Over the past few months I have been trying to buy a couple ofpractical toolboxes for two or three different purposes. I have a bigworkshop/garage where many tools (especially car tools for example)live permanently but there are obvious needs for toting tools aroundsometimes and a basic set ready in a box are useful for emergenciesand quick jobs. So, what I'm looking for is one or more toolboxes tocover 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 (onewith a drawer underneath) and a couple of metal cantilever toolboxesone of which was my 'electrical' toolbox. I have now bought three orfour new toolboxes (over a year or so) but none has really lived up toexpectations. Are there *any* really practical, hard-wearingtoolboxes out there?What I have tried so far are:- 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. 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...

used his keyboard to write :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.

Toolboxes - are there *any* good ones out there?

Oct 12, 2007 22 Replies

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Steve Firth 18 years ago

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.

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Dave Liquorice 18 years ago

s/car/land rover/

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

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tinnews 18 years ago

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.

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