Storing boards of different sizes in one rack
· Sam
Most floors do not run one board size. They run a family of them, plus whatever the last customer ordered, and the storage problem is not any single board. It is the mix.
Why a fixed rack fails a mixed shop
A fixed-pitch rack is sized for one board width and one thickness. Put a narrower board in it and the board leans, works its way sideways and eventually rests on its neighbour. Put a thicker board in and it either will not seat or scrapes its edge going in. Neither failure is dramatic on the day. Both show up later as damaged edges and boards that did not sit where the operator thought they did.
The usual workaround is a rack per board, which means racks standing half empty and floor space paying for air.
What adjustable actually means
An adjustable rack moves the side panel so the slot width follows the board rather than the other way round. There are three mechanisms and they are not interchangeable.
Gear track. Stepped, repeatable, and the fastest to set. You move the panel to a detent and it stays there. Best where a small number of known board widths come round again and again, because the same detent gives the same setting every time.
Screw. Continuous rather than stepped, and it holds under vibration better than anything else. Slower to change. Best where the setting rarely moves once it is right.
Belt. Continuous and quick, without the stepped clicks. Best where board width changes often and by small amounts, which is the pilot line and the high-mix contract shop.
The full comparison, including what each one costs you in setting time, is in gear, screw or belt.
Pitch is the number that traps people
Width is adjustable. Pitch, the distance between one slot and the next, is not. On the magazine racks it is 10 mm; on the slotted-edge bench racks it is wider, 15 to 16 mm. Pitch has to clear your tallest component, so the board that decides your rack is not your biggest board, it is the one with the tallest connector or electrolytic on it.
If one product in the mix is much taller than the rest, you have two honest options: move up to a wider pitch for everything, or load every second slot on that product and accept half the capacity for it. Both are better than forcing it.
Working out your own mix
List every board you actually store, with length, width, thickness and tallest component. The longest and widest board sets the chassis. The tallest component sets the pitch. The spread between narrowest and widest tells you which adjustment mechanism earns its keep. Our sizing guide walks the measurements in that order, and how to choose a rack covers the rest of the decision.
One rack that fits four of your five products beats five racks that each fit one.