Clamp Rack
When I first started acquiring clamps for my basement workshop in Maryland, I didn’t have a really good storage solution for them. I had a set of that knock-down metal shelving with particleboard shelves in a corner and I just had the parallel clamps hanging from that. One day I was getting something off of those shelves and I must have bumped that large 50” parallel clamp and it fell. Where it landed was the side of my head. It clocked me on the top of my left ear, leaving me a cut on the top of my ear. Needless to say, a few NSFW words were said and it was time for a better clamp solution. I wound up getting the Rockler Pack Rack mobile cart and that solved my clamp storage/clamp-falling-on-my-head problem. I had that cart in use for almost 10 years and multiple moves. It was a very versatile system and there really was nothing wrong with it.
However, in my new workshop, floor space was at a premium. I had just finished installing the new french cleat system on one section of my shop wall (see this article for more information on the wall storage system) and there was no reason I couldn’t utilize part of it for a clamp rack system. I’d seen many different versions of the french cleat clamp rack, but I opted for the one by Brad Rodriguez from Fix This Build That. I had already purchased his plan bundle for another project and the clamp rack was one of the ones included so I was already set there.
Following Brad’s plans, I made quick work in building my clamp rack. Of course, some small things were changed to meet my requirements for space. Once I got the french cleat glued and screwed in place and hung on the wall, I was in business. It was great to be able to put all of my parallel clamps on the wall and organize them the way that I wanted. I had a few Quik-Grip clamps that fit nicely on the same holder, so that was a bonus.
Finished clamp rack with parallel and Quik-Grip clamps
I broke down the Pack Rack and bid it adieu. The floor space gained was well worth the effort. Since this clamp rack was built, I’ve actually made a change to that as well.
***RETIRED: April 2020***
This version of clamp storage was disassembled and replaced with modular clamp storage instead. While the clamp rack was better at space savings compared to the Rockler unit, it took up more space and was less desirable than having a modular system.
