Over the past few months I have been trying to buy a couple of
practical toolboxes for two or three different purposes. I have a big
workshop/garage where many tools (especially car tools for example)
live permanently but there are obvious needs for toting tools around
sometimes and a basic set ready in a box are useful for emergencies
and quick jobs. So, what I'm looking for is one or more toolboxes to
cover the following uses:-

1. General 'about the house' toolbox with cordless drill, some
bits for same, spirit level, a hammer, probably a mole wrench,
etc.

2. 'Electrical' toolbox, electrical screwdrivers, strippers, crimp
tool, some crimps, side cutters, pliers, cheap meter, etc.

3. Plumbing stuff, but a simple 'tote box' seems to handle this
OK.

4. An 'up the garden fencing' toolbox, as our 'garden' is 9 acres
it's a bad idea to forget anything important when you go to fix
the fences. This needs to be quite big to take more than one
cordless drill, a supply of big screws, mallet, saw, etc.


Before I started rethinking I had a couple of simple 'tote' boxes (one
with a drawer underneath) and a couple of metal cantilever toolboxes
one of which was my 'electrical' toolbox. I have now bought three or
four new toolboxes (over a year or so) but none has really lived up to
expectations. Are there *any* really practical, hard-wearing
toolboxes out there?

What I have tried so far a-

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/s...6914&langId=-1
This is (for me) about the best so far, it's a reasonable size and
I can *just* get my cordless in the bottom though it's not really
big enough. It has one really stupid design fault though, when
you open the lid the handle drops down so that it won't lie flat
with the catilever trays fully open, you have to put your hand
under and flip the handle out of the way *every time* you open it.

http://www.pvrdirect.co.uk/productin...ef=STA192 083
The one I have isn't exactly like this but near enough. I thought
this might 'do everything' for me but it hasn't. It's too big for
the house really, I can't wheel it upstairs. I also don't like
the tote trays really, I *always* want my cordless out and that's
always at the bottom. It may become my 'up the garden fencing'
toolbox though.

http://www.rackingshop.com/cantileve...y-box-24-p.asp
I thought this was going to be it! It's a cantilever box which
appeared to be bigger than the Halfords one. What a
disappointment, it's not bigger, basically because it's an odd
shape. It suffers from exactly the same handle problem as the
Halfords one and the component trays are not very practical
because they don't seal when closed so rattling the box around
will shake things out.

I also have a straightforward Stanley (I think) plastic toolbox
with tote tray, like nearly all of the 'ordinary' toolboxes around
it's just too long and thin. I can't get a cordless drill in the
bottom.


So, as I said, are there any good, practical, tool-boxes out there?
Price isn't terribly important but I'd want to be sure it's good if
it's expensive.

--
Chris Green

used his keyboard to write :
Over the past few months I have been trying to buy a couple of
practical toolboxes for two or three different purposes. I have a big
workshop/garage where many tools (especially car tools for example)
live permanently but there are obvious needs for toting tools around
sometimes and a basic set ready in a box are useful for emergencies
and quick jobs. So, what I'm looking for is one or more toolboxes to
cover the following uses:-

I have a several of those cheap (about £1 each) plastic trays - handle
in the middle and a deep compartment either side. I just pop into them
what tools I might need for the particular job. One stays permanently
set up with a few of the basics.

In the garage I have one of those large mechanics rolling steel tool
chests with lots of narrow height drawers - perfect for the car and
bike repairs. I also have a cheap plastic tool chest on two wheels,
which is a vertical version of the one you mentioned - for the more
serious DIY type jobs - shallow tray on top, deep box under that, then
two component drawers and an even bigger opening section below that. It
even had a built in power extension lead when I bought it.

Most of my tools still tend to need picking out from wherever I store
them in my garage and workshop for the needs of the job - which is
where the cheap plastic trays come in.

--

Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk

wrote:
SNIP
So, as I said, are there any good, practical, tool-boxes out there?
Price isn't terribly important but I'd want to be sure it's good if
it's expensive.

Constant battle for me to keep organised. I have a 'first response bag'
which always goes into the customers with me, a plumbing bag, an electrical
bag & a 'drill & fix' bag.

I prefer bags to boxes because they don't rattle about as much in the van &
they have lots of pockets for items.

The 'first response' bag & the 'plumbing' bag are wheeled with telescopic
handles.
http://www.toolbank.com/product.cfm?...EDAB9 Abqsdin

I like these a lot, the wheels are really useful & they have lots of
pockets. You can find them for £15 -20 if you shop around.

Spec as below;
FAITHFULL 17" (430mm) WHEELED TOOL BAG WITH TELESCOPIC COLLAPSIBLE HANDLE.
MANUFACTURED FROM A HARDWEARING POLYESTER MATERIAL WITH A HEAVY DUTY ZIP &
WIDE TOP OPENING.
FITTED WITH A METAL INTERNAL FRAME AND SUPPLIED WITH A SHOULDER STRAP.
2 POCKETS WITH FLAPS, 8 OPEN POCKETS AND 2 SPIRIT LEVEL STRAPS .
INTERNALLY FITTED WITH 14 MEDIUM POCKETS AND 20 SMALL POCKETS

The electrical bag & the 'drill & fix' bag are Kosch brand from homebase.
The electrical one is really quite small, holds electrical tools, multi
meter etc.

The 'drill & fix' bag is quite large with a plastic organiser box in a
compartment in the base. This holds 2 x drill drivers, 4 batteries, a
charger, level, tape, stud detector, 'bits set', drills etc + plugs & screws
in the organiser. Much of my work involves simply fixing things to walls.

Only problem with bags is small parts storage, so I use plastic organiser
boxes for these. Keps things neater & in place.

If I need the 'first response bag' and the 'drill & fix' bag the handles of
the latter fit over the telescopic handle of the former so I can wheel them
along. Only problem is 4 storey apartments - you only get jobs on the 4th
floor and there are never any lifts!

HTH


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

For go anywhere mobility in a very well made rucksack, I have one of
these from CK

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CK-TECHNICIANS...QQcmdZViewItem

Exceptionally well made, and reasonably well thought out. Excellent
for handtools, especially sharp-edged tools and measuring tools that
need protection. No room for power tools.

(I first bought the Plano one from Screwfix, and returned it as far
too small
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Plano-PL542T-T...QQcmdZViewItem
)

I see lots of people with the Stanley rolling contractor boxes:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/STANLEY-Wheele...QQcmdZViewItem


If you have Romany blood, you might like this:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-Wood-Hand-...QQcmdZViewItem

My bugbear is power tools coming in much larger boxes than they need
to be. My Skil circular saw - beautifully compact, same for Bosch sds
drill (including a useful bit of storage) - worst is a Bosch power
plane, supplied in a bloody suitcase.

wrote in message
...
Over the past few months I have been trying to buy a couple of
practical toolboxes for two or three different purposes. I have a big
workshop/garage where many tools (especially car tools for example)
live permanently but there are obvious needs for toting tools around
sometimes and a basic set ready in a box are useful for emergencies
and quick jobs. So, what I'm looking for is one or more toolboxes to
cover the following uses:-

....

4. An 'up the garden fencing' toolbox, as our 'garden' is 9 acres
it's a bad idea to forget anything important when you go to fix
the fences. This needs to be quite big to take more than one
cordless drill, a supply of big screws, mallet, saw, etc.

It seems to me that this is the crucial problem.

Have you thought about making a sort of wheel barrow to contain the tools
you need for this?

A box on an A frame with two handles and a wheel in front would do the job -
make it as big as you need.

Mary

On Oct 12, 5:15 pm, wrote:
snipped
So, as I said, are there any good, practical, tool-boxes out there?
Price isn't terribly important but I'd want to be sure it's good if
it's expensive.

--
Chris Green

Have a Bucket Boss contractor case that have had for a few years,
vouch for hard wearing material, with dollar being low hqave you
thought of a bucket organiser

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-Bucket-Bos...QQcmdZViewItem
or
http://tinyurl.com/26rzry

Adam

On 12 Oct 2007 16:15:24 GMT, wrote:

Over the past few months I have been trying to buy a couple of
practical toolboxes for two or three different purposes.

Most of mine are ex-mil surplus.

Particularly good for "handyman" stuff are British Army canvas holdalls.
About a tenner from your local surplus shop, or tenner+post from eBay.
You'll not find anything equally strong elsewhere. Parachutists'
"weapons sleeve"s (also canvas) are also good for individual big things,
like a greasy trolley jack, or a big felling axe / chainsaw (PC Plod
reckons it's illegal to posess an axe inside a city)

As workshop engineering tool drawers I'm using the usual bright red
steel 6 or 7 drawer chests. Most of these are "Stack On" as a reasonable
compromise of price vs. quality. They're all pretty much the same
except for the quality of the ball-bearing telescopic slides. If they
aren't ball-bearing as a minimum, don't buy them.

I've no use for plastic toolboxes at all. What's the point? As for
spending 20 quid or so on some crap from B&Q or by Stanley, you're
having a laugh.

wrote:

2. 'Electrical' toolbox, electrical screwdrivers, strippers, crimp
tool, some crimps, side cutters, pliers, cheap meter, etc.

I got one from Makro that does this job quite well - about 20" long,
metal body with plastic top and ends. The top is designed so that you
can use it as a handy step or seat which I find is ideal for sitting at
a socket fitting position or reaching a ceiling rose etc. It has one
lift out tray that seems to take ten screwdrivers, cutters x 2, pliers x
2, strippers x 2, crimp tool, socket tester, and some other stuff,
leaving the base of the unit with four test meters, roll of earth
sleeving, box of grommets and misc other stuff.

3. Plumbing stuff, but a simple 'tote box' seems to handle this
OK.

Never found anything ideal for this. I have a big zip up bag I got from
Axminster with loads of side and interior pockets, that will hold all
the stuff, but once full is impossible find stuff in, and is a bit much
to carry far. Separating out all the plumbing fittings into a separate
compartmentalised box helped solve that.

4. An 'up the garden fencing' toolbox, as our 'garden' is 9 acres
it's a bad idea to forget anything important when you go to fix
the fences. This needs to be quite big to take more than one
cordless drill, a supply of big screws, mallet, saw, etc.

I think this is called a car!


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

"Andy Dingley" wrote in message
...
On 12 Oct 2007 16:15:24 GMT, wrote:

Over the past few months I have been trying to buy a couple of
practical toolboxes for two or three different purposes.

....

... (PC Plod
reckons it's illegal to posess an axe inside a city)

Is that true?

We have felling and hand axes and I know we're not alone in using them in
this inner city area. Saws of any kind aren't always the best tool for some
applications.

Mary

Harry Bloomfield wrote:
used his keyboard to write :
Over the past few months I have been trying to buy a couple of
practical toolboxes for two or three different purposes. I have a big
workshop/garage where many tools (especially car tools for example)
live permanently but there are obvious needs for toting tools around
sometimes and a basic set ready in a box are useful for emergencies
and quick jobs. So, what I'm looking for is one or more toolboxes to
cover the following uses:-

I have a several of those cheap (about £1 each) plastic trays - handle
in the middle and a deep compartment either side. I just pop into them
what tools I might need for the particular job. One stays permanently
set up with a few of the basics.

Yes, I'm beginning to realise that this may be a reasonable approach,
have one basics toolbox and then assemble what you need for a
particular job in a 'tote' box as and when needed.


In the garage I have one of those large mechanics rolling steel tool
chests with lots of narrow height drawers - perfect for the car and
bike repairs.

Yes, I've built my own version of this, a 'heavyweight tea-trolley'
with a multi-drawer stationery cabinet and shelves in it.


I also have a cheap plastic tool chest on two wheels,
which is a vertical version of the one you mentioned - for the more
serious DIY type jobs - shallow tray on top, deep box under that, then
two component drawers and an even bigger opening section below that. It
even had a built in power extension lead when I bought it.

I can't really see this being of much use for me as it's too big to
tote around the house and not suitable for wheeling aound the
'garden', for that I currently load things into a small trailer and
pull it behind a mower or tractor.


Most of my tools still tend to need picking out from wherever I store
them in my garage and workshop for the needs of the job - which is
where the cheap plastic trays come in.

Yes, I think this may be the approach I need to develop, that just
raises the issue of where the tools live when they're in the garage.

Thanks for the input.

--
Chris Green

On Sat, 13 Oct 2007 10:26:52 +0100, "Mary Fisher"
wrote:

... (PC Plod
reckons it's illegal to posess an axe inside a city)

Is that true?

No, not at all! But tell that to Plod who stopped me last time I was
loading the car up. 8-(

and it wasn't even a PCSO, or even in Easton

The Medway Handyman wrote:
wrote:
SNIP
So, as I said, are there any good, practical, tool-boxes out there?
Price isn't terribly important but I'd want to be sure it's good if
it's expensive.

Constant battle for me to keep organised. I have a 'first response bag'
which always goes into the customers with me, a plumbing bag, an electrical
bag & a 'drill & fix' bag.

That sounds like you have a functional split much like mine, quite
encouraging really! :-)

I prefer bags to boxes because they don't rattle about as much in the van &
they have lots of pockets for items.

The 'first response' bag & the 'plumbing' bag are wheeled with telescopic
handles.
http://www.toolbank.com/product.cfm?...EDAB9 Abqsdin

I like these a lot, the wheels are really useful & they have lots of
pockets. You can find them for £15 -20 if you shop around.

Spec as below;
FAITHFULL 17" (430mm) WHEELED TOOL BAG WITH TELESCOPIC COLLAPSIBLE HANDLE.
MANUFACTURED FROM A HARDWEARING POLYESTER MATERIAL WITH A HEAVY DUTY ZIP &
WIDE TOP OPENING.
FITTED WITH A METAL INTERNAL FRAME AND SUPPLIED WITH A SHOULDER STRAP.
2 POCKETS WITH FLAPS, 8 OPEN POCKETS AND 2 SPIRIT LEVEL STRAPS .
INTERNALLY FITTED WITH 14 MEDIUM POCKETS AND 20 SMALL POCKETS

Thanks, I'll take a look at those. I'm not sure if the wheels are
encessary in my case but that's a fairly minor thing.


The electrical bag & the 'drill & fix' bag are Kosch brand from homebase.
The electrical one is really quite small, holds electrical tools, multi
meter etc.

Yes, I've been looking at a really quite small cantilever tray for my
electrical box.


The 'drill & fix' bag is quite large with a plastic organiser box in a
compartment in the base. This holds 2 x drill drivers, 4 batteries, a
charger, level, tape, stud detector, 'bits set', drills etc + plugs & screws
in the organiser. Much of my work involves simply fixing things to walls.

Absolutely, just what I often find is needed, lots and lots of jobs
around the house (and garage/stables etc.) are simply fixing things to
the walls.


Only problem with bags is small parts storage, so I use plastic organiser
boxes for these. Keps things neater & in place.

I have just bought a load of organiser boxes for keeping nuts and
bolts and things like that on shelves in the garage, I have several
left over so can do the same.


If I need the 'first response bag' and the 'drill & fix' bag the handles of
the latter fit over the telescopic handle of the former so I can wheel them
along. Only problem is 4 storey apartments - you only get jobs on the 4th
floor and there are never any lifts!

Thanks for taking the time to respond so helpfully. It seems I'm not
*too* far from the right place and your information will help a lot.

--
Chris Green

wrote:
For go anywhere mobility in a very well made rucksack, I have one of
these from CK

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CK-TECHNICIANS...QQcmdZViewItem

Exceptionally well made, and reasonably well thought out. Excellent
for handtools, especially sharp-edged tools and measuring tools that
need protection. No room for power tools.

(I first bought the Plano one from Screwfix, and returned it as far
too small
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Plano-PL542T-T...QQcmdZViewItem
)

OK, thanks, maybe that's a thought for my 'electrical' toolkit.


I see lots of people with the Stanley rolling contractor boxes:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/STANLEY-Wheele...QQcmdZViewItem

I think this is exactly the one I have, it just doesn't quite do it
for me, for the reasons I explained before. They are fantastically
cheap for what they are though and I guess that may be why you see a
lot of them about!


My bugbear is power tools coming in much larger boxes than they need
to be. My Skil circular saw - beautifully compact, same for Bosch sds
drill (including a useful bit of storage) - worst is a Bosch power
plane, supplied in a bloody suitcase.

Or, if they do have a big case there's no space in it for actually
useful stuff, e.g. one wants a decent set of drill bits and
screwdriver bits with a cordless driver.

--
Chris Green

Mary Fisher wrote:

wrote in message
...
Over the past few months I have been trying to buy a couple of
practical toolboxes for two or three different purposes. I have a big
workshop/garage where many tools (especially car tools for example)
live permanently but there are obvious needs for toting tools around
sometimes and a basic set ready in a box are useful for emergencies
and quick jobs. So, what I'm looking for is one or more toolboxes to
cover the following uses:-

...

4. An 'up the garden fencing' toolbox, as our 'garden' is 9 acres
it's a bad idea to forget anything important when you go to fix
the fences. This needs to be quite big to take more than one
cordless drill, a supply of big screws, mallet, saw, etc.

It seems to me that this is the crucial problem.

Have you thought about making a sort of wheel barrow to contain the tools
you need for this?

A box on an A frame with two handles and a wheel in front would do the job -
make it as big as you need.

In practice I load stuff into a small trailer, there's too much to
manage in any sort of barrow. If I'm just fixing stuff and don't
need any large bits of wood or anything then I'll use a hand trolley
but for serious fencing with the post 'bonker', several posts, maybe
some rails, etc. then a trailer is necessary.

The toolbox for this is more to keep together the fencing tools and
small items.

--
Chris Green

Adam Aglionby wrote:
On Oct 12, 5:15 pm, wrote:
snipped
So, as I said, are there any good, practical, tool-boxes out there?
Price isn't terribly important but I'd want to be sure it's good if
it's expensive.

--
Chris Green

Have a Bucket Boss contractor case that have had for a few years,
vouch for hard wearing material, with dollar being low hqave you
thought of a bucket organiser

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-Bucket-Bos...QQcmdZViewItem
or
http://tinyurl.com/26rzry

It certainly different! It looks like it would be a good candidate
for the 'tote' type approach where you want to gather up a specific
set of tools for a job.

Isn't it surprising how different places can have such very different
approaches to the same requirement.

--
Chris Green

Andy Dingley wrote:
On 12 Oct 2007 16:15:24 GMT, wrote:

As workshop engineering tool drawers I'm using the usual bright red
steel 6 or 7 drawer chests. Most of these are "Stack On" as a reasonable
compromise of price vs. quality. They're all pretty much the same
except for the quality of the ball-bearing telescopic slides. If they
aren't ball-bearing as a minimum, don't buy them.

My solution for this is a DIY one, I built a heavyweight trolley with
castors and have put an office multi-drawer unit in it plus some
shelves designed to be easy to slot socket sets and such onto.


I've no use for plastic toolboxes at all. What's the point?

Nothing wrong with plastic at all if they're well engineered. For
example there's a very nice range of boxes from Powell Plastics
(www.powellplastics.co.uk), and their 'hobby case' :-

http://www.charliesdirect.co.uk/prod...roductID=11464

is excellent and incredibly cheap (£3.99). I have had one for many
many years that I use as my 'electronics' tool box.


As for
spending 20 quid or so on some crap from B&Q or by Stanley, you're
having a laugh.

--
Chris Green

John Rumm wrote:

4. An 'up the garden fencing' toolbox, as our 'garden' is 9 acres
it's a bad idea to forget anything important when you go to fix
the fences. This needs to be quite big to take more than one
cordless drill, a supply of big screws, mallet, saw, etc.

I think this is called a car!

Except that there aren't any roads! :-)

--
Chris Green

On Sat, 13 Oct 2007 10:09:39 +0000, tinnews wrote:

Adam Aglionby wrote:
On Oct 12, 5:15 pm, wrote:
snipped
So, as I said, are there any good, practical, tool-boxes out there?
Price isn't terribly important but I'd want to be sure it's good if
it's expensive.

--
Chris Green

Have a Bucket Boss contractor case that have had for a few years, vouch
for hard wearing material, with dollar being low hqave you thought of a
bucket organiser

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-Bucket-Bos...QQcmdZViewItem
or
http://tinyurl.com/26rzry

It certainly different! It looks like it would be a good candidate for
the 'tote' type approach where you want to gather up a specific set of
tools for a job.

Isn't it surprising how different places can have such very different
approaches to the same requirement.

==================================
Note that the bucket is NOT supplied, which seems to be an important
part of the item. Personally, I have several strong builders' buckets
(about £1-00 each at Wickes) which I use for carrying anything from basic
tools to scaffold clips and I don't need numerous pockets to lose things
in. I've recently bought two large flexible yellow buckets (Wickes /18"
diameter / 13" high / 2 handles) which can be used in a wheelbarrow if too
heavy for two-handed carrying.

Cic.

--
===================================
Using Ubuntu Linux
Windows shown the door
===================================

Andy Dingley wrote:
On Sat, 13 Oct 2007 10:26:52 +0100, "Mary Fisher"
wrote:

... (PC Plod
reckons it's illegal to posess an axe inside a city)
Is that true?

No, not at all! But tell that to Plod who stopped me last time I was
loading the car up. 8-(

and it wasn't even a PCSO, or even in Easton

What did they say? What was your response?


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On Sat, 13 Oct 2007 13:23:03 +0100, John Rumm
wrote:

Andy Dingley wrote:
On Sat, 13 Oct 2007 10:26:52 +0100, "Mary Fisher"
wrote:

... (PC Plod
reckons it's illegal to posess an axe inside a city)
Is that true?

No, not at all! But tell that to Plod who stopped me last time I was
loading the car up. 8-(

and it wasn't even a PCSO, or even in Easton

What did they say?

General nosiness. Then asking what I was doing with a couple of axes,
billhooks and khukris. As I was loading them into a Volvo estate that's
perpetually filthy with wood chippings, I thought this was rather
obvious.

His best question was "Don't you think that lot's all a bit dangerous?"
Now as I'm a lazy porker with a strong dislike of chainsaws, the whole
reason I'm swinging a 6lb felling axe is because I think it's _safer_
than a chainsaw, quieter and I need the exercise.

I did actually think it was a PCSO at first. You expect ignorance from
that bunch.

What was your response?

_Extreme_ sarcasm
Reciting section 139 of the CJA from memory (it's a party trick - better
than Eskimo Nell at least)
Ignoring him and continuing to load up until he wandered off.

wrote:

Over the past few months I have been trying to buy a couple of
practical toolboxes for two or three different purposes.

About the best I've foudn for my uses are the Keter range. They have
many different types including a sort of stackable thing they call the
"MasterCart". The basic toolbox is pretty decent and it's strong enough
to use as a temporary support for cutting timber. The arrangement with
internal trays, dividers and external drawers seems to work well.

Find them can be PITA. B&Q used to do them but seem to have swapped to
own brand. Most of the ones I see now are sold on eBay. They are fairly
popular in the USA.

On 13 Oct 2007 10:20:51 GMT, wrote:

I think this is called a car!

Except that there aren't any roads! :-)

s/car/land rover/

As it's on private land it doesn't need tax (only SORN) or an MOT.

--
Cheers
Dave. pam is missing e-mail

Dave Liquorice wrote:
On 13 Oct 2007 10:20:51 GMT, wrote:

I think this is called a car!

Except that there aren't any roads! :-)

s/car/land rover/

As it's on private land it doesn't need tax (only SORN) or an MOT.

No space in a land-rover! In practice we have various trailers which
we tow behind a little tractor or the ride-on mower. One of the
trailers is the bottom of a caravan so is spacious enough for 5 metre
lengths of wood and such without too much overhang, a land-rover would
be little use for such things.

--
Chris Green