DIY Heavy Duty Sheet Metal Rack – KOLOS

Looking for an ultra-sturdy way to organize heavy sheet stock or bulky materials? Our KOLOS Heavy-Duty Material Storage Rack is built to handle serious loads, up to 5,000 lbs per level, thanks to massive 5″x.25″ square steel tube uprights and robust cross bracing (2″x5″x3/16″ plus 2″x4″x11ga). Every piece is cut on a CNC tube laser and precisely notched, tabbed, and slotted to ensure a perfect fit, making assembly straightforward for skilled fabricators.

We process millions of pounds of material annually, and we weren’t happy with anything else we could find on the market. So eventually we broke down and invested the time to design our own. We use about 10 of these for storing material, and we are constantly moving stacks in and out of them. As a little tip, we also purchased 20′ side open containers and we store material on our racks inside the containers so we can keep them outside without exposing the expensive material to the elements.

Store on Pallets, or Without!

Available in both 5’x10′ and 6’x12′ footprints (with heights of 6′ or 10′), the KOLOS features a unique design detail – the short cross braces on each shelf which run front to back sit 1″ above the long cross braces. This lets forklifts slide pallets OR sheets on and off without getting snagged. So you have the versatility to mix and match both storage methods in one rack.

Additionally, we’ve sized each shelf to have a few extra inches on each side to make it much easier to load and unload your material. All of the other racks we found only offer a tiny amount of wiggle room, which either slows you way down or causes accidents that damage the edge of your expensive material.

Here are the general shelf dimensions for the 5′ x 10′ units:

And for the 6′ x 12′ units:

We engineered these for our own shop at Texas Metal Works, and they perform so well, we decided to share them. If you have the welding experience and need a professional-grade storage solution, the KOLOS has you covered. But keep in mind that we’re rating the difficulty of this project at 10 because of the EXTREME weight it’s made to bear. It requires expert fabrication skills to ensure safety, even though it does all snap together.