Friday, March 16, 2012

Canned Food Storage

 We have been looking for a way to store our canned food that takes up less space than just putting them on a shelf.  We found inspiration on Pinterest and built our own self-rotating racks!  With just a piece of plywood and some 1x3s and some 1x2s.  Some L brackets and lots of screws we built this!!  We made sure that the cans that we wanted to put here fit in each row.  At the bottom of each row, we put this wedge piece.
 And on the wedge we screwed in an L bracket.  That way the can doesn't fall out on it's own.
 We screwed two boards with an angled cut at the top to the wall and the rack had boards with opposite angle cuts on the back. 
 Here is the first rack.  The end spot was not big enough for a can, so Toby just put two shelves and we are stacking tuna there!
 And here are both!  I love them!!!
UPDATE We had a request for more information on the canned food rack that we posted a couple of months ago.  Since it's hanging on the wall, it's kind of hard to get pictures, so I'll try to explain what I did.

If I was building it again, I'd use very thin plywood (1/4" or thinner) for the pieces that go on the front of the rack, instead of 1"x2".   They just have to be strong enough to prevent the cans from falling forward and using thinner wood would make it lighter.

The angled piece at the bottom of each row of cans was just cut from a 2x4.  My saw blade wasn't quite large enough to cut all the way to the top of a 2x4 so I cut off about 1/2" from the top of the 2x4, see Fig 1.



Then I cut the 2x4 lengthwise in half at an angle.  I angled my saw blade at around 25 deg to cut through the bottom corner and angle up to come out at the opposite top corner see Fig 2.

Once I had it cut in half at an angle, I cut the piece into 2-3" wide triangles.  These are what I attached to the bottom of each row of cans.  I glued and then drilled a countersunk hole in the angled pieces at the bottom of where the cans will go.  I then put a screw in the countersunk hole and made sure the head didn't come above the surface of the wood.  That gave me a sturdy and secure surface to attach the angle bracket.

The boards that hold it to the wall were about 1/2" thick plywood.  I cut them into strips about 6" wide.  Then, I made a 45deg cut lengthwise down the center of the strip, producing 2 3" wide pieces.  I then repeated until I had 4 3" pieces for each rack.  I marked the two halves so I knew which pieces went together, in case there was any variation in the 45deg cut.  Find the studs in your wall and mark them.  While you could use drywall anchors I think screwing the boards to the studs is much more secure. You attach two separate piece to the wall, with the cut side pointing upward and the high side of the 45deg cut away from the wall.  This creates a pocket against the wall.  If you attach it backward, the cut will slope away from the wall and the food storage rack will fall off.  I then set the other two pieces into their matching pieces on the wall.  With a second person, we then held the rack up against the 4 boards on the wall.  Quickly drive 2 screws through the rack into each of the unattached pieces.  This will connect them to the rack and make sure they match up with the 2 pieces on the wall.  I then screwed screws through the rack into both the rack mounted board and the wall mounted board to give it more strength and prevent it from moving.

57 comments:

Jessica said...

So cool!!! You guys are so smart!

Zeke said...

We absolutely LOVE it! What an awesome job.

Love & miss you,
Juliana

Zeke said...

Good job. we love Pintrest ideas.

Ruth Hackett said...

Could you please post pics of the angle cuts on the boards on the wall and the other angle cuts on the boards on the storage unit? I would love to copy this for my can food storage.

Lisa B. said...

I love this rack! Thanks for sharing. I've shared it with my readers on my site.

Anonymous said...

The method you're using to attach them to the wall is called "cleats". Here is a video showing how to do it: http://www.ronhazelton.com/projects/how_to_hang_pictures_using_wood_cleats

They're hanging a picture, but it's the same idea. We used this method to hang our kitchen cabinets, that way you can adjust the spacing before you attach them to the wall. Works great for alot of different things.

Kathy said...

I love this idea..I want to make it. Thanks for sharing!

Carla Belyea said...

This is a great idea. I saw the link on Homestead Survival that sent me over here. I can't wait to get my husband to make me some of these.

Market Research Reports said...

How exciting! I have seriously enjoyed reading this article. You guys have built a excellent community!
Canned Foods Market

The Big Blue Frog said...

Nice use of French cleats. Or do we call them "Freedom Cleats" now?

Unknown said...

I would definitely buy one if u ever sold them..

Melinye said...

Will you make them to sell?
I would like three.
Mel bosek

Melinye said...

Please let me know if you will make them to sell.
I use progreso soups, spaghetti sauce , Campbell. And small tomatoes paste cans.
Tuna fish and kipper snacks cans too.

Look forward to hearing from you.

Unknown said...

Wow...Many Thanks!

Just what we were looking for.

Unknown said...

Ok...when y'all come to make me one?... Lol... Y'all did an excellent job.

Unknown said...

Ok...when y'all come to make me one?... Lol... Y'all did an excellent job.

darlin said...

Awesome idea, now to find someone to make me one of these, or better yet maybe even make it myself.

Thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

I really love this idea, I feel like it would really work. I've got a lot of good ideas for my storage in Edmonton, I'd love to try. This seems like it would really work too, it's perfect!

Unknown said...

Wow! very nice post. thanks for sharing.
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Unknown said...

Thanks for sharing this post. Storage racks are considered to be one of the most useful items available in the market and can be used for storing different kinds of commodities and equipments.

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Shelly said...

This is genius!!!! Found this on Pinterest! Please come share this on a party I cohost, DIY Sunday Showcase!

Shelly
minettesmaze.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

Thanks a lot for sharing your create ideas with us and you have good collections in it. These Storage racks can hold multiple storage items, so that it provides spacious look to your place. Since these storage racks are compact and i hope it is easy to relocate to another place. Storage Rack Manufacturer.

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Used storage racks is a great way to take advantage of these features, as well as the finacial benefits of purchasing used materials.

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Unknown said...

Could pallets be modified to have it be similar to the same idea?

Unknown said...

I love this! I hope to copy it soon! Thanks!

Stell said...

Now I just need the ability to chop, saw etc the bits.

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Unknown said...

Hey! Nice can rack! My gf emailed me the link to it a few weeks ago. When I saw it it immediately presented the solution to my can storage issue and allowed me to use otherwise dead space productively.
I built mine as a single unit, 5 slots wide, 2 slots high. It will hole 120 average size progresso soup cans. I tucked it into a 6' space I had behind the swing area of a door in my pantry. Worked out beautifully!
I've never "blogged" before.. So I don't know how to share a picture of the one I built with you.. lol.. But if you're interested in seeing mine, just email me and I can send a shot of it in a reply.
Thanks for the AWESOME inspiration!

Unknown said...

Ok.. I figured out a way after all.. lol

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10202949780686971&set=a.1625757565293.79833.1277131322&type=1&theater

Wolf Teacher said...

Is there any reason the angle piece for the bottom couldn't be left whole rather than cutting it into the 2-3" pieces?

Unknown said...

Made this, Thanks.

DrDaveM69 said...

The cleats on the wall and the back of the can rack are referred to as a 'French Cleat', commonly used to hang wall cabinets.

Nicely executed project.

Unknown said...

What a nifty design! I need my hubby to build one of those.

Unknown said...

Love the idea....but also have possible decorative idea for front of it . If going to use thinner wood for front y not buy just piece of latticework to go on front as u dont need to see can that much only enough to count them to see wht u need..let me know what you think. ...

Anna said...

I think this is a good idea, but I would suggest making it a little taller, because I see that you can only fit 9 cans in the row and if you buy by the case you get at least 12 cans in the case.

Anonymous said...

This is an awesome storage rack!!
I love it!

In my personal opinion, I think you are better off using 1x2s as opposed to using anything thinner...
within reason, you can never have too much support....you8 can have to little, but not too much...within reason.
This is an aawesome rack! TY for sharing. :)

Gigi2gogo said...

I was just curious why you used a French cleat? Are the racks screwed into them or just hanging from them?

Amy said...

The racks are screwed into them. We just uses them because we had seen them on home improvement shows and heard they are stronger.

Helen /aka Safhire said...

I have got to make some of these!

PJ said...

omgosh.. this is amazing.. love that it keeps a nice rotation going and saves space ☺ Now.. I must see if the hubs will build it for me, cause I know how much he appreciates me in his garage.. lol

Unknown said...

Pretty nifty!!! I'm not inspired to make one but my fella sure will. : P

norman kepner said...

This is great.I'm Going to build some real soon.my wife will be happy as all get out just to have more room in the pantry.

Jimmy Mehr said...

I want to buy.

Maria Elena said...

Oh my goodness! What a commendable work you have done, Keep up the great work mate success ll definitely follows you.

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Unknown said...

Looks like you are no longer maintaining your blog. It's a pity. But on Pinterest this post of yours still flies around. We found it so interesting, that we built our own canned food storage!
We even started our own blog and put a post on it about how we built our canned food storage, inspired by yours: https://famadiy.com/platzsparendes-diy-dosenregal
Of course we gave credits to you :)

Thanks for that nice inspiration!

LSG Industrial & Office Products, Inc. said...

Hi! I love you work. Maybe you can also use Eco Pipes in the future.

Unknown said...

So what did the angle on the triangle with the L hook end up being? 45* ?

Unknown said...

Love the idea for hanging cabinets with the use of cleats!

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Giovanni Carlo said...

I will build a DIY storage racks for my betta fish and I will used a wooden recycled pallets

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NEISA said...

How big is the one that is the full wall length can organize

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Mark G. said...

The angled pieces of wood described to hang the racks are called "French Cleats". Google that term and there is lots of info and other uses for the idea. In short you can just rip a piece of wood at a 45 degree angle and screw one piece to the wall and the other attach to your project so they interlock. You can do a lower one as well as an upper one, but it is FAR easier to mount the pieces on the wall, attach the top cleat and hang the project then attach the lower cleat with it in the grove with the project hanging from the top. Unless you need extra holding capacity often only an upper French Cleat is needed, a lower spacer bar on the project or wall will allow the project to then hang straight.

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