Metal shelving is a fairly common subject and popular both in everyday life and on production sites. They can be seen in garages and sheds, cellars and shops, warehouses and office premises. This is a convenient place for warehousing and classification of goods, therefore, they produce them of various sizes, from small for home use to huge options for industrial enterprises.
In the article, we will consider how to assemble a metal rack, because they are sold in disassembled form. The kit includes racks, transverse parts for shelves and accessories. The tools required to assemble them depend on the type of fixtures. There are racks on the hooks, but there are structures on bolts and with prefabricated racks.
Small items are assembled and installed on the floor without additional reinforcement. If the rack is huge and designed for a large supermarket or warehouse, then the lower part is necessarily fixed to the concrete floor with anchor fasteners driven into the surface and cemented flush with the floor.
Prefabricated shelving for home
For home use, purchase a collapsible kit. Before buying, make sure that it fits along the wall of the room. Be sure to give an allowance of approximately 10 cm on each side so that it is more convenient to act during assembly.
Typically, racks consist of uprights with holes for fasteners and shelves. You can assemble a small tool rack on the floor in a horizontal position and then lift it and put it in the right place. If the rack is large, then proceed according to the instructions for the assembly of metal racks.
If you decide to act on your own, then prepare a screwdriver and pliers. It is advisable to call a family member as an auxiliary worker so that, if necessary, he supports the opposite part of the structure during work.
Assembly instruction
Assembly begins with uprights. They are made in such a way that the shelves can be positioned at a height convenient for you, so it is recommended to immediately calculate the distance between the shelves. When the vertical parts are assembled, screw the lower shelf first so that the structure becomes stiff. Further things will go much easier.
To ensure that the distance between the shelves is equal and does not have to unwind the already attached side, before assembling a metal rack, put marks on each vertical rack. This will speed up the process. You can use a ruler or simply count a certain number of holes from the bottom shelf on each side (if they are provided by the manufacturer in different versions). If you intend to store large items, then use stiffening corners to attach the shelves. Do not forget to put on plastic glides on the lower ends of the racks, which will not only protect the floor from damage, but also prevent moisture from accumulating.
It is not difficult to assemble a metal rack, especially if it has small dimensions. For large structures, take yourself an assistant who will hold the parts until you finally attach them.
Prefabricated
Very convenient metal shelves of a prefabricated design, where the racks are simply inserted one into another due to the different diameter of the cylindrical sticks.
Shelves in them mesh with curly rails around the perimeter. How to assemble a metal rack correctly, is drawn on the package insert available in the kit. For convenience in work, free the floor surface from all that is superfluous and arrange all the elements in the assembly order. The only thing you should consider when buying such a product is that the shelves have the places intended by the manufacturer, so they no longer have the opportunity to rearrange or change the distance between them for large items.
Collect these racks by hand, just putting parts on vertical sticks. For the strength of the fastenings, use a rubber mallet, gently hitting the edge of the shelf so that it sits completely in its place. It is not difficult to do such work, the assembly is similar to a children's designer, so even a teenager or a woman can assemble such a metal rack with her own hands.
Hook stands
Convenient metal shelving is available for sale, which does not require any hardware to connect vertical racks and horizontal shelves. They are interconnected by clicking on reliable hooks. On the shelves there are special hooks, and on the racks there are holes with a decrease downwards. How to assemble metal shelving of this type? Very simple. Insert the hook into the hole and forcefully push it down to the very end.
Detailed assembly instructions will help to make the job faster and correctly position the elements among themselves. After reading it, you can assemble a rack for your garage or store in just a few minutes. It is advisable to take an assistant to help, so that he holds the shelf on the opposite side while you are searching for the desired hole.
Action algorithm
Before you assemble a metal rack yourself, be sure to check the location of the racks. The lower side has special holes for connecting to the thrust bearing, but on the top there are none. Look at all the racks at once and lay them on the floor with the right side so that after assembly you do not have to redo the work. All hooks should look down, otherwise the shelves simply cannot be attached.
In order not to think about this issue, immediately put the thrust bearings on the lower edges. Further work is best done together. The hooks on the shelves should look down. Attach the bottom shelf first so that the racks no longer need support. To do this, insert one part of the shelf into the hooks, then apply the opposite edge. Since the snacks hold the transverse parts firmly, you need to insert the hooks to the end. With metal, this is not so easy to do.
Masters with experience use special rubber hammers, tapping on the cross bar until it takes its rightful place. If you don’t have one, then it makes no sense to buy a tool for one-time use. Before you assemble the metal rack on the hooks, prepare a wooden block and tap to shrink it. However, here it is necessary to act without fanaticism, because with a strong blow the metal can be deformed.
Rules for the assembly of large structures
For large stores or warehouses, racks with hooks are also used, only they have a much larger size and wall thickness of metal. For the assembly of such products will require the coordinated work of several people, scaffolding and additional equipment in the form of lifts.
For such structures, the lower parts of the uprights are equipped with holes for anchor bolts. To install them in a concrete floor, make holes with a puncher and screw them firmly into the base. In the same way, racks are attached to the wall, because the load on industrial racks is incredibly high.
Then, in a similar way, the hooks of the shelves are put on the hooks of the vertical racks, rubber hammers help strong grip.
Safety regulations
Before assembling a metal rack for the store, use improvised means. To strengthen the upper parts of the structure, scaffolding is exhibited. It is necessary to observe safety precautions and use belts or make a railing on stands. Scaffolding or scaffolding must be firm and strong.
To exclude falls from a height, there must be a railing. Before starting work, instruct workers on safety rules to prevent accidents when assembling such large-sized products as in the photo above.
Lifts must also be equipped with handrails and must be stable against the floor. It is imperative that you work at height in pairs to put the shelves on the hooks on both sides at once. Before starting the assembly of the upper parts of the structure, it is necessary to firmly fix the anchors to the surface of the base and to the wall of the building so that the assembly has rigidity.
Design features
As you already understood, metal racks come in a wide variety of designs and assembly methods. How to assemble a metal rack without welding is described in detail in the article. Pay attention to the design of the shelves. They can consist of planks with corners, on which you need to lay plywood cut to size.
For large-sized shelving, shelves are ready-made, with strong metal lintels and mesh coating. They are quite strong, able to withstand a large mass.
Conclusion
It is most convenient to use prefabricated metal shelves to place many items in a household or in stores. They are assembled by hand quite quickly and simply. You do not need to have a special education to understand all the intricacies of the assembly. After reading the step-by-step instructions in our article, you will complete the task in a few minutes. Good luck