I have finally realized that I really need a large rolling toolbox. I
have been buying and building tools pretty steadily for a few years, and
now I need to organize them. I need a place to put auto body dollies
and hammers, a place to put homemade stakes, blacksmith tools, a place
to put the accesories for my homemade power hammer, you name it.

I figure that what I want is a set of drawers of varying depths, mostly
3 inches deep or less. The common style of toolbox has a smaller
"portable" toolbox on top of a large rolling toolbox. This sounds OK,
as would a large drawer unit that was one piece. I would prefer a unit
on casters, but that is not a hard requirement.

I looked at Sears toolboxes the last time they were on sale, and the
only one that looked acceptable to me was one with ball bearings. I saw
a Husky toolbox at Home Depot that looked about the same quality. These
ran around $500 for the set of two toolboxes, but did seem a little on
the flimsy side. Realistically, I probably cannot afford to spend a lot
more than $500. I probably have been spoiled by commercial drawer units
by Lista and others, which are sturdy and slide very smoothly on ball
bearings. I have not looked at what is available as high end toolboxes
today. One that is very large would probably not fit into the available
space very well,

So, which brands of toolboxes should I look at? Any tips in evaluating
them? Any brands to stay away from? Should I look for used commercial
drawer storage units?

Thanks in advance.

Richard

"Richard Ferguson" wrote

So, which brands of toolboxes should I look at? Any tips in evaluating
them? Any brands to stay away from? Should I look for used commercial
drawer storage units?

Thanks in advance.

Richard

I got an awesome set of Craftsman last Father's Day. It was a three box
set, one of them on rollers, and it was around $300 on sale. Dont' buy
anything but the roller bearing drawers whatever brand name you buy.

Shop, shop, shop. You will get what you pay for. But occasionally you can
find real deals on sales, discontinued items, closeouts, etc.

Steve

I would buy a Snap-On box if you can afford it. I purchased my first
one in 1977 and have never lost money on them. They hold there value
when traded or sold. I am on my 4th set now. Snap On stands behind what
they sell and they are high quality.

Charlie

Ball bearings make all the difference.
They allow drawer access when they are heavy with tools.

Martin

Richard Ferguson wrote:

I have finally realized that I really need a large rolling toolbox. I
have been buying and building tools pretty steadily for a few years, and
now I need to organize them. I need a place to put auto body dollies
and hammers, a place to put homemade stakes, blacksmith tools, a place
to put the accesories for my homemade power hammer, you name it.

I figure that what I want is a set of drawers of varying depths, mostly
3 inches deep or less. The common style of toolbox has a smaller
"portable" toolbox on top of a large rolling toolbox. This sounds OK,
as would a large drawer unit that was one piece. I would prefer a unit
on casters, but that is not a hard requirement.

I looked at Sears toolboxes the last time they were on sale, and the
only one that looked acceptable to me was one with ball bearings. I saw
a Husky toolbox at Home Depot that looked about the same quality. These
ran around $500 for the set of two toolboxes, but did seem a little on
the flimsy side. Realistically, I probably cannot afford to spend a lot
more than $500. I probably have been spoiled by commercial drawer units
by Lista and others, which are sturdy and slide very smoothly on ball
bearings. I have not looked at what is available as high end toolboxes
today. One that is very large would probably not fit into the available
space very well,

So, which brands of toolboxes should I look at? Any tips in evaluating
them? Any brands to stay away from? Should I look for used commercial
drawer storage units?

Thanks in advance.

Richard


--
Martin Eastburn, Barbara Eastburn
@ home at Lion's Lair with our computer
NRA LOH, NRA Life
NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder

I have several boxes, including the Husky Home Despot model you
mentioned. It's a good box; I keep fairly heavy stuff in the lower
drawers, which move smoothly and haven't distorted in the 4 years I've
had it. Has the requisite 5"X 2" casters and BB drawers.
JR
Dweller in the cellar

Richard Ferguson wrote:
I have finally realized that I really need a large rolling toolbox. I
have been buying and building tools pretty steadily for a few years, and
now I need to organize them. I need a place to put auto body dollies
and hammers, a place to put homemade stakes, blacksmith tools, a place
to put the accesories for my homemade power hammer, you name it.

I figure that what I want is a set of drawers of varying depths, mostly
3 inches deep or less. The common style of toolbox has a smaller
"portable" toolbox on top of a large rolling toolbox. This sounds OK,
as would a large drawer unit that was one piece. I would prefer a unit
on casters, but that is not a hard requirement.

I looked at Sears toolboxes the last time they were on sale, and the
only one that looked acceptable to me was one with ball bearings. I saw
a Husky toolbox at Home Depot that looked about the same quality. These
ran around $500 for the set of two toolboxes, but did seem a little on
the flimsy side. Realistically, I probably cannot afford to spend a lot
more than $500. I probably have been spoiled by commercial drawer units
by Lista and others, which are sturdy and slide very smoothly on ball
bearings. I have not looked at what is available as high end toolboxes
today. One that is very large would probably not fit into the available
space very well,

So, which brands of toolboxes should I look at? Any tips in evaluating
them? Any brands to stay away from? Should I look for used commercial
drawer storage units?

Thanks in advance.

Richard


--
--------------------------------------------------------------
Home Page: http://www.seanet.com/~jasonrnorth
If you're not the lead dog, the view never changes
Doubt yourself, and the real world will eat you alive
The world doesn't revolve around you, it revolves around me
No skeletons in the closet; just decomposing corpses
--------------------------------------------------------------
Dependence is Vulnerability:
--------------------------------------------------------------
"Open the Pod Bay Doors please, Hal"
"I'm sorry, Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that.."

Find a used Vidmar/Lyon/Lista modular cabinet and put casters on it. I'll
be replacing a 40" rollaway and topbox and a 5-drawer 26" box and have lots
of empty space to fill. Also even at new prices, they are cheaper than
Craftsman (25-30%) and tougher than any "toolbox".

"Richard Ferguson" wrote in message
...
I have finally realized that I really need a large rolling toolbox. I have
been buying and building tools pretty steadily for a few years, and now I
need to organize them. I need a place to put auto body dollies and
hammers, a place to put homemade stakes, blacksmith tools, a place to put
the accesories for my homemade power hammer, you name it.

I figure that what I want is a set of drawers of varying depths, mostly 3
inches deep or less. The common style of toolbox has a smaller "portable"
toolbox on top of a large rolling toolbox. This sounds OK, as would a
large drawer unit that was one piece. I would prefer a unit on casters,
but that is not a hard requirement.

I looked at Sears toolboxes the last time they were on sale, and the only
one that looked acceptable to me was one with ball bearings. I saw a
Husky toolbox at Home Depot that looked about the same quality. These ran
around $500 for the set of two toolboxes, but did seem a little on the
flimsy side. Realistically, I probably cannot afford to spend a lot more
than $500. I probably have been spoiled by commercial drawer units by
Lista and others, which are sturdy and slide very smoothly on ball
bearings. I have not looked at what is available as high end toolboxes
today. One that is very large would probably not fit into the available
space very well,

So, which brands of toolboxes should I look at? Any tips in evaluating
them? Any brands to stay away from? Should I look for used commercial
drawer storage units?

Thanks in advance.


I've got both a mid-range Craftsman and a Kennedy roll-around tool box.
AIR, they are rated for similar loads but the Kennedy is far more sturdy.
The Kennedy was around $400, I think and the Craftsman about half that or a
little less. The Kennedy has a ~150 lb bench top T&C grinder on it and
doesn't seem to strain with the load and still rolls around pretty easily.
The same grinder on teh Craftsman had me thinking that the wheels would fall
off at any moment.

Richard

Richard Ferguson wrote in message
...
them? Any brands to stay away from? Should I look for used commercial
drawer storage units?


Everybody is on the BB drawers, and that's fine. You'll prolly get them, and
that's fine too.

I've had my Craftman's set, no BB, for 35 years, and they work almost as
well as when they were new. I need to clean and oil the slides, naturally.
They hold heavy tools, too. Air tools, etc. I'd say to get what makes your
gut say "yes", as opposed to what the dang ads say anymore.......I have no
idea who makes these anymore.

Richard, I built a rolling workbench using two of the Craftsman "project
centers" right before Christmas last year, when the boxes were on sale. I
paid $80 for each box, non- ball bearing drawers, built an angle iron dolly
tray, placed them into it, and bolted them together. A 3/4" plywood piece
was added to the top of each box to get above the raised lip around the top.
A cabinet top contractor near me gave me a Dupont Corian countertop removed
from a store display, which I cut down and reworked to fit the top of the
tool boxes. Having the steel on hand, I ended up with about a day in it,
along with about $172. The top would have cost around $450 if it was hired
out to be fabricated. I built another for a friend and used plywood covered
in stainless steel for the top. Maybe something similar to this would work
for you.

Photo link is below.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3.../Workbench.jpg

RJ


"Richard Ferguson" wrote in message
...
I have finally realized that I really need a large rolling toolbox. I
have been buying and building tools pretty steadily for a few years, and
now I need to organize them. I need a place to put auto body dollies
and hammers, a place to put homemade stakes, blacksmith tools, a place
to put the accesories for my homemade power hammer, you name it.

I figure that what I want is a set of drawers of varying depths, mostly
3 inches deep or less. The common style of toolbox has a smaller
"portable" toolbox on top of a large rolling toolbox. This sounds OK,
as would a large drawer unit that was one piece. I would prefer a unit
on casters, but that is not a hard requirement.

I looked at Sears toolboxes the last time they were on sale, and the
only one that looked acceptable to me was one with ball bearings. I saw
a Husky toolbox at Home Depot that looked about the same quality. These
ran around $500 for the set of two toolboxes, but did seem a little on
the flimsy side. Realistically, I probably cannot afford to spend a lot
more than $500. I probably have been spoiled by commercial drawer units
by Lista and others, which are sturdy and slide very smoothly on ball
bearings. I have not looked at what is available as high end toolboxes
today. One that is very large would probably not fit into the available
space very well,

So, which brands of toolboxes should I look at? Any tips in evaluating
them? Any brands to stay away from? Should I look for used commercial
drawer storage units?

Thanks in advance.

Richard

On Fri, 17 Dec 2004 02:41:36 GMT, Richard Ferguson
wrote:

I have finally realized that I really need a large rolling toolbox. I
have been buying and building tools pretty steadily for a few years, and
now I need to organize them. I need a place to put auto body dollies
and hammers, a place to put homemade stakes, blacksmith tools, a place
to put the accesories for my homemade power hammer, you name it.

I figure that what I want is a set of drawers of varying depths, mostly
3 inches deep or less. The common style of toolbox has a smaller
"portable" toolbox on top of a large rolling toolbox. This sounds OK,
as would a large drawer unit that was one piece. I would prefer a unit
on casters, but that is not a hard requirement.

I looked at Sears toolboxes the last time they were on sale, and the
only one that looked acceptable to me was one with ball bearings. I saw
a Husky toolbox at Home Depot that looked about the same quality. These
ran around $500 for the set of two toolboxes, but did seem a little on
the flimsy side. Realistically, I probably cannot afford to spend a lot
more than $500. I probably have been spoiled by commercial drawer units
by Lista and others, which are sturdy and slide very smoothly on ball
bearings. I have not looked at what is available as high end toolboxes
today. One that is very large would probably not fit into the available
space very well,

So, which brands of toolboxes should I look at? Any tips in evaluating
them? Any brands to stay away from? Should I look for used commercial
drawer storage units?

Thanks in advance.

Richard

http://stockcarracing.com/howto/32838/

Gunner

"Gunner, you are the same ridiculous liberal f--k you ever where."
Scipio

If you want to be frugal, go to a used office supply place. Several things
to look for are bank cash cans and card files. These were built very well
and have strong bearing slides and heavy duty castors.

These are also cheap and have good locks. The downside is the drawers tend
to be a little deep compared to traditional mechanics boxes but for the
price you can live with the added depth.

--

Roger Shoaf

About the time I had mastered getting the toothpaste back in the tube, then
they come up with this striped stuff.
"Richard Ferguson" wrote in message
...
I have finally realized that I really need a large rolling toolbox. I
have been buying and building tools pretty steadily for a few years, and
now I need to organize them. I need a place to put auto body dollies
and hammers, a place to put homemade stakes, blacksmith tools, a place
to put the accesories for my homemade power hammer, you name it.

I figure that what I want is a set of drawers of varying depths, mostly
3 inches deep or less. The common style of toolbox has a smaller
"portable" toolbox on top of a large rolling toolbox. This sounds OK,
as would a large drawer unit that was one piece. I would prefer a unit
on casters, but that is not a hard requirement.

I looked at Sears toolboxes the last time they were on sale, and the
only one that looked acceptable to me was one with ball bearings. I saw
a Husky toolbox at Home Depot that looked about the same quality. These
ran around $500 for the set of two toolboxes, but did seem a little on
the flimsy side. Realistically, I probably cannot afford to spend a lot
more than $500. I probably have been spoiled by commercial drawer units
by Lista and others, which are sturdy and slide very smoothly on ball
bearings. I have not looked at what is available as high end toolboxes
today. One that is very large would probably not fit into the available
space very well,

So, which brands of toolboxes should I look at? Any tips in evaluating
them? Any brands to stay away from? Should I look for used commercial
drawer storage units?

Thanks in advance.

Richard

I have been eye-balling these with the same thing in mind. Need a bench to
mount a 10x36 lathe, and this looks like the way to do it.
Thanks


On Fri, 17 Dec 2004 07:23:57 -0500, "Backlash" wrote:

||Richard, I built a rolling workbench using two of the Craftsman "project
||centers" right before Christmas last year, when the boxes were on sale. I
||paid $80 for each box, non- ball bearing drawers, built an angle iron dolly
||tray, placed them into it, and bolted them together. A 3/4" plywood piece
||was added to the top of each box to get above the raised lip around the top.
||A cabinet top contractor near me gave me a Dupont Corian countertop removed
||from a store display, which I cut down and reworked to fit the top of the
||tool boxes. Having the steel on hand, I ended up with about a day in it,
||along with about $172. The top would have cost around $450 if it was hired
||out to be fabricated. I built another for a friend and used plywood covered
||in stainless steel for the top. Maybe something similar to this would work
||for you.
||
|| Photo link is below.
||http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3.../Workbench.jpg
||
||RJ
||
||
||"Richard Ferguson" wrote in message
...
|| I have finally realized that I really need a large rolling toolbox. I
|| have been buying and building tools pretty steadily for a few years, and
|| now I need to organize them. I need a place to put auto body dollies
|| and hammers, a place to put homemade stakes, blacksmith tools, a place
|| to put the accesories for my homemade power hammer, you name it.
||
|| I figure that what I want is a set of drawers of varying depths, mostly
|| 3 inches deep or less. The common style of toolbox has a smaller
|| "portable" toolbox on top of a large rolling toolbox. This sounds OK,
|| as would a large drawer unit that was one piece. I would prefer a unit
|| on casters, but that is not a hard requirement.
||
|| I looked at Sears toolboxes the last time they were on sale, and the
|| only one that looked acceptable to me was one with ball bearings. I saw
|| a Husky toolbox at Home Depot that looked about the same quality. These
|| ran around $500 for the set of two toolboxes, but did seem a little on
|| the flimsy side. Realistically, I probably cannot afford to spend a lot
|| more than $500. I probably have been spoiled by commercial drawer units
|| by Lista and others, which are sturdy and slide very smoothly on ball
|| bearings. I have not looked at what is available as high end toolboxes
|| today. One that is very large would probably not fit into the available
|| space very well,
||
|| So, which brands of toolboxes should I look at? Any tips in evaluating
|| them? Any brands to stay away from? Should I look for used commercial
|| drawer storage units?
||
|| Thanks in advance.
||
|| Richard
||
||

Texas Parts Guy

I bought a cabinet from a sewing supply store going out of business. It was
used for sewing pattern storage and sales. It makes the best power tool
storage that I've ever found. A skil saw will fit into the depth just right.
I wish I had several more of them.

RJ

"Roger Shoaf" wrote in message
...
If you want to be frugal, go to a used office supply place. Several
things
to look for are bank cash cans and card files. These were built very well
and have strong bearing slides and heavy duty castors.

These are also cheap and have good locks. The downside is the drawers
tend
to be a little deep compared to traditional mechanics boxes but for the
price you can live with the added depth.

--

Roger Shoaf

O.K., my story goes like this: Once upon a time, I was an
idealistic fellow who believed that only crass, selfish people lock
their tools up at night in the millwork shop where I'm employed as the
knife grinder/moulder mechanic. After all, I thought, some child of
God might need to come in some weekend or stay late, and they might not
be as fortunate as I. Perhaps they can't afford the tools they might
need to work overtime to help feed the wife and kids...
This turned out to be true. Trouble was, my new Milwaukee grinder
never somehow made it back to my workbench and it's still out there
somewhere, helping the needy...
Then, my Dewalt circular saw suffered a similar fate, and it
slowly began to dawn on even me that my Starrett collection would soon
be deemed essential for more bong hits and nose powder.
As I didn't think God intended this, and I'm certain I didn't, I
went shopping and discovered a magnificent thing called a Knaack
Storagemaster model 91:
http://www.toolfetch.com/tools/91.html?id=qBwKmEfS
It cost a bundle, but you can in fact put casters on it. Inside,
you can stash stuff in the trays for awhile until you save up for a
Gerstner (that will live inside) or better yet, build a series of
wooden drawers yourself. It will also fit bigger stuff like the pancake
air compressor, the rotary table, the great grandfather's toolbox from
the West Point Foundry, a nightstand, and probably even a small cot.
I have recently discovered that my stuff tends to stick around a
lot longer now, and that people even ask me before they borrow
something. Get this, they even make a point of returning it so it's
still there for more honest folks to borrow.
In looking around, I find that most of the fancy toolboxes that
promise security are just that, fancy promises. My heart would still be
out there on my sleeve if I'd bought a Snap-On. Meanwhile, I think
dents almost add character to the Knaack. Sure, you can break into it
if you're determined, but it looks quite a bit tougher than some of the
fancy stuff at Sears for about the same money. My advice is that if you
want security, buy security. If you want something that looks nice,
that's o.k. too, just realize that you might be better off separating
the two desires.

Charles Morrill

On Fri, 17 Dec 2004 17:58:16 -0500, "Backlash"
wrote:

I bought a cabinet from a sewing supply store going out of business. It was
used for sewing pattern storage and sales. It makes the best power tool
storage that I've ever found. A skil saw will fit into the depth just right.
I wish I had several more of them.

RJ

Pattern cabinets are freaking marvelous. Heavy duty ball bearing
slides, well supported, dividers easily removed.

I keep my tooling in several of them.

Gunner


"Roger Shoaf" wrote in message
...
If you want to be frugal, go to a used office supply place. Several
things
to look for are bank cash cans and card files. These were built very well
and have strong bearing slides and heavy duty castors.

These are also cheap and have good locks. The downside is the drawers
tend
to be a little deep compared to traditional mechanics boxes but for the
price you can live with the added depth.

--

Roger Shoaf



"To be civilized is to restrain the ability to commit mayhem.
To be incapable of committing mayhem is not the mark of the civilized,
merely the domesticated." - Trefor Thomas

Roger Shoaf wrote:

Several things
to look for are bank cash cans and card files.

I use a card file cabinet to store things in the shop. They are extremely
heavy duty. Lots of doctor's offices get rid of them regularly because of
computers. Can be had pretty cheaply.
--
John L. Weatherly
MacGyver Industrial Technologies
Nashville, Tennessee

Richard Ferguson wrote:




I have finally realized that I really need a large rolling toolbox. I
have been buying and building tools pretty steadily for a few years, and
now I need to organize them. I need a place to put auto body dollies
and hammers, a place to put homemade stakes, blacksmith tools, a place
to put the accesories for my homemade power hammer, you name it.

I figure that what I want is a set of drawers of varying depths, mostly
3 inches deep or less. The common style of toolbox has a smaller
"portable" toolbox on top of a large rolling toolbox. This sounds OK,
as would a large drawer unit that was one piece. I would prefer a unit
on casters, but that is not a hard requirement.

I looked at Sears toolboxes the last time they were on sale, and the
only one that looked acceptable to me was one with ball bearings. I saw
a Husky toolbox at Home Depot that looked about the same quality. These
ran around $500 for the set of two toolboxes, but did seem a little on
the flimsy side. Realistically, I probably cannot afford to spend a lot
more than $500. I probably have been spoiled by commercial drawer units
by Lista and others, which are sturdy and slide very smoothly on ball
bearings. I have not looked at what is available as high end toolboxes
today. One that is very large would probably not fit into the available
space very well,

So, which brands of toolboxes should I look at? Any tips in evaluating
them? Any brands to stay away from? Should I look for used commercial
drawer storage units?

Richard,
Take a look at Waterloo. I've found them to be very durable. They have a new
series called Promaxx toolroom series. The PMX4009 is the top box. It has 9
drawers (50Lb ball bearing), keyed lock, internal locking bar, 6,621 cu inces
of storage and weighs in at 146 lbs. The roller PMX4113 is an 11 drawer tool
cart on 41/2" casters. It also has ball bearing drawer slides. It weighs in at
204 Lbs. with 14,566 cu inces of storage. Total price for the pair in the J&L
catalog is $514.87.


Dan

The new Snap-On Boxes are fairly secure. They have guarded locks and
cylindrical keys. I'm not saying that you couldn't get in to one with a
48 inch pinch bar but I'd wager not many boxes will foil a true thief.
My only pont about these boxes is they hold there value. Whats yours
going to be worth in ten years? I'll bet mine is still worth what I
paid for it." It cost a bundle, but you can in fact put casters on
it. Snap-on Boxes come with casters and all you have to do is add
cosiderably to your bundle to get one.

On 2004-12-19 00:35:51 -0500, "Bogone" said:

The new Snap-On Boxes are fairly secure. They have guarded locks and
cylindrical keys. I'm not saying that you couldn't get in to one with a
48 inch pinch bar but I'd wager not many boxes will foil a true thief.
My only pont about these boxes is they hold there value. Whats yours
going to be worth in ten years? I'll bet mine is still worth what I
paid for it." It cost a bundle, but you can in fact put casters on
it. Snap-on Boxes come with casters and all you have to do is add
cosiderably to your bundle to get one.

Well, since I keep the Knaack inside the large shop building where
I work, I figure it will be worth about the same, especially
considering the overall way steel prices seem to be going. The
storagemaster is also so big that it takes care of the larger stuff I
need to store securely because of the job I have, stuff like miter
saws, air compressors, large wood toolboxes, etc., in addition to all
of the machinist stuff. It's really more like a small room than it is a
tool box, and buying one has given me enormous piece of mind. The large
flip-down ramp also adds to the shrine-like appearance, especially when
you add a couple of candlesticks on either side...
You're right about the determined thief aspect to all this stuff.
My friend Red, former fire fighter, points out that most fire
departments have an abrasive saw that will get through anything in
about five seconds. Only an idiot would try to use a pinch bar. I guess
the only thing that saves us is that most thieves are pretty dumb.

Charles Morrill