Tool storage

[Gordon Maney]

Except for a while when I was a kid and had a small, portable box, I have always kept my tools in a roller cabinet with top roller cabinet, and then in later years got an additional roller cabinet.

When I was an automotive instructor, we built a wall mounted cabinet that was about six feet tall and six or so feet wide. The doors opened up and were as deep as the cabinet, so they presented again that much space. I had tools neatly arranged on all of those surfaces. The doors were mounted with large piano hinges, and there were casters under the moving end of each door. It worked really well.

I am wondering out of curiosity how many of you have wall mounted tool arrangements of serious size? Ignoring security, there is a lot to be said for that kind of accessible storage.

[MoparNorm]

I don't have enough walls for the tools I have to store! ha!ha! Seriously I did have that arrangement several years (decades) ago, but found myself walking to the wall more than working. I started out with a small Craftsman chest, advanced to a small Craftsman roll-a-way, and now have my sights set on the Hammerhead stainless steel rolling cabinet that is worth $1,500+ but is sold at COSTCO for under $700. It is the nicest cabinet I have seen, and as a former NASCAR pit crewmember I've seen the best and biggest (some cabinets need their own motors!). A small rolling work table, with a few drawers, is also good for taking a dozen or so tools that you need for a specific task and rolling it with you, right to the work.
MN

[powerwagontim]

Hi Norm,
I saw that cabinet at Costco and it was an instant case of toolbox envy. I tried and tried to rationalize getting it and ended up spending the money on a new set of tires for the PW. I still make a point to visit that isle when in Costco. My insides still get all squidgey thinking about it....
Tim

[MoparNorm]

Hi Tim!
It's the doors and drawers! I spend 20 minutes each COSTCO visit, just sliding them in and out, ooh!, aah! gas shocks for the lid, stainless welded handels, locking doors and sections, box liners.....dang my keyboard is shorting out from the drool! ha!ha! Next trip I'm taking my stainless polish, to clean all of the little kid fingerprints off of "my" tool box!
MN

[Bruce]

Now I gotta get someone to take me to COSTCO!! I still have my first toolbox a craftsman one layer, it has to 35 yo. I do have a newer one, Snap-On 5 draw, new to me 25 years ago.
I've been waiting for some paint and Hollis to send me his horse shoe<LOL> so I've started to reorganize things in my shop.
But I need to go to COSTCO, now.......

[powerwagontim]

Bruce,
When you go to Costco, My advice to you is this: LEAVE YOUR CHECKBOOK AT HOME!!! Way too much temptation.
Good luck, Tim

[Bruce]

Hey Tim,
I doubt I will get there anytime soon, anyway! But, who knows, Santa might be needing an idea or two. December 30, I'm legal to drive again.

[powerwagontim]

I wish my Santa was well off enough to suprise me with that, but I think I will set my sights a bit lower ( and more realisticly for this household) I can almost feel those new socks now.
Tim

[Joe Cimoch]

I took MN's advice and picked up one of the SS HammerHead rollaways at COSTCO at the beginning of the summer. It is a great unit. And because I have excess capacity, I can buy more tools.
http://www.hammerhead.bz/products_lx.htm

I do use a 4x8 piece of pegboard for things like wrenches, screw drivers, hammers, that I use a lot and like to grab in a hurry. I keep other tools that I have in boxes (drills, sawzall, air hammer, etv.) on a shelf above the tool wall, so I can grab them when needed.

[Terry Newton]

family. They have always preferred Kennedy.

How do the Costco boxes compare to Kennedy?

[powerwagontim]

Costco boxes are WAY shinyer!! Who cares about quality?
(just kidding), but seriously, I agree with Norm, they seem very well built. Lots of different storage options. Joe, what do you think?
Tim

[Bruce]

Hey Terry,
Can you post a picture of the Kennedy box, I am not familar with it, or do they have a web site?

[Terry Newton]

but forgot about it when my wife entered the room sqawking. (Don't tell her I said that.)

http://www.kennedymfg.com/

These boxes are very common in south TN. My father owns quite a few, many he has been using for years. The drawers are just as smooth as they ever were. My uncle has also used these exclusively in his career. He is located in Cincinnatti.

I have not seen anything Costco in these parts. Those are good looking boxes, though. I may have to try and find a dealer when I get one.

Of course, for the time and money, a Craftsman would work just as well for me. I am not a full time mechanic, and live near Sears stores. While not as heavy duty as the other boxes we are talking about, they are probabley tough enough for me.

[Gordon Maney]

I am not familiar with Costco, I do not think there are any in Iowa.

[powerwagontim]

Terry.
As much as I covet the Costco box, I am also not a professional mechanic and have several craftsman chests. Everything is well organised in the drawers and has its place. (that means the place the tools are supposed to be when I clean off the bench). That is alot of the reason I couldnt justify the purchase of this big gleaming box, I already have places for most of my mechanics tools. Other than a flashy new box, I wouldnt have been any better off. Besides, The ratty old craftsman boxes go better with my ratty old Dodge.
Tim

[Joe Cimoch]

The HammerHead (COSTCO) box is very well built, and very heavy. Ball bearing sliders on the drawers, big lockable casters, top box hinged cover with a gas shock lift, comes with drawer liners, fit & finish is great.

[MoparNorm]

Gordon,
It would appear that there are no COSTCO's in Iowa.= ( However, depending upon the driving distance from Norway, there are warehouses in Minneapolis, Kansas City and St. Louis. You best bet may be to go to COSTCO.com and see the tool boxes, they have free delivery in some cases, however the $700 Hammerhead is not sold on-line, there apears to be different and larger models shown there.
I would normally prefer the Craftsman Box, but after the last two three drawer Craftsman boxes fell apart on me, and the expense of the larger Craftsman Roll-a-way box, the Hammerhead fell right into my budget. Joe gives a good testimonial, it is one FINE cabinet! Well made, durable and rust proof!
MN
http://photos.imageevent.com/moparnorm/oddsends/websize/3DCP_0418.JPG

[Terry Newton]

that combat rim.

I might have to consider one when I have a place to put one.

[fuzzyalex]

I have worked out of steel tool boxes, canvas tool bags, knack boxes, roll around tool boxes with and w/o ball bearing shelves, plastic buckets, the back of my truck, the bed of my truck, job boxes mounted to my truck, utility beds, and plastic cases (I think that pretty much covers it!). So, here is what I think at this point, though I change my mind frequently with each new "project".
Plastic Cases, the ones that are blow molded and include spaces for their own sockets and wrenches are great if more than one person is going to be using it, you can tell what is missing at a glance (so not good if you don't like putting things back in its exact place). Plastic tool boxes don't rattle as much while 4x4ing.
Steel tool boxes- very durable, very noisy, and hard to find "that one wrench" when it gets full -and doesn't take well to being run over (like when you stick it under your truck when its raining and later drive off). It also gets very heavy very quickly when you get into the bigger ones. The trays I usually throw away, but recently I have kept my 3/8" drive sockets in one with all of them pointing up- I can usually pick out the right size after a quick glance at the head of the bolt or nut. Knack boxes are nice for big bulkey tools and it keeps them secure as long as it is bolted down, but inveritably you end up digging through it and removing half of its contents to find the tool(s) you need!
Canvas tool bags- my personal favorite- easy to find long tools in pockets (like wrenches, nut drivers, screwdrivers) but things still get lost in the bottom. I have a long "large wrench" bag that I put all of my BIG wrenches in and another like it that I put my hammers, hacksaws and the like in. The best canvas can only be found in a tree trimmers/linesman/tower hand specialty store like R&M in Denver. These "grunt sacks" are almost indestructable and come in many sizes and shapes and kinds, thats why you see them hanging on the back of utilities trucks (I challange you to throw your tool box off a 200' tower and still be able to cary tools in it!). Leather bottoms are better than plastic, and easily the quietest tool box over rough roads, not to mention more pliable for cramming in tight spaces. A bit expensive for "professional grade" (not those "bucket boss" bags at home depot).
As far as rolling tool boxes go- we in the tower industry have a few "tricks" to test the durability. The best one is to pull out a shelf, put both hands on it with all of your weight and try to slide it in and out. Only ball bearings will allow you to do this so far as I have found, and this is important cause tools weigh alot! Also, press on the sheetmetal sides and back- if it gives easily (or dents) you don't want it! If you are serious about buying one, it is worth the money to buy a quality one, and a LARGE one- nothing like the feeling of spending a chunk of change and filling it up and still having more tools that need a home (and what about space for those other tools you've been looking at?)
Plastic buckets- work pretty good for the price, but I would never stand under one! Same problems as the steel toolbox- everything jumbled up and easily breakable. I've seen some "modified" buckets using pocketed canvas inserts, but they aren't very high quality and fall apart with little use- they go in a plastic bucket after all!
Utility beds are really great if you drive everywhere you use your tools, and park where you can see your truck at night. I drove one for 5 years and nobody broke into mine, but I have heard countless stories... They can be really cool if you customize to fit your needs/tools/equipment, but you have to be an organized person, not a "throw it the box" at the end of the day kind of guy (or gal). There is nothing like driving around with everything you could ever use, a drivable tool box!
Boy, I am feeling a bit long winded, so I think I'll end it for now. My experience comes from working in snow, in rain, on hot sunny days, in hail, in heated/air conditioned garages, inside buildings, on top of buildings, under buildings on concrete/dirt/mud/snow/rock/lenolium/tile/everything else and in between!

[MoparNorm]

You pretty much covered it, so far so good with my 11' utility body, but it's hard to carry! ha!ha!http://photos.imageevent.com/moparnorm/moparnormsnewram/websize/Dcp_0136.jpg

[fuzzyalex]

mopar norm, that is alot nicer than anything I've worked out of! I would really have to consider weather or not I wanted to "modify" that or leave it "pretty"!

[MoparNorm]

I sprayed the bed with a Rhino liner, it takes a beating without showing it, the best money that I've ever spent on an accessory. Also coated the insides of the boxes with herculiner , that didn't work out so well, so it's going back to Rhino the get the insides coated. The truck has worn pretty well, and it is a year old now, but I still hated the first scratch!!!
MN

[Cheyenne Dave]

This is my rolling tool box...not quite as much permanant tool storage as Norm though. I "tool up" for many different trades so this set-up allows me the maximum in flexibilty. It also gives me a secure, weather tight enclosure...very handy for cross country trips or keeping materials safe and dry. The white thing across the back is a heavy duty gravity conveyer roller. I sleeved it with PVC pipe. Very handy for loading lumber, the canoe, etc.

Everything that is not aluminum is Arma Coated, a hot spray-on urethane. No rust or corrosion... no paint to chip, crack or peal. Just wash-n-wear!

I added Firestone air springs to help with the weight of the tool box/topper as well as dealing with various loads in the truck and on the trailer. Nice ride under any load conditions!

[MoparNorm]

Looks good Dave! I had the two boxes on each side, on my last truck, but I quickly ran out of room. Now I can have carpentry, electrical, drywall, air tools, power tools, etc each in their own compartment, I have even toyed with the idea of putting my welder and compressor in one compartment, but on projects where I can't get the truck close enough to the work, it'd be a pain, so I haven't done that yet!
How much did those logs weigh?
MN

[Cheyenne Dave]

They weren't all that heavy...not as much as GUS anyway. They were standing dead Aspen that needed to come down. They were a fire threat as well as a danger of hitting the building they were near. Keystone, CO...

[frogman12]

I am with Fuzzyalex about the canvas toolbags I work on towers and pole lines off and on and Ihve uses both Klien and Bashlin bags we call them gut buckets but there great for hauling up and down towers and poles plus they have little pockets sewn in the side so you can put bug nuts and small tools but not so many that you would spend valuable time searching in the pockets. I started transfering all of my tools from the larger plastic toolboxes I had (I lived on a boat at the time and had no space for a roll around tool box) and ammo carriers just cause they are quiter less prone too rust.
When I work as a commercial diver I have two great old canvas bags ( they where a gift from the old hard hat guy that I apprenticed under) that have drain holes in them I use the smaller one for burning rods and one to keep all my tools sorted out while working in blackwater. The canvas bags have a wide strong handle that I attached Pcord too so I can clip the tools in I use old climbing biners so I can pull them out under water and not loose them. The only drawback is if I get in a rush and have more than 6 or 7 tools in the bag the Pcord has a tendency to get fouled. I have a hammer I call my russian persuader I got two years ago while working in Mongolia that one of the Mongolians had made it was a large crescent wrench that had broken a jaw and and a 2.2kilo hammer that didnt have a wood handle, there wasnt a tree insight so they combined both and welded it with the truck batterys amazing! That hammer is cool cause it says Made in CCCP on the crescent handle. But I found for dive work its the best, I just clean it and all my tools down with Marvel Mystery fluid at the end of the day. I have had the same dive tools other then the hammer for over 20 years the sockets are S&K, Craftsman (older non ratching) and as long as i clean up after each dive there good. Sometimes I will go for weeks without getting wet and I go back into the bags and they are as good as new.