Anyone here ever made their own rolling tool chest

[MDK22]

I am wondering has anyone here ever made their own tool chest. If so how did you go about it and what is the best way.

I am contemplating doing it over buying one since I want a rather large box and I am a diesel mechanic. I also do not want to waste space like most off the truck boxes do. Basically I need about 72,000 - 96,000cu inches of storage space when all said and done. This means I am looking at a very hefty price tag otherwise.

A Macsimizer MB1900 series only has 47,156 cu in of storage. My current box is a Craftsman Industrial with 24,006 cu in and every drawer is about 3 layers thick. I cannot tell you how many times a day i have to dig to get to tools. Most of my tools are not in boxes and the stuff that is, the box is barely taking up any more room. I like having room on top of my tool box so i can work on things or put things on top of it while i take apart the stuff on the truck.

I would like to have a cabinet at one end and another add on on the other which even if you ad them is not going to be more then like 16,000 cu in. I have serious reservations on spending $16K+ to get something that just holds my tools and locks to keep them safe. I have recently started to have issues with respect of my tools and things walking till i say something and then reappearing.

So any advice or stories would be awesome.

 

[Ole Slewfoot]

I went opposite end of the spectrum from the $16000 tool mansion.
Visited a business that was gone under, on thing they were giving away was file cabinets. I chose a HON. Tossed the file holders in the scrap bin, laid it on its back and burned some reinforcement onto the bottom, then added some heavy casters.
It stands shoulder high, about 42 wide, and the slides blow my Crafty boxes out of the water. Obviously you still want some shallow drawers, but a 42,000ci of big ones can take some of the load off.

I think its this, or an earlier equivalent.
http://www.hon.com/Storage/Brigade/H694.aspx

 

[jimgood]

I have always thought about it, believing I can save money, but it's a lot of work and drawer slides are really expensive. And, if you design it wrong, it's not going to support the weight.

Do you have access to a shear or are you going to cut everything with hand tools? Do you have access to a box/pan brake or would you bend all the sheet by hand?

 

[JZHeyde]

I bought two HUGE lista style (nu-era) cabinets and made my own rolling base for them. This is my tool box, parts storage, etc box. It is in my garage and its most likely too big but I wanted to do it once and never have to do it again. I have about $2K total into the project not including my time. I never calculated the time I have into it but it was a fun project and I will NEVER have to do it again. If you want more pictures I can send you some but here are a couple of the pliers rack I made for it and one shot of the whole thing before I put the handles and locks on. It also has a 1/4" aluminum top on it so I can store stuff on top of it.









I also built another one from a lista work station that doubles as my small parts storage. This one has a 1/2" plate steel top and sits under my main work bench 99% of the time. Its a beast but comes in handy when you need a big table. It has a door that covers the parts storage now, just dont have any finished pictures.

 

[sberry]

Strip some stuff out you don't use regularly, move it elsewhere. I just took a couple 5 gallon buckets of stuff outa mine, some not used for a decade and I root thru it every day. Had a whole drawer of speed wrenches, havnt used one in 20 years if ever.

 

[LB-1911]

I am wondering has anyone here ever made their own tool chest. If so how did you go about it and what is the best way.

I am contemplating doing it over buying one since I want a rather large box and I am a diesel mechanic. I also do not want to waste space like most off the truck boxes do. Basically I need about 72,000 - 96,000cu inches of storage space when all said and done. This means I am looking at a very hefty price tag otherwise.

A Macsimizer MB1900 series only has 47,156 cu in of storage. My current box is a Craftsman Industrial with 24,006 cu in and every drawer is about 3 layers thick. I cannot tell you how many times a day i have to dig to get to tools. Most of my tools are not in boxes and the stuff that is, the box is barely taking up any more room. I like having room on top of my tool box so i can work on things or put things on top of it while i take apart the stuff on the truck.

I would like to have a cabinet at one end and another add on on the other which even if you ad them is not going to be more then like 16,000 cu in. I have serious reservations on spending $16K+ to get something that just holds my tools and locks to keep them safe. I have recently started to have issues with respect of my tools and things walking till i say something and then reappearing.

So any advice or stories would be awesome.

One recent build -

building my own tool box
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=255583

 

[joe49]

Does this count.

View media item 59310

 

[Ole Slewfoot]

Nice stuff ZJ, where do you get those brake feet?

 

[firworks]

toelesswelder did a big long thread building a box from scratch:
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=255583

Not sure if he ever finished it yet but it was pretty far a long last I checked. I think he was building drawers.