90s Craftsman 3 stack drawer problem

[Matthew3901]

So I am having a problem with the drawers on my tool box. I have had this since 2004. My wife found it in a email digest for sale and suprised me with it for my birthday....then for Christmas it got a set of tools to start filling it! According to the paper work it is a mid90s box. So the drawers tend to wiggle when pulled out. ...

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[1982fxr]

Can you post a video of the problem?

I mean, friction slides on those boxes tend to shimmy a bit....does it get better or worse when you load a drawer heavy with tools? All drawers do it equally??

 

[Matthew3901]

I will have to figure out how to post a vid. the drawers do shimmy a bit, but it seems to get worse when I load the drawer with tools. Both of my heaviest drawers have sockets and they shimmy bad

 

[jakemac]

Could the guide channels on the box walls or the drawers be stretched/deformed due to use and/or overloading over time ?

If so, bodywork time, to tighten things up.

 

[Matthew3901]

try this link
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2ce496h0NrvZjlDOU5ZQ0ZYQ0k/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B2ce496h0NrvZWpmY2lHTk81VlE

 

[Matthew3901]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2ce496h0NrvZjlDOU5ZQ0ZYQ0k/view?usp=sharing

 

[1982fxr]

Same one second video as before for me.

Are they dirty/gunky?

Also what jakemac said...

 

[Matthew3901]

Ok, so the slides do not look gunky.... here is a new link with a vid that works. So about 10 months ago I played with the idea of starting a youtube channel about what I do in the garage. needless to say I have not made a lot of progress. Here is a link:

Yes I named my channel thesuperwrenchgarage....I totally dig the name superwrench, and I know eventually I will have to change it due to trademark/copyright, but I found the name on an antique tool....so we will see

Matthew3901

 

[dale500]

The box you have is the homeowner style Craftsman box. The drawers a rated for around 25lbs each. Some look a bit over loaded in your video. The rails on the inside of the box will spread over time with use and overloading. If you pull out the drawers and slides you can see the condition of the rails and see if you need to bend them back in place. The use some light weight grease and keep the weight in the drawers reasonable and all is good. There is always going to be some wobble/shimmy with this type of drawer slide.

 

[thesilverone]

typical results from a bottom of the barrel cman box

 

[bobcatdan]

For a $200 brand new in 1990's money combo, you got your money's worth out of them. As stated earlier, drawers are only 25 lbs. As kid I had one and once it was about as full as you can get one, it was failing with in a month. On mine the channels in the box began pulling away.

 

[Matthew3901]

No my wife picked it up used for 150$ or 200$ in 2004

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[Matthew3901]

I see what you are saying if I unload the drawers they will fair better. It just means I have to buy another box....or tool cart for under the bench...

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[JazzBlueRT]

typical results from a bottom of the barrel cman box

Amazing how the 'bottom of the barrel' Craftsman tool boxes still function after 25 years of overloading.

 

[JazzBlueRT]

I see what you are saying if I unload the drawers they will fair better. It just means I have to buy another box....or tool cart for under the bench...

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Why not replace the sliders

 

[dale500]

Why not replace the sliders

The sliders for these boxes are stronger than the metal rails in the sides of the box that the sliders ride on.

 

[L.Cheapo]

As said by others, those were the light duty "homeowner" boxes of the time. I have a small stack my dad picked up VERY cheap on clearance, and it does the same thing, with very little weight in most drawers. I only keep seldom used tools in it. Thats just how it is.

I also have the "professional" stack from the same era, and it works fine to this day, and was used professionally for the first 6 years of its life. The bottom heavy drawers are just now starting to bind up. It was bought new for me for Xmas 1994.

 

[decableguy2000]

I had 2 sets of those. The slides are not going to be the issue. the guides in the cabinet are spreading open. You can squeeze them closed again but they open back up.

 

[JazzBlueRT]

The sliders for these boxes are stronger than the metal rails in the sides of the box that the sliders ride on.

The sliders would contain both parts. Aren't the rails riveted to the inside the box.

 

[Matthew3901]

So the rails are riveted to the box, and the friction slides will come out. here is a vid to show the problem! I am going to unload the box and reorganize it, maybe even shadow it with kaizen foam.

Thanks
Matt

 

[tonyciambrone]

I use a hammer, knipex pliers wrenches and a punch to close my rails back up. Then I put some heavy grease on the slides.

I had gotten a new toolbox or three by the time I did this, so I started using my old Craftsman cabinets to store Sandpaper, Grinding Discs, Microfiber Towels, Paintbrushes, Glue, Tape etc. All the lightweight consumables basically. You can also use them to store all your measuring and layout tools.

Not so good for sockets, wrenches etc.

 

[DGersic]

I have two 26" box stacks, and a workbench, all with drawers using this design. Currently trying to decide between replacing the boxes with HF, or replacing the slides with ball bearing. Bulk sets of 12" slides can be had for pretty cheap on Amazon. Mounting them to the box I think I can work out a way to do, probably back mounting and reusing part of the sheet metal side mount. It's the drawer that looks to be the hard part. The current slide is part of the drawer stamping, and is going to be in the way. Cutting it off would remove the top inch of the drawer side. Have a MIG welder, could be good practice on thin sheet metal. But seems like a lot of work to fix what is, basically, just a bad design.


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[tjmonsen5]

You are expecting too much from one of the cheapest boxes available. They are not designed to hold much.

 

[Infinia]

You are expecting too much from one of the cheapest boxes available. They are not designed to hold much.

yup
or said more succinctly > "it is what it is"! Sure you could modify it, then it's just gonna fail somewhere else. I suppose you could dump money and time into anything, but at the end of the day it's still gonna be a low end homeowner tool chest (good).
Keep it and supplement it with the black 4 drawer (better) or red 5 drawer (best) tool carts. either of those two can hold a surprising amount of heavy tools.
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