Question Foamcore Stored Vertical or Horizontal?

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MaJa

MaJa

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Redesigning the mat/foamcore storage room. Up for (heated!) debate is storing our foamcore.

AJ wants to make horizontal slots for each box so that there is never a box on top of each other. My brain says that it would be easier to work with vertical slots like the matboard. He's worried about bowing.

And your experience says ....
 


Look pretty straight to me. Also has the Rising mat boards in the rack.
 
I store vertical. They do bow some. It consumes less of my valuable floor space.

Horizontal would take much more space, specifically with the 40x60 size or larger, if you keep those (I do).

Horizontal will also take more space unless you are keeping 7 boxes or so of the 32x40 in stock (whatever would make the height of the storage space more than 32").
 
I vote vertical also. Plus if you have the ceiling height and a beam to anchor it to, you can build more than one level like mine.

I have foam core, mat board and glass on the bottom. mat board in the middle and shipping boxes and empty mat boxes on top. Mine is 8' long, and 32" deep.

shop9.jpg
 
VERTICAL is the way we do it...no problem with a slight bow, just get some arrows.
 
when you think about all of the vendors that you have ever seen, they are all vertical as well.

Want to reduce bowing, don't go too wide on the slots and keep things stocked up nicely.
 
I store my 32x40 horizontal in the box. I have 8 boxes packed right next to each other sandwiched between a table and the drymount mount press. Then I have a piece of masonite on top of the boxes so I can use it as another bench area we can keep lightweight items on. No problems with bowing. The 40x60 foamcore we store vertical in a cabinet. I have that divided into three sections, one section each for regular, acid free and the last for oversized glass. The bins are a bit wider than the boxes so the oversized mats can fit in one side and a few oversized sleeves fit next to the other box. I think you just have to do what works best for your space, ease of access as well as restocking.
 
Vertical. We shove the boxes between the moulding racks along with oversize mat and all the acrylic. We keep a spare foamcore and Kooltack behind the open boxes. But then we go through a lot of each, so we don't worry about bowing over time. Same for Coroplast. Some 4' x 8' boards like bundles of corrugated are stored above the mat bins. Small pieces of foamboards have thier own vertical bins above the glass racks.
 
How many varieties are you going to stock? Vertical makes more sense for multiple varieties, while horizontal works better for bulk buying of a single kind.
I have about 6 different 32x40 mount boards (foamcore, gator, coroplast, precoated products, etc.) so I use 3 1/2" (1X4 clear pine) vertical slots seperated by 1/8" flakeboard. This system is expandable, and can be stacked. Also works for matboard and finished artwork storage.
 
I have done both and 4x8 stores better flat on top of a mat rack. I have considered building a shelf above the mounting press for flat storage as that would be way convenient. I have boxes of foam core everywhere and they are vertical but it doesn't take long to wipe out a full case.
 
Thanks everyone!

At the moment we have way too many types. Not sure how it happened. I shared your ideas, opinions, and photos with AJ, followed by a "do what ever you want, honey ". He's a great builder and I can't wait for the final product... Just have to have the time to work on it!
 
If you're buying a box at a time, vertical will be okay. You'll use it up before you see bowing.

If you're stocking more than a month's supply, horizontal.
 
Vertical - - why would you open more than four boxes.... AF1/8, AF 3/16 and the two cheap ones....
Store the rest vertical in their box...

REMEMBER Foam Core goes on deep discount twice a year... know what you use,
how much you use, and what you need.

Build the beehive of 3 & 4" tubes above for the rolls of scrap fabric.
 
I have enough space..

..that I store all foamboard and matboard horizontally. It certainly helps keeping the matboard flat. In the last delivery from supplier, all the foamboard was bowed, put it on the shelf horizontal and overnight, it flattened out.
However, I do have plenty of room. I tried it vertical but like horizontal better.
 
Baer Charlton said:
Vertical - - why would you open more than four boxes.... AF1/8, AF 3/16 and the two cheap ones....
Store the rest vertical in their box...
Click to expand...

2 Sizes AF, 4 sizes and 2 thickness regular, 2 sizes heat activated and add some black.
 
Jeff, sounds good.....

But you have to ask yourself... in the average shop... how much of that beyond
the 4 boxes I quoted do you really use.

heat activated? Roll a thin layer of Frank's Fabric adhesive and let it dry....
face it... it's a lot easier to store a gallon of adhesive than a box of expensive board.

Now for 48x96 CoreX.... that stuff doesn't care how you store it. :D
 
One reason I stock so many sizes is that my discount is based on 4 cases being purchased at one time. Many of the boxes become freebies so I just assort sizes and such. Most shops only need 40x60 to save on space.
 
You guys are making me think! (It hurts!!)

Franks ... never thought of that!!

We only have one box of 40" x 60", something like 9 boxes of 32" x 40" (like I said, not really sure what happened, I think 8 are different types!). Why am I ordering that size??

Huuummmm ...
 
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