those big plastic tool cases.....

[bob]

I have, over the years, accumulated quite a collection of power hand tools, each arriving in its own molded, form fitting case. Problem is, where to store all of this. I am building a shop, and elected to store these tools in drawers or on shelves that are sized to fit the tool, and not the case, as I have run out of room, especially for the gartgantuan cases like my Milwaukee cordless circular saw (only comes in a case sized to carry the complete set of 18V Milw tools). I am planning to toss the cases into the recycling bin or donate them to someone that could use them.

Question: How do you store these tools and their cases? Am I messing up by tossing the cases?

[tom]

Well, they're nice for totin' to the jobsite. The blow-molded cases_are_ a bit "specialized", being good only for their intended tools, and little else. My old Milwaukee driver-drill case is a steel box with a storage shelf laid in on top. It's great for assorted drill bits, driver bits, a rivet gun and a yogurt cup of rivets. But with the advent of these blow-molded cases, forget about all that. Sigh. I store the molded cases under my workbench, on top of the miter bench, and in my truck. Tom

[Lew Hodgett]

IMHO, a big YES

By all means, keep the cases.

If you are not too far down the road, let me suggest something.

Design a storage system where you use these coated wire baskets they use in closet organizers or something similar.

Make the baskets all the same size regardless of what is in them.

Since the baskets are are open, any saw dust will fall out.

If you damage one, easy replacement.

By keeping the molded cases, you maintain a package that keeps all of the parts and pieces of a particular tool together.

Ever look at a Fein Multimaster?

Typical German, well thought out, but lots of bits and pieces.

Just one example, there are others.

Lew

[Pat]

I toss them.

[cselby]

In 90 years, your great grandson will pull out that special tool that was handed down to the eldest son of an eldest son and he will bring it to the Antique Roadshow. Won't he be disappointed to learn there was a case that the tool came in and because it is missing, the tool is only worth 6 bucks instead of the collector price of 15 to 19 bucks.

You really have to think ahead.

Pete

[Toller]

I put them on ebay. I don't have any idea why anyone would pay $10 for them, but they do. Very easy to ship since they don't even need a box!

[David]

the cases are up in the attic. It really is amazing how they pile up. The only case I use is for the dado set.

Dave

[JJ]

For the stuff that I know is going to "travel" from time to time, I keep the cases stored on a high shelf in the shop (10' ceiling). For the rest I just store the cases up in the attic of the shop just in case I ever need them or if I want to sell it.

-jj

[Rob V]

Ebay baby!!! People will buy anything - including empty boxes.

[Robatoy]

[snipperized for brevity]

After I read your post, I realized that I had never given it any thought. Most (75%) of my power tools are in their cases. The ones I use all the time, like my routers... on the shelf... no cases. My cordless Milwaukee 14.4 volt drill. In the case. Always. The charger and a few bits and bits belong together. It also helps during clean-up on a site, to see if I retrieved all my bits and bits. I also just realized, that it is my only cordless pro-grade tool. Other tools... like my Milwaukee jigsaw, pretty much has to live in a case. That pointy thing with teeth would have to be removed otherwise..and where would you keep IT? My Porter Cable belt sander CANNOT live in its case, because the outside of the case is so rounded that it won't stand up... OR lie down with the sander in it. It's like one of those jumping bean toys.... and the inside of the case, is so moulded to the shape of the sander, that if you wind the cord wrong, the case won't close. Just awful. To me... a case makes sense. If you reach for your laminate trimmer...you might as well have all the trimmer bits and guides and bases right there. I actually made a few cases.. like for my Paslode 16ga finishing nailer. I only ever purposely paid extra for a case once. The one that went walkies when somebody lifted my Lamello biscuit joiner. The replacement is in a plastic case. The TOP still comes in a wonderful case, the C2 classic doesn't.

I sooooo want the Fein Multimaster with that gorgeous case with all them outer-space-looking weird Roswellian shaped attachments.

I really enjoy looking at some of the cases that antique pistols came in.

[TeamCasa]

I toss them, but after reading some of the responses, I'll put them up on Ebay!

Dave

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[George]

The case tends to be a lot more regular in shape than what it contains, and holds the cord, proprietary wrenches, spare easily-lost parts and such without the need for extra packaging and labels. Makes it easier to store, even if it is more bulky.

I line the boxes up on shelves. The high-density stuff anchors my lathe to the floor, the lower-density is stored in the largely empty places underneath other tools. When I have to help the kids with something at their house, it's soooo much easier to grab, open, inventory, and maybe add to the package before closing for transport than it is to toss tools into some larger common container.

Did I mention that the cases have better handles, by and large, than the tools they contain, and help keep them in alignment by protecting their parts?

[B a r r y]

Some folks take the tools out of the shop, think "van shelves". If you bought the tool at a pawn shop or eBay, the case frequently isn't included. I've gotten brand new cordless tools, minus batteries, CHEAP at pawn shops. Since I've got plenty of batteries, I'm happy.

I keep my cases, but frequently used tools don't live in them. Some tools, like my right angle drill, electric hand plane, Kreg jig, etc... see most use on finish carpentry projects outside the shop. The cases for frequently used shop tools (routers, cordless drills, biscuit joiners, sanders) are handy to have for away games.

Anyone have a case for a Bosch 3 1/4" electric plane they don't want?

[Upscale]

I've always been a little bit peeved at the cases that come with my power tools. I fully realize they can protect a tool until it gets to its new owner, but as far as I'm concerned, they're a waste of money. Considering the elaborate construction of some of these cases (like the full metal case that came with my Milwaukee hammer drill), I'd just as soon have had a decently constructed cardboard case and put the saved money towards lowering the purchase cost of the tool itself.

There might be a few contractors who approve of these cases for purposes of transporting to job sites and such, but I think most tools are purchased by home owners and the cases just become another piece of plastic or metal that serves no further purpose after its glitter attracts the eye of the purchaser.

I'd have to assume the mindset of the manufacturer's goes along the lines of "If we make a really good sturdy case, the customer will assume that it also contains a really good sturdy tool."

Any I a cynical person? Naaaah!

[Doug Miller]

That's silly. If you don't want them, sell them on eBay.

[Upscale]

Not necessarily. Sell them for $10 or $15. Figure on the time to put it in a cardboard box, seal it, take it to the post office and that's aside from time to place an ad on eBay, possibly answer questions posed by prospective buyers. What do you figure, an hour or too spent on this? Might just as well go into work for an hour or two of overtime and make many times the amount of money you'd get from selling them on eBay.

ONLY benefit to selling them is that at that point, they're not winding up yet in a landfill. Easier by far to just offer them up for free. Lot fewer questions, they're easier to get rid of and no one is going to try to negotiate with you. And at that point, they're not ending up in a landfill.

[Steve Peterson]

At least where I used to live in Annandale, VA, it would be easy to solve this problem. Put it out on the curb on a day when there is not trash collection. Any object that looks potentially useful, resellable, or scavangable will disappear within a few hours. Doesn't work here, on the end of a cul de sac where no traffic goes by.

Steve

[Charley]

I try to keep them and store all but the most frequently used tools in them because they tend to help me keep all of the parts together better than I can without them.

Some cases are designed very poorly and these drive me crazy. It is obvious to me that the case design job was left for the new junior engineer in the department and nobody checked his work. The latest and worst that I have is a huge case that came with my DeWalt 618 router kit. It is very poorly designed. Every time you pick it up by the handle everything in it seems to fall to the bottom. The router came with 2 bases and a rebate that get's you a D handle base, but the case only has space for the 2 original bases. Another case that is driving me crazy is the one for Kreg's new K3 pro kit, although this one isn't quite as bad as the router case. There's no place in it to put the right angle clamp which every "pro" will have. Also, the bench fixture needs to be screwed to a board in order to use it but as soon as you do this it doesn't fit into the case any more. I'll likely be building my own cases for both of these tools very soon. When companies design these cases they should include space for all of the available options and they should make the case fit the tools and parts well enough so everything doesn't fall out of place when you carry it. If they don't, the case is useless and a waste of money.

I'm down off my soap box now. Sorry for the rant, but I just had to let it out.

[Lawrence Wasserman]

My basement has full (well, maybe 6'4") headroom in only 1/2, the other half is just a crawlspace about 4 ft high. Most of the time I wish the basement was larger but when it comes to things like those plastic cases that I don't use, but seem to "nice" to throw away, that crawlspace sure does come in handy.

[Brian Elfert]

Not all of us get overtime. If I work extra hours, my paycheck still reads the same. On the flip side, if I sneak out an hour or two early occasionally, my paycheck also still reads the same.

I do a lot of manual labor stuff at home that many people pay for simply because I am cheap and can't work more hours to bring in extra money.

Brian Elfert