Pipe Clamp Storage Ideas

• The business end of a typical pipe clamp.pipe clamp image by dwags from Fotolia.com
  
  Pipe clamps are extremely handy devices for use in holding furniture and similar large objects together for gluing, drilling or other operations requiring securely joined surfaces. According to Everything Sold in Hardware Stores, they tend to be less expensive than bar clamps, while doing the same job, and can be as long as the length of any purchased pipe -- another plus. The same source suggests using black pipe rather than galvanized for smooth operation.
  
  

Tool Racks

• One of the easiest ideas for storing pipe clamps is to hang them from manufactured racks, available at any DIY store and designed to hold long-handled garden tools like rakes and shovels. You can also make your own racks from a board fastened with angle brackets to a wall. Before mounting it, simply cut U-shaped channels in the board the same width as pipes and spaced far enough apart to accommodate the clamp portions of the devices.
  
  

Overhead Storage

• If your tool shed walls are already full, or you only occasionally use pipe clamps, consider storing them overhead out of the way. Secure them across two rafters -- within reach of a step ladder -- or build an open ended shallow box suspended from the ceiling to slide them into when not in use.
  
  

Boxed and Ready

• Build a tall, narrow wooden box with scrap plywood or 1x12-inch boards. Fasten a square scrap of wire fencing -- preferably 2-inch square mesh about a foot from the bottom, spanning the available space in both directions. Place an identical square on the top of the box. When finished, you will have a compartmentalized box to slide several pipe clams into. Each will stand upright and seperated from the others by the wire grid holding them vertically in place at the top and bottom of the clamps.
  
  

Handy Studs

• The space between 2x4-inch studs in standard wall construction is 3-1/2 inches deep by 16 inches (occasionally 24 inches) wide and 8-feet high, which makes it a convenient size for storing tall, thin objects like pipe clamps. If your shed has unsheathed interior walls, nail a scrap of plywood over two adjacent studs to form an open box that will hold several clamps. They will store neatly upright without using any floor or finished wall space while remaining close by for use as needed.
  
  

Hang 'Em High

• If your clamps are longer than you typically need them to be, use the extra half inch at the bottom to devise a way to store them. Just drill a 1/4-inch hole all the way through both walls of the pipe at that point, and thread a stout cord or wire through to form a loop. Hang pipe clamps upside down by the loops from any available hook or nail.