I've seen threads like this before on here only for old tool boxes. however i'm just curious what else everybody uses for storing there tools, I have a white cabinet i have yet to paint. and a shop i worked in the bosses sun turned a filing cabinet into his paint gun storage box. I am looking for unique ideas. and if you want show me your old tool boxes, or shops.
I had one of those Duracell battery displays that is about 3 foot square with casters and peg board on all sides. I used that for a few years just because it was different and free.
I have a 60s metalflake kitchen counter top bolted onto some metal kitchen cabinets, Its beat up but it works great for storing larger tools that don't fit in my craftsman
Deep 5 drawer file cabinets usually run 20 to 25 bucks at the local Habit for Humanity store. I've got three or four left out of the batch that I bought through the GSA online auction that had been in a Social Security office in Wenachee WA. It only worked for me because I had to go up there for work when I picked them up so the trip was paid for. Those are intended to be storage units for the parts for each project but one may become the storage unit for the larger equipment that is in cases or not in cases like the sawzall and other power tools. That may cut down on the "where the hell is that now" issue I have now. Many of the small specialty tools may end up in one of the file cabinets too. I'm not a big fan of having that many parts or tools out on display like I see in photos of some guys shops. I'd rather have the tucked away out of sight and out of mind for the most part. The obsolete tools that I have collected over the years will probably be on a peg board as that has always been the intent of hanging on to them. Not much call for a cross the cells electric voltage tester with probes and a meter to read individual cell voltage now though.
I had a friend that used to run a grading business. He would use his track hoe to load an old Coca-Cola truck on the low boy trailer, haul it to the job site, and use that for the tool box on out of town jobs. Maybe a little bigger scale than you were thinking, but I always thought that was a pretty good idea.
Old metal desks, the larger and more drawers the better. Doubles as a work bench. Any type of metal cabinet on wheels works great for me also. Filing cabinets I like for larger objects, and I also like roll carts. I am not a fan of huge, high dollar toolboxes, even though customers can be very impressed with the sight of them. I, myself would rather spend a few thousand on tools and equipment.
Another vote for Habitat for Humanity stores. Used cabinets can be bought for cheap and can keep those valuable tools hidden. With a little thinking outside the box there are many items that can be used to outfit a shop or garage.
By KENTUCKY state law, all surplus merchandise must be sold at public auction. Some years ago the University of Louisville remodeled the dental school. All sorts of metal cabinets, desks and book shelves were sold, usually Steelcase quality (good as Snap-On, Matco etc.) for cheap. Great opportunity to outfit your garage or shop with high tech looking storage at rock bottom prices. Also acquired trade-in or "scratch and dent" items from industrial furniture companies for next to nothing.
I`ve got about 20 + filing cabinets. For example: top drawer of one is used for battery tools and testers. Next drawer down is cables and hardware. Next is for jumper cables and chargers. And the bottom drawer is for extra car batterys. And I`m not a mechanic.
My thinking exactly, i would rather have an old filing cabinet with performance parts decals than worry about weather my brand new snap on box is waxed and shiny
I used an old IBM tape-drive cabinet for a few years. 6 feet tall. The actual drive weighed a couple hundred pounds. The cabinet was very heavy-duty and was on wheels. I should kept it.....
I've got two old metal hanging kitchen cabinets on my walls full of different stuff, one I keep mostly paint and chemicals in. I've also got a metal shelf that I took out of a old telephone company pickup I once owned, it sits beside my box and I have one box on top of it. I also kept a drawer cabinet out of that same truck, it's full of used nuts, bolts, wire, and just general junk that I said, "I might need this sometime". My tool boxes are used, scratched, dented, and dirty. Pretty much like me when I'm out in the shop!
Another good strong cabinet is an industrial electrical cabinet, often tossed when machines are upgraded or s****ped. Salvage yards let them go cheap, because the metal isn't thick enough to go as #1.
***************************************************************************** Steve is sooo right. Have two of them out in my detached garage, both on casters. One is a single door, about three feet wide and 6 feet tall, and the other is a two-door, about 6 feet wide and 6 tall. Easy to mount hasps and padlocks to, and hang drop cords and air hoses on the front. Roger
One thing I forgot to mention I have is a old double door refrigerator. I store my welding rods and wire in one side, it's airtight so moisture doesn't get in. The other side has an ***ortment of stuff, some small parts for my car I don't want to lose, light bulbs and such, switches, trim pieces, etc.
I used to work at an independant VW shop years ago. We had a guy there that although he had a perfectly good tool box, most of his tools were ****tered about on the floor. He referred to the floor as his "bottom box, bottom drawer". A good guy, but a real slob. His tools were never in danger of rusting, because there was always puddles of oil and grease everywhere.
Blue print drawers! CAD and computer storage have made these fairly obsolete in offices. My friend has a few at his shop that he bought at a school (Junior College) surplus auction. His are a neat, dark grey wrinkle finish USA made about 50 years old. They're heavy, stackable and have high quality roller bearing slides. They're generally really wide though, (about 40") and have shallow drawers. The really old ones are of wood construction. The addition of these allowed him to get small stuff such as drill bits, reamers, blades, small parts, etc. out of boxes and neatly laid out in drawers. A drawer could also neatly hold finished parts or a sub ***embly such as a blown apart carb and rebuild kit waiting to be ***embled without any worries about loosing parts. I've never understood the need for a $10,000 Snap On box in a casual garage. Maybe if you're a career wrench, otherwise it just seems like a ******* contest. Like most of my tools, all of my tool storage boxes and chests are used. I've a large, Stanley Vidmar rolling drawer cabinet that my Brother in law gave me. It holds all my air and power tools. Also, two Craftsman rolling drawer chests with intermediate drawers and top boxes along with a Kennedy top box. All were bought at garage sales. The recent Craftsman rolling chest and box I got by accident at a garage sale late in the day. I was on my way home and saw the chest and decided to stop to look for tools. The guy said he was moving out quick and he'd load the roller and chest in my car for $5 each! Nobody was interested because they had some stickers and had a handle missing. I may just do a repaint of it.
****y cell phone pic - please excuse. These are some old library card cabinets I found - sold off cheap to make was for the computerizion of the Dewey Decimal System info, I was told. One is a 72-drawer maple cabinet & drawer unit, found at a swap meet for $100 delivered & set in place in my shop. The other is a 30-drawer unit from an antique store for $40.00. The drawers are about 3"x5"x15" (too damn cold to go out and measure them!). All I did was cut off the metal rods which went length-wise through the drawers and held the cards in place. Lots of room to store nut, bolts, washers and all kinds of hardware & small tools. Library Cabinet by TagMan, on Flickr
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