[The Factory] Round bars and pipes organization—here’s how! Creating a variable-length storage rack and pit 5S foundation tuning with Royal architectural hardware
“If I added up all the time I’ve spent looking for things in my life, how many tens or hundreds of hours would it be?” I find myself thinking about this sometimes. Especially tools and small parts in the garage. I need something right now but can’t find it…thirty minutes, an hour, and before I know it two hours have gone by. It’s not uncommon for the time spent searching to be overwhelmingly longer than the actual work itself.
These days it’s convenient—if I give up searching, I can just order it on Amazon and it arrives the next day. But there’s that curse-like jinx that everyone’s experienced at least once: “right after I buy a replacement, the original one suddenly turns up” (laughs).
Even if it takes a little effort and cost,“giving each thing its own address (a fixed place” makes all the difference. Just doing this eliminates search stress and makes both the workspace and your mind surprisingly clear!
You know how there are always odd-length scraps and materials you have no idea when you’ll use? Usually those are the ones somebody gave you (laughs).
It’s quick and easy to toss them in a garbage bag. But I feel like the materials are waiting patiently in the corner of the workshop for that moment—however distant—when I might need just a little bit of them, so I can’t bring myself to let them go(´ω｀)
This is a collapsible umbrella stand I bought a while back to store a front fork. I thought, “maybe?” and tried putting it in—Cinderella fit! I decided to store non-first-string materials here. It’s nice that you can see below the paint can.
Royal hardware V-face out slope 19Φ
Originally it’s for displaying clothing. It’s an apparel application. The structure is a bit different from what you’d use with a standard Royal channel support.
It’s an attachment with quite a few component parts, so assembly is tediously fiddly. You hook it onto the square pipe at the back and turn the knob to lock it tight.
As long as there’s physical space, you can arrange them freely at any pitch—that’s the biggest advantage! With standard support brackets, you’re stuck with “the column span (pitch),” so cut-down scraps and leftover materials often end up as dead space. With this, even short pieces fit neatly into gaps with no waste. The price is a bit steep, but…once you use it, you really can’t live without it(´ω｀)
A little extra work
Since it’s meant for hanging hangers, the protrusion is short. I extend it with a POM round rod.
I quickly mass-produce them on the lathe and then just do a light press fit. This lets me stock quite a lot with decent outer diameters.
And that’s the finished product. I have the same setup on the right side too, so I’m using 16 total.
Getting the whole set together runs about 30,000 yen. When you want to really build out your workspace “organization and arrangement” to a practical level, the tool costs and labor aren’t trivial. You could save on materials by making everything yourself with DIY, but then you’d spend enormous amounts of time on design and fabrication. The real wisdom—the true heart of the solo approach—is knowing how to draw out the maximum potential from “what you can get right now,” like existing rack structures, and fit everything together smartly.
Because the garage is a place where you spend long hours, you want it to be beautiful, efficient, and to flow smoothly. Organizing your work environment and cutting away the noise doesn’t just make the job more comfortable—it enriches your daily life and your whole existence.
[The Factory] Round bars and pipes organization—here’s how! Creating a variable-length storage rack and pit 5S foundation tuning with Royal architectural hardware
ポチップ
