put a couple of strips of peg board on each side of the vertical supports and you could put a whole bunch of spice rack like stuff on the outside I am envious.

[DENALIAKITAS]

Originally Posted by tdawg75

that is just freakin awesome!!!!!

you havent had a problem with the shelves buckling in the middle with no support? thats ALOT of weight.

Its been fully loaded for over a year and a half now without any warping. I used 5/8 osb rather than 1/2 to help prevent that from happening.

[DENALIAKITAS]

Originally Posted by rb66

900 cans worth of space?

If using standard veggie cans you can get 5 rows wide on each shelf, 16 cans deep and there are 12 shelves not including the top. So 5x16x12=960 If you adjust your can runner widths to add smaller cans like tuna, tomato paste etc then the can capacity goes way up. This doesnt include the additonal space on top and under where i store extra flats of cans etc.

[DENALIAKITAS]

Here are some more details on how i setup the outside row of can isles. They all load from the back end except for the ones on the outside where i split the row into two. The forward one of those two is loaded from the side as seen in the last two pics above. Those rows on the outside that i split into two i used screws instead of brad nails to attach the can stops so i can remove the stops and turn it back into a single row by simply re-installing the side piece. This way i can store canned items i use less volume of without taking up a whole row which also allows for more variety. Here are a couple pictues to illustrate it:

[PreppinMouse]

Absolutely fargin' genius! Way cool!

[TRM]

First rate idea, first rate design - original, useful, and necessary.

Outstanding & thank you!

[Dragonid]

Originally Posted by DENALIAKITAS

...
I was getting tired of tripping over boxes of cans from all of the sales we have had so i decided to build my own can rotator. It will hold about a 1000 cans or more depending on how you set it up and sizes of cans you set it up for. Using standard veggie cans i can get 5 rows wide per shelf and each row will hold 16 cans. ...

Nice set up. It looks to be a very customizable design. From the look of the amount of headroom over the cans, I would guess that you could reduce the gap between shelves for that size of can and get more shelves in the same space. Or fit the family-size cans on those shelves as they are.

[FF2003f350]

Very nice

[DENALIAKITAS]

Originally Posted by Dragonid

Nice set up. It looks to be a very customizable design. From the look of the amount of headroom over the cans, I would guess that you could reduce the gap between shelves for that size of can and get more shelves in the same space. Or fit the family-size cans on those shelves as they are.

There is some room for adjustment, however you have to have some overhead so you can lift the can up and over the can stop to get it out in the front, the side access ones you can just pull out from the side without lifting it over the stop so you can load it with larger diameter cans like 28 oz tomato and fruit cans.

[Medic73]

My question is how much does that rack weigh with all the cans loaded? Will the chipboard continue to hold all that weight and not start to sag after several months, especially during a very humid summer? And is only the 2"x4" vertical studs enough to hold the rack full of cans and prevent it from "racking" (starting to lean and then fail and collapse)

Also, with that much weight, did you secure it to the wall studs? What if you got an earthquake? Will it be safe with that much weight?

Please don't take me wrong. I DO like your design, but I have to question how it will hold up in the long run. I think I'd build it on a smaller scale and make several racks instead of just the one. (All your eggs in one basket kinda thing)

Medic73

[SSGNasty]

Very nice introduction of yourself. Great looking project, and holding up for a year so far. Looks like it still has plenty of life to it. It appears to be mounted to the wall for support also (?) or else you got some great 2x4s

Howdy and welcome from AZ
________________
"FIRE IN THE HOLE"

[MikeK]

That's a great design. Simple and efficient. The best way.

[Zombie response team]

Very very nice.
Welcome aboard
ZRT