Once I bought a MIG welder, I pretty much quit making tooling out of wood. Worktables, mold frames—this project—are all so much easier, sturdier, and more professional-looking in steel than wood. So of course I welded my wing rack. It didn’t take more than a couple of hours, and it works great.
This doesn’t require a lot of explanation. The wing is cushioned with pool noodles, which slip perfectly over the 1-inch-square verticals. McMaster-Carr sells end caps for plugging the steel tubing of your weld projects, but in this case I wanted some high-visibility, rounded end caps—so I 3D-printed the ones shown here [print your own—download the STL file]. Make the rack high enough to sweep a contractor’s broom or run a Roomba underneath without hitting.
Paint was Rustoleum enamel shot with a cheap Harbor Freight HVLP gun. (Note: Wipe down your steel while it’s still a 20-foot stick—it’s much faster than trying to do it once it’s all welded up. And if you reuse steel like I do, consider whether it makes sense to leave the metal bare. You’ll have to grind off any paint within a few inches of a weld when recycling painted steel.) A great “low-consequences” project to practice your welding and painting skills.
An easy project and very useful! Since my gyro plane doesn’t have wings, I don’t need a wing rack; I just use saw horses when I remove the rotor for maintenance (every 25 hours). But, if I needed a wing rack, I’d build if for two wings, not just onw.