A Different Place to Look for a Tool Box

[kbs2244]

I don’t know how many of you are auction junkies.
I am.
At our last county equipment auction, where they get rid of stuff they no longer need or want to store, or want to fool with, there were a bunch of what were listed as “Map Cabinets”
They were about 40 inches wide, 40 inches high, and had a series of 3 or 4 inch high drawers. Nice ball bearing type drawers.
They came from the map department of the assessors office where they held the big books of maps of everybody in the county’s lot layout.
But with everything getting computerized, they did not need paper maps anymore.
They sure looked like tool drawers to me.
I have enough and had to have the wife keep me out of the auction hall when they got to them.
I have since seen the same cabinets called “drawing cabinets” at industrial auctions.
They would keep blueprints in them.
You might want to read the auction section of your local paper, or get on a few mailing lists.
Auction Co.s seem to specialize.
Find the right one and you might save a bunch.

 

[russlaferrera]

Great suggestion. As we all know, the Govt. buys good stuff with our money. Most of us could never afford to get equipment of that grade except, for free or used.

 

[Stuart in MN]

Remember that map drawers are usually pretty deep as well, the ones we have here in my office are 33 inches from front to back. That makes for a good size workbench top, but they may or may not fit in the space you have available.

The state of Minnesota has a website where they run auctions for surplus equipment, including stuff like this as well as tools, old DOT trucks and state trooper cars, impounded vehicles, etc. I'm sure other states have similar setups.

 

[Jose Cuervo]

I usually check http://www.govliquidation.com/index.html for US military auctions. They often list anything from tools to palettes of empty ammo cans.

 

[hamburglar]

I suppose that pattern cabinets (from fabric stores) are another source.

My own prejudice, not based on side by side comparisons, is that name brand tool chests are all vastly overpriced compared to what you can buy for industrial use (Lista, etc.) or the cabinets mentioned in this thread.