I'm thinking out building a toolbox/chest partially inspired by the first link below and the fact that my bucket with the pockets just isn't cutting it anymore. I think I want it to be a lot like the first one but definitely have a way to keep the drawers closed like a machinist's box. Any comments or other links would be greatly appreciated. I would even buy one if I could find a decent one that didn't feel like it would fall apart once I loaded it up.
I had the same urge to build a tool chest about a year ago and purchased these plans which are pretty good:
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Rockler had a sale on their Gerstner International (read made in China) chests and I bought one for $100. I thought about how many projects I had time for and the number of projects in the queue and decided to buy the Gerstner International box instead of build one. It's not a bad box but its not a real Gerstner and looking at it every day just made me want to replace it with a real, made in Dayton, Ohio, Gerstner chest. Just this week I found an old one on Ebay for $300 and it comes full of old machinist tools - I can't wait to recieve it...
Yeah, probably not the best if you are packin' a drill and big square. The shop I work in is pretty big and it's nice to be able to keep your private hand tools in a storable package and be able to schlep it over to whatever area you are working in to have them at hand.
Also are expensive or I would already have > S> > Well, I've always wanted to build something similar myself until I saw
Tue, Oct 31, 2006, 11:38am (EST-3) snipped-for-privacy@comcast.net (RayV) doth sayeth: I'm thinking out building a toolbox/chest partially inspired by the first link below and the fact that my bucket with the pockets just isn't cutting it anymore.
First I thought you just wanted something to lug some tools around in. Then I looked at the list of links and now I'm not sure if you want some sort of tool tote or you want a chest to hold tools. 'Cause some of those are way too big to casually lug around. Unless you want to put wheels on them. So, which is it you're after? Do you know what you're after?
Tue, Oct 31, 2006, 8:38pm (EST-3) snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com (onoahimahi) doth sayeth: Then Rockler had a sale on their Gerstner International (read made in China) chests and I bought one for $100. I thought about how many projects I had time for and the number of projects in the queue and decided to buy the Gerstner International box instead of build one. I found an old one on Ebay for $300
If you'd shopped around you could have found one for less than $100. I can see wanting an original, but buying a cheap, and inexpensive, Chinese knock-off seems to kinda negate being a woodworker, and blowing $100 + shipping. You could always have made your own, a little at a time, wouldn't have needed to finish it all at once. Or, you could even have bought a new one.
Wed, Nov 1, 2006, 8:39am (EST-3) snipped-for-privacy@comcast.net (RayV) doth sayeth: Something that does everything with no trade-offs. I'm just looking for an improvement over my current bucket. I guess I want something similar to this but I can't build it.
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No trade-offs? You're dreaming. Only solution I can think of, seeing as you want something you can carry, is to make more than one, then make multiple trips.
Something like that? Then why you talking about totes? Personally, if I wanted something like that, and didn't want to buy one, I could make one easy enough;. Couldn't be any uglier, that's for sure, but it'd work just as well; so I can't see any reason you can't make one
- except for thinking you can't. Check out a craft book from the library to see how you can do it.
I made the one in the second link about 14 years ago. I still use it, but it I build one again I will make some changes.
Make the drawers deeper ( front to back). Some of the tools don't fit in these drawers so well.
Make the drawers deeper (top to bottom). Same reason.
Put a stop on the back of the drawer to limit the travel to the rear. The fronts on a couple of the drawers cracked from hitting the slide on mounted on the inside of the case.
The rods used to keep the drawers closed work well.
I am not sure that it would stand up to daily hauling. The joinery seems solid enough, but its made of 1/2 wood. Mine sits on a cart in my shop so durability hasn't been a problem, except for the drawer fronts.
No it doesn't negate being a woodworker to buy the Chinese Gerstner. I want to spend my time building things that see the light of day, not that live in my basement shop only to be enjoyed by me. I priced all the hardware to build the box plus the lumber and it exceeded what I paid for the Chinese Box. It was a no brainer for me.
The Rockler store in Cambridge MA had a sale where you buy one item and get the second for 50% off and the second item was the GI box, with no shipping costs. It was like getting 25% off the cost of the box which brought the cost down to $80.
A new box from Gerstner USA is $880 which is another no brainer for me
- I can't afford it.
I did build my own workbench however, but that was out of a solid core door that I got for free.
Won't fit a square, but I've got a "gatormouth" tool bag that holds an awful lot of stuff in a compact space. I think it cost $20-30, and has held up extremely well over the years. It'll hold a drill, bits, hammer, handsaw, plane, files,sanding block, speed square, combination square, assorted pliers, scribes and nail sets, flat bar, stud finder, chisels, and a few other things without much trouble. (The trouble only comes when you have too carry it for too long- it's tough on your shoulder.)
As far as the tool chest goes- I don't carry one out of the shop, so mine is two kitchen cabinets salvaged from a remodeling job with a section of countertop on the top for a rolling workbench. I put 4" casters on the bottom (I made a base for them to attach to and to fill up the hollow kickplate area of the cabinets) and retrofitted pull out trays about 3" deep inside. Easy to use, nice to work at, and it was free. Perhaps not as classy as a real fancy hardwood one, but it works great, and holds a lot of tools and fasteners. If I ever did need to take it somewhere, the 4" castors roll well, and wouldn't have much trouble going over most anything except wet earth or really rocky areas.
Its made entirely from cherry except for the drawer bottoms.
I got lucky when I drilled the holes for the rods. They all lined up on the first try.
I drilled the top drawer then installed it in the case. Slid the drill bit through the hole to mark the next drawer then repeated until all drawers were drilled.
Thanks. I tried drawing it out with a flip down panel to hold the drawers closed (like machinists chest) but it is too much wasted space and would probably not look very nice.
I think I am going to go with the rod or try and over engineer it with rear mounted drawer locks like a mechanics box.
I agree totally.. I have one of those metal red Craftsman rolling tool boxes. Works fine. Doesn't get any oohs or ahhs, but very cost efficient and if it's down in the basement, who cares.
My shop time is extremely limited as well. It typically takes me 3-4 months to finish something, just due to lack of free time.
Maybe a few years after I retire, when all the household tasks are caught up on, I'll build a sexy tool box.
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