Icon Top Box Question...Top Box On A Top Box?

[ARAMP1]

Question for anyone who has seen it or even tried it...

I need flat drawer space and not volume and was thinking instead of purchasing a bottom box, I was wondering if the top box would stack on another top box. Height would be around 6 inches higher (assuming the lower box is on the floor). Figure if those overhead cabs are made to stack on a top box, maybe the top box would have a provision for it.

 

[Fixr]

Question for anyone who has seen it or even tried it...

I need flat drawer space and not volume and was thinking instead of purchasing a bottom box, I was wondering if the top box would stack on another top box. Height would be around 6 inches higher (assuming the lower box is on the floor). Figure if those overhead cabs are made to stack on a top box, maybe the top box would have a provision for it.

I think you'll have to look inside one to see if it has reinforcement that could allow that, like internal corner posts.

 

[Fixr]

I think you'll have to look inside one to see if it has reinforcement that could allow that, like internal corner posts.

If not, you could build a frame to carry the load.

 

[mepstein]

I would just buy a different type of metal storage box. Lista and other companies make boxes with lots of drawers and different heights. Or an architectural style box. There’s lots of options outside of a tool box.

 

[cgrutt]

What about something like this?



Not sure how ICON works but you may not be able to open drawers with top closed plus you will lose that space on bottom box. Also may not be able to secure top to bottom but not sure how icon handles that. My Snap on top is secured to bottom with bolts from underneath.

 

[Fixr]

What about something like this?



Not sure how ICON works but you may not be able to open drawers with top closed plus you will lose that space on bottom box. Also may not be able to secure top to bottom but not sure how icon handles that. My Snap on top is secured to bottom with bolts from underneath.

I don't think the Icons have a top tray & lid.

 

[cgrutt]

I don't think the Icons have a top tray & lid.

Gotcha my bad...

 

[Zeke]

I have a HF top box with the lid removed. You'd lose that space stacking on top but I think it's doable. If you want to hack things up you could make access to the vacant space or use a metal blade and cut it down to flush with the bottom. Any reinforcements could be done with strips or angles and pop rivets (blind).

I think the key is to rely on the boxes and the corners for stability. You could run angle up the corners from one to the other if they are right angles. I can envision 3 of them stacked if that's your thing.

 

[Snapped-off]

Icons have no lid. I doubt they've got the support for another box plus tools or whatever you're storing. You'd probably have to drill holes in the bottom chest to bolt the top chest to it.

 

[i4ni]

Blueprint/Map cabinets are excellent for what you want plus they are stackable. They can usually be bought for a decent price if patient. Be aware that the drawers only open about 3/4 of the way but I usually use trays or keep boxes in the back or keep longer tools in that space. I like them. I bought some very reasonable that I didn't have room for yet and have either 2 or 4 in storage, I dont remember which but I do have 2 sets or 4 cabinets I'm using dailey. I'm fairly certain I have less than $600 in all of them total. Dimensions can vary but the pair here beside me have 5 drawers each and "measure by inside drawer size"....37" wide by 26" front to back by 2 1/4" deep. As I said the drawer's slides stop 6" short of full open. They run on rollers rather than slides but are designed to hold a substantial amount of weight. You may find some that are lockable, mine are not. The one thing I don't like is that they have 2 handles instead of one continuess handle so they can bind a little if pulling with one hand but I plan to Mcquiver up some different handles someday. lol. I also have a Stanly vidmar, a beat up Lyon and a beat up lista plus a Mac bottom with a Craftsman on top. I have a wall of 2 and 3 drawer desk style file cabinets and several lateral file cabinets in use and many more in storage. LOL I need to get another building cause I'm way out of room.

 

[Fixr]

Blueprint/Map cabinets are excellent for what you want plus they are stackable. They can usually be bought for a decent price if patient. Be aware that the drawers only open about 3/4 of the way but I usually use trays or keep boxes in the back or keep longer tools in that space. I like them. I bought some very reasonable that I didn't have room for yet and have either 2 or 4 in storage, I dont remember which but I do have 2 sets or 4 cabinets I'm using dailey. I'm fairly certain I have less than $600 in all of them total. Dimensions can vary but the pair here beside me have 5 drawers each and "measure by inside drawer size"....37" wide by 26" front to back by 2 1/4" deep. As I said the drawer's slides stop 6" short of full open. They run on rollers rather than slides but are designed to hold a substantial amount of weight. You may find some that are lockable, mine are not. The one thing I don't like is that they have 2 handles instead of one continuess handle so they can bind a little if pulling with one hand but I plan to Mcquiver up some different handles someday. lol. I also have a Stanly vidmar, a beat up Lyon and a beat up lista plus a Mac bottom with a Craftsman on top. I have a wall of 2 and 3 drawer desk style file cabinets and several lateral file cabinets in use and many more in storage. LOL I need to get another building cause I'm way out of room.

I had a blueprint case, and a major limitation is the weight capacity of the drawers. They are designed to handle maybe a couple dozen sheets of paper each. I used mine to store small hardware, fasteners and measuring tools, but it wouldn't have taken a lot of weight to buckle a drawer. The other things I didn't like was the amount of floor space it took up and the 6" of dead space at the back of the drawers. I ended up putting some kind of filler blocks back there.

 

[i4ni]

I had a blueprint case, and a major limitation is the weight capacity of the drawers. They are designed to handle maybe a couple dozen sheets of paper each. I used mine to store small hardware, fasteners and measuring tools, but it wouldn't have taken a lot of weight to buckle a drawer. The other things I didn't like was the amount of floor space it took up and the 6" of dead space at the back of the drawers. I ended up putting some kind of filler blocks back there.

That's simply not an accurate assessment of the weight capacities of these cabinets. They are designed to hold full drawers of paper which by the way is very heavy. I worked in maintenance in a large factory for 11 years and all our hundreds of products and thousands of parts and options were Designed,Engineered, Drafted to Blueprints and filed on site. We're talking literally thousands of square feet of blueprint file cabinets and those drawers were full of prints. Commercial Square feet is very expensive overhead and believe me it is utilized to it's full potential in every aspect.

 

[alinc100]

I think if you contacted Snap On they could set you up with a system like this.
This is advertised locally as a diesel mechanic shop retiring/going out of business and is full of tools,over $300,000 worth ,no negotiating firm at $75,000.

Jokes aside it appears by the photos that the Icon tops should stack,but I have not seen one in person.

 

[Fixr]

That's simply not an accurate assessment of the weight capacities of these cabinets. They are designed to hold full drawers of paper which by the way is very heavy. I worked in maintenance in a large factory for 11 years and all our hundreds of products and thousands of parts and options were Designed,Engineered, Drafted to Blueprints and filed on site. We're talking literally thousands of square feet of blueprint file cabinets and those drawers were full of prints. Commercial Square feet is very expensive overhead and believe me it is utilized to it's full potential in every aspect.

Mine was a nice quality one and the drawers tended to sag and buckle if heavy-ish tools went into the drawers. I suspect that was because full sheets of paper are a very evenly distributed load while tools usually aren't.

 

[Mike65]

I bought a Craftsman top box that was on clearance & built a bench for it. You could do something similar with 2 shelves for both boxes.

 

[LWB]

You could always buy an older box. Most have more narrow drawers.

 

[Fixr]

You could always buy an older box. Most have more narrow drawers.

Pretty much completely unrelated to the OP, but I miss toolboxes with lots of small drawers. If you have a bunch of ginormous bulky tools, a cabinet with shelves works better, or even open shelves. Putting hand tools in a ginormous drawer is not much better than dumping them all in a cardboard box. That's why tool cabinets and chests used to have a lot of drawers.

 

[whateg01]

Watched a video of a guy building his new cabinets and he limited the sides of the drawers to something like 2.5 inches. His reasoning was taller sides encourage piling things in them instead of just using them for taller items.

If the construction on the tops is the same as for the bottoms, I would think the only thing missing would be a way to keep the top top from sliding around. I would do it if I wanted that arrangement. I stacked the usg bottoms to get more shallow drawers and an pretty happy with it. Only down side is that the top drawer is pretty impractical since they are so high up. I keep the keys I don't use and other misc paperwork in them.

 

[ARAMP1]

You could always buy an older box. Most have more narrow drawers.

I have older boxes now.

 

[LWB]

I have older boxes now.

Haha, Scratch that then.

 

[ARAMP1]

Haha, Scratch that then.

Yeah, looking for something deeper. Looking at going with 3x 72" across my back wall. A combination of those Listas would be ideal, but for that amount of storage, it's double the price.

 

[MFortie]

I also have a couple of ‘flat file’ (blueprint) cabinets stacked and have them loaded with hardware and they work fine.

I agree with the dual handle / binding issue, but it’s manageable…