Toolboxes

I bought a ridiculously overbuilt cabinet from a state surplus auction, made to hold card files. The drawers had a slot cut in the bottom and little removable trays. The trays used up too much room so I got rid of them and made steel inserts to fill the bottoms of the drawers and coated those with truck bed liner. The cabinet has 14 drawers and is vertically oriented, and each drawer is just tall enough so you don't stack tools, a big impact wrench just fits. It was probably made in the 50's - 60's. It's got ball bearing full extension drawer glides and even empty the cabinet is so heavy I can't budge it. The glides are so nice that if I just unlatch a drawer it will open all the way on its own. (my garage floor's off level, oops.) I don't have any pictures handy, but even after paying for the sheet steel and bed liner I have less than $200 in the whole thing. It's not on casters but I didn't want one on casters. I use a cart for my tools for the current job and leave the bulk of the tools put away.

Building your own would be fun but unless you're doing it for personal enjoyment it seems like a waste of time. There's plenty of re-purposable cabinets out there or the nicer harbor freight cabinets are "good enough."

I have the HF box (red one posted earlier). It has been great so far, no complaints at all.

DaveEstey wrote: If you own a shop equipment is a tax writeoff.

Not every where. I actually have to pay taxes on all business owned tools and equipment every year.

corytate wrote: I also just bought an IR titanium impact (the TiMAX2135 aka close to top of the line) for $100 off the snap on truck used.

I'm on my third one. (Well, the first one wasn't a Ti and the second one wasn't a Max) I only get about three-four years out of them before they're worn out, then I wait for them to go on sale because new is cheaper than rebuilding. Doesn't make sense to buy used when they wear out at that rate, IMO.

This isn't a dig. These guns are WAY better than the hammer/anvil every 6 months, trigger O-ring every other month maintenance nightmare that was the IR231...

I abuse the US General at work as a millwright. It is a sturdy unit.

At home I collect 40's and 50's vintage round front craftsman and Huot chests. A little paint and grease and they are awesome and ready for another half a century of service.

I need one more to finish up my tool chest wall. Once they are all painted up and in a row under the workbench they will look great.

I have to get behind the Snap-on units. Between drawers funtioning well for 20 years full of tools and hardware staying in place they're hard to beat. Mine came from an auction though. Still, swinging wrenches all day sure is better when I don't have to wrestle the box.

I have a 12 yr old Sears toolbox, the real cheap one, with crappy slides, bars to lock the drawers and such and it has done fairly well. It is starting to give up though, not from rust but from just use. Not bad for $150 though. Next one will be a better one, but not Snap-on unless I get a great deal. Maybe a Kobalt from Lowes or similar.

ThePhranc wrote:

DaveEstey wrote: If you own a shop equipment is a tax writeoff.

Not every where. I actually have to pay taxes on all business owned tools and equipment every year.

Good thing you've depreciated them all fully, right??

dculberson wrote:

ThePhranc wrote:

DaveEstey wrote: If you own a shop equipment is a tax writeoff.

Not every where. I actually have to pay taxes on all business owned tools and equipment every year.

Good thing you've depreciated them all fully, right??

Good thing there are only 3 machines that the companies owns and everything else is in my name.

I take it most of the Snap-On detractors have never actually had a nice toolbox.

There is a huge difference between the hardware store/horrible freight units, even the "professional" units, and a low end Snap-On, MAC, or Matco.

The only question to ask is if tools are an investment or disposable. That decision will guide where you spend your money.

Like this discussion always goes, some of us don't wrench for a living and would rather spend the thousands on more tools and another car or four.

I didn't read the whole thread but a tool box is a tool just like your wrench or BFH. It needs to be able to hold all your tools in an organized way (so you don't waste time looking for that 3/16" socket and stubby ratchet. It also has to handle day in and day out abuse, from opening and closing the drawer a few hundred times a day to being moved around the shop every day. They also need to be able to handle the solvents that will be sprayed on them when you are working on a bench or the strange looking "lady" with three eyes comes in to clean the floor every Tuesday and Thursday without looking like crap after a few months.
That said, a GOOD tool box is a wise investment for a pro, but the average DIY'er can get away with a lesser box. Just don't buy a Craftsman, I went through three of them before stepping up to a real box.

When I was shopping, my choices seemed to be a $1-2k+tax Sears or Canadian Tire boxes or step up to a Mac or Snap On box. With the Sears boxes most the display models had dents, drawers that had issues opening and basically felt pretty cheap. I wasn't going to pay over $1k for something that couldn't even hold up being display models without any tools in them, and going up in price just got a bigger tin can, not a better one.

I ended up with this box for $4k including butcher block top, cover and a set of punches, taxes in and I love it. Don't regret it at all.

93gsxturbo wrote: I take it most of the Snap-On detractors have never actually had a nice toolbox. There is a huge difference between the hardware store/horrible freight units, even the "professional" units, and a low end Snap-On, MAC, or Matco.

Actually, I have a Matco box.

My biggest problem with Snap-On in particular is that they are aburdly expensive nowadays. And (and i know this is a region-specific thing) the tool salesmen are bizarre, mentally awkward people who make ME look normal, and they almost always NEVER warranty anything. Which is why I've been slowly filtering my broken Snap-On stuff out and replacing with MAC.

I don't want to hear "Yeah, that happens." when I have a broken socket that I bought with the express intent of having a lifetime warranty. No, I'm not going to buy a replacement, at least not from you. (How much is, say, a 15mm mid-depth 3/8" drive impact swivel nowadays?)

Run_Away wrote: When I was shopping, my choices seemed to be a $1-2k+tax Sears or Canadian Tire boxes or step up to a Mac or Snap On box. With the Sears boxes most the display models had dents, drawers that had issues opening and basically felt pretty cheap. I wasn't going to pay over $1k for something that couldn't even hold up being display models without any tools in them, and going up in price just got a bigger tin can, not a better one. I ended up with this box for $4k including butcher block top, cover and a set of punches, taxes in and I love it. Don't regret it at all.

my god thats beautiful

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: Like this discussion always goes, some of us don't wrench for a living and would rather spend the thousands on more tools and another car or four.

I only wrench on the weekends but use my tools everyday. I see absolutely no reason to spend so much on a name brand box. I still open my draws just as often on the HF box as the guy next door does his Snap On box.

I'm just not in debt up to my nipples and have more tools and machinery than he does.

maybe it's because I'm still in college and my time is worthless and my pockets are shallow, but It seems odd to pay more for storage for tools than for the car that they are working on. I'm also young enough and inexperienced enough to think that building everything yourself is still fun. I never really considered re purposing a non-tool box, I'll have to look into that. I can start to justify a big purchase like that when it will last you for 20+ years. It will also be easier when it's not 5x my yearly income.

Clearly you're doing it wrong. Don't touch a car until you have a mac or snapon toolbox. Then break the car. Then buy tools.

But for the love of God, don't buy any other box. Really.

Good boxes are worth good money. How much "good money" is depends on your budget. The high end Snap-on, Mac, Matco, etc. are usually really nice... drawers work well, even heavily loaded, the metal is thicker gauge, the corners/beads/welds are much cleaner/nicer/tighter, etc. Are they worth the kinda money the list for? IDK, 'cause I can't justify spending that kinda money on a box.

I can (and did) afford the big red HF bottom box (as posted earlier) when it was on sale and they still took 20% off coupons on 'em. It's been a great box and meets my needs just fine. I also bought one of the HF 5 drawer tool carts (which you can still use the 20% off coupon on) and it compares generally favorably to similar carts from the big name places (though the fit and finish quality isn't as good).

Now, if I had the extra coin (roughly double what I paid for the HF boxes), I'd hunt deals on older used Snap-on, Matco, and Mac boxes... they're out there pretty regularly just waiting to be had. I especially like it when I spy a loaded box deal for less than the cost of the box alone.

I take it most of the detractors have never actually had a nice toolbox.

Take out the snap-on (like i just did) and i totally agree with that.

How much is, say, a 15mm mid-depth 3/8" drive impact swivel nowadays?

About $50 (EACH) i think. My 3/8" impact wobble sockets were the best money i ever spent. They cost about as much as that HF bottom box for a grand total of ten metric sockets.

maybe it's because I'm still in college and my time is worthless and my pockets are shallow, but It seems odd to pay more for storage for tools than for the car that they are working on.

Ive spent most of my adult life in a similar position, but with the benefit of my experience, i now TOTALLY disagree with that. I've told some of my friends about this: that the longer i think about it, the more i think that if i was to give advice to someone just getting into cars (as a teenager most likely), my advice would be to prioritize tools over mods or even a higher strata of car.

I cant think of how many times ive heard some lame-a$$ story from 'car people' about how their car needs A B and C that seem insurmountable to them but sound like peanuts to me because i have (enough) tools and space to work on cars. People go through HUGE periods of time CLAIMING to be car enthusiasts and yet bitching about how they cant work on their car because they live in an apartment and dont have enough tools. Here's the thing.. you're doing it wrong. Try doing it right. Tools and Space. Im not even talking about nice tools and lots of space. Just get as rounded a set of basic tools as you can as early as you can, and pick where you live based on how important your car hobby actually is to you.

I have not bought a whole lot of tools considering ive been working on cars and moonlighting as an ASE master certified professional tech for most of a decade. I've just bought what i thought i actually needed. My toolbox is smaller than that $399 HF bottom. Ive owned ~45 cars and done piles of mods to the vast majority of them, and ive always done it at home, with my own tools, and at this point i have almost no respect for people who put all their money into the car, and then dont have enough tools or space to actually do anything with it or even fix it when it breaks.

I dont still have ~45 cars, but i still have all my tools.....(pause for effect).

Here are a couple pictures of my re-purposed card file cabinet. I remembered the number of drawers wrong, it's a 12-drawer unit. Not quite full but that's because I have two other cabinets stuffed full. This is my "automotive tools" cabinet.

And full of tools, with the bottoms I made put in:

The inserts for the bottom were a bigger project than I hoped, but what isn't. The new steel came oily and I didn't get 100% of the oil off so the primer went on fine but then the truck bed liner paint made about 30% of the pieces have their paint bubble up. I scraped it and it went all the way back to clean steel. So I cleaned them again and then it worked great.

It would be trivial for most handymen to add casters to this, but you would have to widen the base as it's too tall and narrow to safely roll around at that footprint. I came up with a plan but decided I didn't want to roll it. That wouldn't work well for a commercial shop but in my garage I wouldn't have room to roll it anyway.

Edit: Oh, and don't mock my mess .. I'm still getting settled in my "new" place.

Vigo,

I definitely agree about putting tools before mods. I'm in the unfortunate boat of loving quality. I know plenty of people who would go to HF and buy 5 ratchets, expecting them to break, for 1/2 the cost of a nice Maco, but I'd rather get a professional brand and never have to get another one. It may take longer to acquire all the tools but hopefully they last forever.

I like to think of myself as a car person, but I've got a completely stock, newish car mustang, live in an apartment, and only have a handful of tools. However I spend my weekends wrenching on the Texas A&M car. When I graduate and have to start spending my own money to have fun, I'll have to think long and hard about how much of my money can go towards toys and how much needs to be invested responsibly.

I really respect the guys who can do anything needed in their home shop with nothing more than a basic tool set. I appreciate the insight and wisdom that comes from ya'll who've been doing this for twice as along as I've been alive.

I have the red HF 44" box. It served me well in a professional capacity, and it's more than adequate for home use. It's nowhere near as nice as Snap-On et al, but it's fine for the price: holds the tools, opens and closes, moves around, doesn't fall apart. I was on a budget when I bought mine and spent my money on tools, thinking I'd eventually upgrade the box when I wore it out. Now, I would expand on mine with HF add-ons before I buy something else.

This HF tool cart, by the way... ...is identical to the one that comes off the Snap-On truck. (They're nice.) Two guys in my shop bought them off the truck before HF started carrying them. They weren't happy when I brought in the GRM ad...

The HF 5 drawer version is actually better built and quality than the 4 drawer. It's a heckuva deal when you can get it for ~$140 (which is what I paid with a 20% off coupon).

BTW, there's a coupon somewhere for the 4 drawer for $99.99. Check the magazine ads.

Add me to the list as another person with the HF 44", 13 Drawer Box:

http://www.harborfreight.com/13-drawer-red-industrial-quality-roller-cabinet-90320.html

I think it works great, and it's pretty much the best deal going, especially with a 20% off coupon... I've seen people buy 3-4 of these and build some pretty awesome work benches complete with butcher block tops for less than some of the other boxes out there...