Fabricating a Snap-On KRL1099PBO 'like' toolbox out of the shell of a Harbor Freight

BreeStephany · Dec 10, 2016

I have been really liking the look of Snap-On's powerbank system KRL1099PBO, but I can't justify the $1600 price tag for a side box to go on a toolbox I paid less than a $1000 for.

I know there is a TON of difference between Snap-On and Harbor Freight, but I just can't justify spending that much money on a chest when it can be better spent on the quality tools themselves.

I know this is not the same depth as a Snap-On, but I think it will do what I need. My plan is to buy a Harbor Freight 7 drawer side box, remove all the drawers, reuse 4 of the slides, 1 of the pull rails and then to use 16ga. steel tubing, Triton Lochook steel peg board and sheet metal to fabricate a new drawer like the one in the KRL1099PBO.

Once I get everything mocked up, fitted, welded and prepped for paint, I am going to paint it with Seymour Safety Red Enamel paint, which seems to be an almost exact match to the Harbor Freight red.

The wiring portion is pretty easy to figure out. I'm going to put in an IEC C13 male plug on the back of the box and hard wire it into a power strip mounted on the drawer and then to use some din rail wiring duct for cord management of all of my battery chargers within the cabinet.

With some slight modifications, I should be able to use Snap-On's powerbank accessories for hanging my tools, or worse case, I fabricate my own.

I've figured out my cost to fabricate, and even with a lot of room for error, I'm in it for about $500, which is about $1100 less than the snap-on box WITH my student discount of 50% off; or the price of my current tool box.

Would love input, ideas, suggestions... even if its just to say that I'm crazy.

I am sure I am going to get some hate from the Snap-On guys, but that's to be expected when putting anything Harbor Freight and Snap-On in any kind of comparison.

SteveL · Dec 21, 2016

I look forward to the end results. I'm on your side as I could never justify the cost of Snap On for a home shop and have been very happy with my early '90s Craftsman tool chest and Husky cabinets. I can understand it somewhat if you will make a living from using your tools but even then there are a number of more cost effective options.

Make sure and post pictures!

JAKE-THE-TOOL-MAN · Dec 22, 2016

Tuning in for this, sounds like a cool build.

cbacres · Dec 22, 2016

Somewhere here Ive seen the Rust Oleum red spray was a good match, just can't remeber where. It is a little slow drying, but a great finish when it does.

Can't blame ya for embarking on this, I'm sure it'll turn out fine.

buckwheat_la · Dec 22, 2016

I am just finishing up my own box as I was in the same boat and didn't want to buy a $10 000+ box Good luck with your build

scheu · Dec 22, 2016

I'll be watching this thread. I REALLY want a KRL1099PBO. But not at the price...

PelicanPines · Dec 22, 2016

I'm in to see how this turns out... Pictures... I love pictures and Links... this thread is looking like i'm going to love this project.

Richard Cranium · Dec 22, 2016

please post up lots of pictures.
Many of us are following along.
good luck,
Many of us don't care what the name starts out as, What counts is how functional it is when you are finished.
Remember lots of pictures.

BreeStephany · Dec 22, 2016

View media item 66085Here is the basis of the project, a Harbor Freight 7 drawer 18" side cabinet, which I plan to attach to the side of my current 72" roller.

I essentially bought this for the outside frame, one of the drawer pulls and the slides. This cost me $190, but for what I got out of it, I think it was a good starting purchase for the project.

View media item 66089I started the project with gutting the box. After removing all of the drawers, I selected 2 top slides, a center slide and 2 bottom slides on the left and 2 bottom slides on the right of the box which I would be keeping to slide the drawer in and out.

I drilled out the rivets on the slides I didn't need and then began working on the drawer.

First I fabricated the left or "back" panel of the drawer out of 16ga. steel, then used a sheet metal brake to bend the back lip and then a square sheet metal punch to cut out the slots for the slides. After initial installation, I had to "fine tune" the holes either up or down with the punch to get the slides properly aligned.

View media item 66091 View media item 66092I fabricated the bottom pan and right side plate as one piece and then fabricated the back plate as its own. I used 16ga. 1x1 tubing for the front frame and then 16ga 3x1 tubing for the tool rest. My original plan was to have the drag chain rest inside of the 3x1" channel, so I cut the back plate and made the back of the plate open, however, once the drag chain arrived, I discovered that it was too large to fit, so I decided to scrap that idea and instead continued decided to place the drag chain under the tool rest plate which will go under the tool rest and span to the left side plate.

View media item 66093All tack welded up

View media item 66095 View media item 66096 View media item 66097 View media item 66098 View media item 66099I used an 80 grit flap wheel to grind down my welds to a smooth finish and to get most surfaces 'paint ready'.

View media item 66100I purchased a 125v AC to 12V DC LED lighting driver off of Amazon to provide 12v to my USB charger. The adapter was designed to be a wall adapter, however, after looking at the pictures online, I was pretty certain I would be able to rewire it to be hard wired.

View media item 66101I took apart the AC adapter, cut off the slotted pins and then pulled them out. I took the back plate to a belt sander and sanded down the raised section where the power plug was so that I could mount it flush..

View media item 66102I then removed the circuitry from the case, drilled a 3/8" hole in the case and installed a rubber grommet in the case. I used 14ga. wire to provide leads, then soldered it to the existing leadings, added heatshrink and then used a zip tie to prevent the cable from being pulled out of the case.

I reassembled the adapter and then applied headshrink tubing to the leads coming out of the adapter.

View media item 66103I used a dremel with a cut off wheel and a jig saw with a metal blade to cut out the holes for the IEC plug power inlet and USB charger.

View media item 66104I used stainless 8-32 fasteners to secure the power inlet to the case. I ran the bottom screw longer as I will use this screw as my grounding point.

View media item 66105I made the wiring harness out of 14ga. wire and heatshrink to wire the power inlet to the power switch and then to the driver. I made a lead which I dropped down the back of the cabinet which will connect to a power strip inside of the drawer.

View media item 66106USB ports powered and working.

I still have to bend the tray for the tool holder and the lower shelf, but don't have access to a sheetmetal brake until next week so the project is kind of on hold until them.

Right now, I am contemplating whether to get it powder coated or whether I should just spray it in a good primer and then paint it with a high solids industrial enamel paint. Input would be greatly appreciated.

buckwheat_la · Dec 22, 2016

Great job

Oldgloryfirearms · Dec 22, 2016

you wasted no time!! looks great!!

2ndGearRubber · Dec 22, 2016

Brilliant, looks great!

MattVette89 · Dec 22, 2016

Wow, that is really impressive!

555 · Dec 22, 2016

Excellent job! Can't wait to see the finished cabinet.
Regards,
John

risc · Dec 22, 2016

Your USB port has a 12V to 5V converter built in, right? :shocking:

machine_punk · Dec 23, 2016

Very nicely done! If it wasn't for the shipping costs, I'd ask what you are doing with all those drawers.

The HF 7-drawer side box is definitely worth the nearly $200 it costs.

Kev

BreeStephany · Dec 23, 2016

risc said:
Your USB port has a 12V to 5V converter built in, right?

Yeah, the charger ports are designed to be used in a car, so they accept 12v and then step it down internally to 5v.

Ohmthis · Dec 23, 2016

You really thought this out. Great job on the fab work!!! What are you doing for a door? It would be cool if you cut all of the drawer fronts off and welded them to a piece of plate. It would look like a stock box..........Until you pulled on a drawer!

Mr_B · Dec 23, 2016

Looks good and should work great and be in budget
seems good sense keep box cost minimal & put investment in tools. those boxes can last some while with bit of care & easily fixed/tweaked/improved if needed.
Think I would use good primers and solid top coat. Would be easier get match in color and finish plus cheap and easy retouch should it get marked at some point .

dirt_dobber · Dec 23, 2016

great job - love your welding skills.

BreeStephany · Dec 23, 2016

Ohmthis said:
You really thought this out. Great job on the fab work!!! What are you doing for a door?!

I have a piece of 18ga. steel which will cover the entire opening that I have bent to the contour of the fronts of the doors. I'm just waiting to get access to a brake next week so I can finish up the shelves in the cabinet and then I will be welding the front on.

Kind of on the fence about whether to just weld it on with some good tack welds or if I should weld on tabs and use a spot welder to weld it on. I know that the welds will hold, I am just really concerned about the potential for blow through and distortion which would be a lot less likely to happen with spot welds.

Thoughts?

JAKE-THE-TOOL-MAN · Dec 23, 2016

It's turning out great! If it's in the budget, my vote is for powder coat the same color as your main box

kkroger · Dec 24, 2016

BreeStephany said:
I have a piece of 18ga. steel which will cover the entire opening that I have bent to the contour of the fronts of the doors. I'm just waiting to get access to a brake next week so I can finish up the shelves in the cabinet and then I will be welding the front on.

Kind of on the fence about whether to just weld it on with some good tack welds or if I should weld on tabs and use a spot welder to weld it on. I know that the welds will hold, I am just really concerned about the potential for blow through and distortion which would be a lot less likely to happen with spot welds.

Thoughts?

I would spot tabs on the edges then weld those to the drawer frame... Keep the welds off the front surface... personally. then I would powder coat the entire assembly Harbor Freight Red powder. (granted I have access to powder coat equipment.

gearhead1 · Dec 24, 2016

Nice work! That looks absolutely great!

BreeStephany · Dec 24, 2016

kkroger said:
I would spot tabs on the edges then weld those to the drawer frame... Keep the welds off the front surface... personally. then I would powder coat the entire assembly Harbor Freight Red powder. (granted I have access to powder coat equipment.

Yeah, that is my thought as well, I think trying to weld on 18ga. would just show through way too much, so spot welding it is.

I will probably go with powder coating, and can probably get it done for less than $100.

AZ Pete · Dec 24, 2016

Very nice!

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

BreeStephany · Dec 29, 2016

I made a little more progress on the box yesterday.

View media item 66392I bent up the shelf which will hold the power tools. My plan is to take my hydraulic punch and punch out circle in which each individual tool will sit.

View media item 66393
View media item 66394
View media item 66395
View media item 66396Both upper and lower shelves are welded in place.

View media item 66397
View media item 66398I welded tabs to the face off the cabinet which will be used to spot weld the face to cabinet drawer.

View media item 66399Test fitting the drawer after welding in the shelves. Everything is still square and fits well.

View media item 66400
View media item 66402
View media item 66403I cut a hole in the back of the cabinet right below the lower shelf that the drag chain for the power strip will pass through. I didn't want this passage way to be a wear point, so I cut a piece of 1" wide 16ga tubing using a cold cut blade on a table saw and then used the table saw to miter the corners.

View media item 66404
View media item 66412
View media item 66413
View media item 66415I test fit the cabinet front and noticed that the top bend was quite noticeably out of square to the face. I have enough sheet metal left that I will re-fabricate the face.

rsanter · Dec 29, 2016

That has turned out great. Looks like an easy job for someone with tons of fabrication skills and access to the right equipment.

I would think about saving that front by cutting off the top flange, making a replacement piece and welding it back on straight

Bob

f150skidoo · Dec 29, 2016

Definitely a cool project.

Hammer1963 · Dec 29, 2016

Simply put ........ Impressive!

BreeStephany · Dec 29, 2016

rsanter said:
I would think about saving that front by cutting off the top flange, making a replacement piece and welding it back on straight

Bob

I was considering it, but I would like to keep the front as seam free and straight as possible, which I think welding would significantly adversely affect. I am considering trying to work out the bend on a brake and then rebending it, and if that doesn't work, it wouldn't be too hard to shear a new piece and bend it up correctly.

I think the main issue was that I used a regular sharpie for making my bend lines, which probably accounts for a significant enough inaccuracy to make the line appear visibility off. I will definitely be investing in some fine tip sharpies for marking it up in the future.

Duker · Dec 30, 2016

Had to hit subscribe as this is an interesting project! Of course my off kilter brain started to wrestle with the concept of... is it out of the box thinking when you are working inside the box.....?

Looking forward to see the completed project.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Southernbuild · Dec 30, 2016

Looking good :beer:

Can't wait to see the finished product!

BreeStephany · Jan 4, 2017

Made a little more progress on the cabinet.

View media item 66743I did some slight tweaks to the door and ended up getting the door pretty much square to the cabinet.

View media item 66744
View media item 66745
I still have to spot weld the cabinet face to tabs on the cabinet body, punch holes for tools in the tool tray and drill holes for the rivnuts used to hold the screws to secure the power strip to the cabinet. Once that is done, it will finally be ready for powder coating.

Robert Haas · Jan 4, 2017

Such a great Idea

tvtaurus · Jan 8, 2017

Had to subscribe to see the finished product. Excellent fabrication skills.

PelicanPines · Jan 8, 2017

HF should contact OP and offer a contract... 10,000 unit order first month.

CDNflatlander · Jan 8, 2017

Great job of makin it work, within a budget, and getting the anticipated end results!
Thanks for taking us along.
Cheers
Greg

Kent_B · Jan 8, 2017

PelicanPines said:
HF should contact OP and offer a contract... 10,000 unit order first month.

Sweet Jesus! That's a great amount of product. OP should consider running her own fab shop. Great skills!

555 · Jan 8, 2017

Great job!
Subscribed

Fabricating a Snap-On KRL1099PBO 'like' toolbox out of the shell of a Harbor Freight

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