My Automated Lift Drying Rack Invention – SVELDT

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Some say that necessity is the mother of invention. If that’s so then maybe laziness is the father! Or perhaps not so much laziness, but the desire for an economy of motion, of time. A better way to do things…

The task of finishing wood products can be long and repetitive. In my shop we needed to stain, let dry, then lacquer inside and out, sand and then lacquer again. A traditional paint shop uses a plethora of rolling racks to accomplish this task, but there is constant handling and a large footprint of space needed to make it all work.

I streamlined the process by setting up two powered lift towers built on ordinary warehouse racking with easily available components. It worked for my shop like this…

Products are stained (brushed or dipped) and hung on the a bar on one rack to dry… when the bar is full, it is lowered… so that any extra stain will drip onto the floor below. As the bars rise up the back side and come down the front the products dry.

When they come down, the bar is unclipped at one end and hung in front of the spray booth. Products are lacquered and then then other end of the bar is unclipped and the bar is transferred to the second rack. By the time the rack has gone around once, the products are dry and ready for their next process… second coat, sanding or whatever is needed. If there are more than one coat needed, just unclip, spray and send it around again.

Sorry for the old videos! This worked really well and products of all kinds were finished on it. We even built flat trays that could carry small items through the process.

The company is gone now, but I have the entire mechanism for two racks waiting to be installed on everyday warehouse racking for the right shop. The components cost around $2400.00 at the time. The system was built in 2008, used for a year and then mothballed. I’ve been storing them since and would love to see them back in service somewhere for $800. Maybe they can help streamline your process!