Welder/ Metal Fabricator's Toolbox

Here is my main box. My work involves a lot of different facets, I am primarily a welder and metal fabricator, but I have to be able to be a machinist, sheetmetal man, mechanic, pipefitter, and maintenance guy. I work out a shop by myself, but share the space with a select few guys.

These are mostly my mechanics tools. My machinist tools are mostly in other boxes, and my welding stuff is littered about the shop. I am moving to a new building soon, and when I do, I will share the rest. Welding table build, welding cart build, ect. Sound good?


Overall by jacobb14, on Flickr

I don't like sockets taking up drawers, so I use the top. One of my mentors kept his box this way, and I found I really like it.


Sockets by jacobb14, on Flickr

Here are my pens and markers, and some of my commonly used layout tools. My 6" dial calipers appear to be out and about at the moment.


iphone photo dump december 2013 1218 by jacobb14, on Flickr

Next down is the screwdriver drawer on the right, and some misc. common tooling on the left. There are random drill bits, taps, solder, heat shrinks, a bunch of stuff I should probably sort into one of my machinist boxes. I guess its a holdover from when I worked out of this box exclusively and didn't have room for any other boxes.


Screwdrivers by jacobb14, on Flickr

Next down are all my hex wrenches and sockets. I have a variety of different ball end stuff, because I deal with a lot of SHCS fasteners, and the ball end is the cats ***. Torx and various adapters live here, along with a couple of sockets that don't fit up top. Adjustables and pipe wrenches hang out on the left.


iphone photo dump december 2013 1220 by jacobb14, on Flickr

Next down are most of my wrenches. Standard on the right and metric on the left. Mostly snappy with some blackhawk, napa, gearwrench, sk and cornwell mixed in.


Wrenches by jacobb14, on Flickr

That ends the top chest. Between the top and bottom is a 1/2" thick steel plate I laser cut to fit. This is from when I didn't have a top chest, and I had a vise bolted to the box. Now it just is weight. Don't really need it anymore, but I might end up with another one of these boxes someday, and its as good a place to store it as any.

Bottom box.

Here is the top drawer, the pliers and vise grips. I keep all my 11SP style clamps, c clamps and bar clamps at the welding table, so I don't need to take up drawer space with them.


iphone photo dump december 2013 1222 by jacobb14, on Flickr

Next down is the files and some wire brushes. I am on purpose leaving some room to grow here, as I plan on purchasing a bunch more files. I use files a lot.


Files Drawer by jacobb14, on Flickr

Next down is the hammer drawer. Like I said before, my job has a lot of requirements, therefore the diverse hammer selection. One day I might be framing in a wall, the next I might be demo-ing a wall. Most of my hammers are metalworking hammers, and I plan to get some more body hammers.


iphone photo dump december 2013 1224 by jacobb14, on Flickr

Next drawer down is the punches/chisels and prybar drawer. Dollies and shaping tools also live here. This is one of my favorite drawers, because I can usually pull something out of here to get myself out of a jam. I also have a selection of copper blocks for backing up welds with less than ideal fitup.


iphone photo dump december 2013 1225 by jacobb14, on Flickr

Next down is my medium size misc. drawer. There used to be a lot more **** in here, but I moved it to other boxes. Snap ring pliers, rethreading kit, hole saws, other stuff without a good home.


iphone photo dump december 2013 1226 by jacobb14, on Flickr

Next down are my air tools. I hate changing tools in die grinders, so i just bought a bunch of them and leave them permanently chucked up with commonly used tools. I do have to change carbide burrs more often than I'd like, but that's life. BTW, for the money, Astro Pneumatic makes a great little die grinder.


Air Tool Drawer by jacobb14, on Flickr

At the bottom is reserved for some power tools, and large stuff that doesn't fit well anywhere else. 3/4" impact wrench, 2" end wrench, drills, ect. I used to keep my 7" metabo grinder and all my cordless stuff in here too, but i since moved that stuff to other parts of the shop.


Misc Large Objects by jacobb14, on Flickr

I keep a face shield and a welding helmet on the side for quick access. The orange FabFarm bracket is designed to hold Rags in a Box, but I have been using it for my charger and anti- seize. I need to pick up a box on my next trip to menards....


Right Side by jacobb14, on Flickr


And that's my main box. When I get the shop moved I'll do a tour of the rest of my stuff. I think you guys will dig the welding table.

That's a lot of tools. Very handy.

Are those Niagara bull dog snips?

TinKnocker said:

Are those Niagara bull dog snips?

Click to expand...

No, they are Blue Bird 012 snips. I assume you are talking about the blue ones, not the aviation snips. Very handy for when I'm working with sheet aluminum cuts it like butter.

It's been a few years, so much has changed. I just took some photos of my tools at work for the insurance man, so i figured I'd update this thread.

The box and tools shown above now resides in my shop where I have my business. When I separated my machinery and tools from the old shop and into the new digs, I discovered I hated having one set of tools. I always wanted some tool I had at work, and if it was at work, I would need it at my shop. So I broke down and bought a duplicate set of my most used tools. Having a day job, and running a business can really be a pain in the ***, but right now, it works.

Anyway, this is my work toolbox. It is outfitted so I can roll it around the plant with me and work on whatever fresh hell my co-workers have managed to come up with. My job description hasn't changed much. I do mostly welding, pipefitting, fabrication and machining. I also have a Knaack jobsite box that holds a welder, cords and hoses, tristand and a pipe stand or two.

Starting with the box itself. Snap-On KR1000. Best box they ever made, IMO. Built like a tank, gobs of storage, heavy duty mother. I picked it up used of the snappy truck a few years ago, and have been in love ever since. Why they stopped making this box is a mystery to me.



Anyway, up top I have the 1/2" steel plate that was in between my old top and bottom boxes. I use it like a welding table in the plant. You can see how much bigger the KR1000 is than my old heritage box. I have a 2-1/2" tube fitted to the side, and as such I can use any of my tools that are on a 2" tube for the welding table or what have you. I usually have a small vise here. In this case I have a 3" Wilton, which seems to be about the right size for a mobile rig.



In the top left I keep some measuring and layout tools. Squares, mics, calipers, indicators, and misc gages. Just your standard, pedestrian machinist tools. If the work gets too fancy, I sub it to my shop so I don't need more than the basics at work.



Over to the right is a very busy drawer. I'm in here all the time. Most used stuff includes a file, ground strap, taps and countersinks, and Vari-bits.



The screwdriver/other pointy bit drawer. Snap-on makes my favorite screwdrivers, so yeah. Standard with the hard handles, cabinet with the instinct.



The wrench drawer. I have a mish-mash of brands in here. I seem to manage to wrench without them all matching. Dunno how. The 24" Ridgid in the back comes out way too often for my taste. Glad I have it though.



This drawer is very task specific, but its a task I do so much it gets a home all to itself. These are all parts for purging and welding sanitary pipe. In here I have cut blocks for 1", 1.5", 2" and 3" tube, and all the fittings, clamps, gaskets, and tools to hook into an argon cylinder to purge the pipe. I also have spool pieces so I can spin small parts in the tristand while welding.



Continuing on with the top to bottom left to right theme, here is the socket/drive tool drawer. Another mixture of brands, whatever I could get my hands on when I needed them. Blue-Point, SK, Matco, Williams, Snap-On, Mac, Proto, and Craftsman are all representing.




This is the "change in movement" drawer. Either its stuck and needs to move, or moves and shouldn't. Tape, Kroil, safety wire, anti-seize, pipe dope, and other stuff I don't want to chase down when I need it. The aluminum foil is used making strange purge dams. It can take a lot of heat, where tape with melt or burn.



Hammers and pipe tools here. Nothing unusual.



Clamps and vise-grips. I'd keep more with me, but I don't have the room, and this gets me by ok.



Pliers, snips, punches and chisels, prybars, that kind of thing lives here. I'm in here a lot too. Mostly after some kind of plier.




This is another fun drawer. My copper heat sinks live here. I hoard all the little drops of plate and bar so I can make spoons and other shapes for welding things with holes or bad fitup. Sometimes, this can make or break a job. Thin stainless doesn't like gaps or holes. I typically have to make my work sanitary, so the less work I have to do finishing the better off I am. When the guys smack a hole in a tank or something, these are awesome.

Other MRO stuff is in here too, zip ties, gloves, soldering stuff, and some rigging tools.



I admit, this drawer is kind of a mess. The theme here is "powered rotary". Drills, die grinders, drill indexes, impact wrenches, stuff like that.



The bottom left is my PPE drawer. Gloves, welding helmets, face shield, welding caps, earmuffs, ect. This is also the only drawer where my angle plate would fit. I use it for fitting up pipe elbows at right angles a lot.



This drawer is kind of a home for misfit toys. No real theme here other than "it doesn't really fit anywhere else". Bosch Bulldog SDS rotary hammer in the case, Swagelok tube bender, tungsten sharpener, my laser level, and the little box in the top left is full of various extractors. The electric die grinder, a couple spare flowmeters and my indicator base round out the mix.



The last drawer is mostly power tools. The red case in the back is my 1/2" Hole Shooter. The Metabo box is my 6" angle grinder. A high RPM drill and the portaband finish out the power tools. There's also a car break in kit on the bottom. You would not believe how common it is in this company for people to lock their keys in their car. I got tired of using a coat hanger and wood wedge and just bought the kit.



Thanks for looking.

Awesome set up Clyde, I used to have the same issue and had a set at the shop and a set in the work truck.

Time for the 2018 edition of the toolbox tour. Another year, another set of pictures. This is mostly my shop box now. I brought my service cart into work to keep in the plant. I'll try to remember to grab some pictures of the cart and what's in there.

Box itself is essentially unchanged. Still the same KR1000

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Top left has added a few sets of dividers, an indicator or two, but is generally still the same.




Top right drawer hasn't changed much. Added a few rotobroaches and a few of my pipefitting tools are in the service cart now.



The screwdriver drawer has seen some action. I added a set of torx drivers. Found a set of orange cabinet tip long screwdrivers, so I took the instinct handled ones to my shop. I also bought a new set of bits and took my silver sunex case to my shop.



The wrench drawer has seen a few upgrades as well. I got a brand new set of Wrightgrip wrenches in exchange for some welding on a boat, so those were made the primary set of inch wrenches. The Proto set became second tier, and the Cman went to the home box. I also found a set of Mac Knucklesavers used for a good deal, so they sent the metric Cman set home too. A few other misc. adjustables and tap wrenches were added as well.



I moved all my sanitary pipe tools to another hand toolbox now. I keep that in my Knaack. Instead this drawer has some misc. stuff in it. I got these very nice Wiha T-handle hex wrenches; they live in here. I also added a power probe butane torch. All the extra fittings for my tool board is in here too.

The next drawer is was the socket drawer. I decided to try out this Matco tool organization board. I can't say as I love it. It keeps the ratchets and whatnot from bouncing aound, but it's not a great use of space. The drawers in the KR1000 aren't deep enough to use this thing for sockets. Which it probably would work great for.



The drawer of aerosols hasn't changed much.



Added a few pipe wrenches.



Clamp drawer has seen a few new c-clamps, and a couple different vise grips.



Added a set of files, and a few different kinds of pliers. Hiding under all the smaller ones is the biggest set of cobras Knipex makes. The blue pouch has a set of gasket punches in it.




The company finally bought a rotary hammer, so I can take mine home. I also added a set of extractors, a re-threading kit, and a cheap DeWalt grinder that I can use one handed.



The rest of the box hasn't changed much. Just a few odds and ends.

Do you roll your box around much or does it sit mostly stationary?...that can make a really big difference having a loaded box and sometimes not the greatest concrete.

I don't move it unless I have to. Less so now that I brought in my service cart. Our floors are pretty good, so it's not bad for the casters. If I need to move it between buildings I pick it up and move it with a forklift.

Nice selection.