Anyone use Vidmar/Lista style cabinets for mechanic tools?

[Ultradog MN]

I just bought some Stanley Vidmar tool cabinets at an auction. Needed something better than the crappy ones I have for my machine shop tooling.
Probably could have gotten by with one for that and maybe one for hardware and miscellaneous but ended up with three of them.
The cabinets I have for my mechanic tools are also all ****. Masterforce, Craftsman, even one old Snap-On top box which ain't anything special.
Does anyone use a Lista or Vidmar type cabinet for their wrenches, sockets and mechanic stuff?
Thanks

 

[LXCam]

Ahh yup

Building my ultimate Lista work bench

This is going to be one of those pieces that some lucky sob 50yrs down the road finds, and is just speechless on how amazing and robust it is. Well done, keep the pics coming. +1 on more details of the locking bar for the rollaway, seems like the angle of the lower arm is backwards? But with...

www.garagejournal.com

 

[Nick Rivers]

Yes, picked up several of them. One of the short boxes has a tow bar for taking the box to aircraft on the flightline. Large wheels, Locking drawers, tow bar folds up against the side and secured with a quick release pin. Each Vidmar drawer fully extended can support 400 pounds. Actual roller bearings, rather than ball bearings lined up in a track. The inside dividers can be configured for left to right or front to back. I put some 1/4" aluminum plate on the tops of the shorter boxes. One supports a heavy Canedy-Otto vintage drill press for metal, the other one is for a 1956 Craftsman DP 100. The taller boxes sit on the floor for hold hand tools, fasteners, power tools, accessories, grinding/buffing wheels, die grinders and accessories, saws, hole punches, etc..

 

[66HertzClone]

The 3 cabinet is along the wall between the garage and the house, I have a 10' x 10' alcove on one side in my garage, did this to fill that space. There are 8 of those wall cabinets in there, the previous owner of the house left them behind, I was very pleased. I did move several of these from the wall between the garage and the house to the alcove and them put the Kem ignition cabinets I acquired during my time working in an auto parts store.

 

[Ultradog MN]

Man o man,
Some of you have some nice stuff!
Us po boys gotta make do.
These will be a nice upgrade tho.
Am scheduled to go pick them up Monday afternoon.

 

[Grant Gunderson]

I got a few …

And they are full!

I have two 16 drawer standard tall Listas. Two of the extra wide tall ones and 4 short Vidmars plus two more short wide Listas and a Tall Lista that I still need to clean and paint.

One of my socket drawers





I use a combination of Kaisen Foam and Toolbed.de for the foam.


Unlike Snapon, etc the more you load these up the better they feel.

While the Vidmars are very high quality my preference is the Listas. I think they are just a touch nicer.

 

[LXCam]

Oh nice…so here’s comes grant kicking in our teeth with his perfection

 

[Grant Gunderson]

Oh nice…so here’s comes grant kicking in our teeth with his perfection

I’m pretty envious of your bench!

 

[loganb]

You'll love them...far stronger and better performing than the conventional mechanics cabinets. I've got a couple in various uses but don't have a picture handy. Grant's drawer organization and layout makes me drool everytime and reminds me there is always more I can do.

If it's too heavy to load or no forklift available, especially on 60" tall units you can pull the drawers in 5 minutes or less, stack them all up, tip the cabinet on it's back into a truck then reload the drawers for transit. Pull all the drawers and slides and clean the **** off them and the rollers well, lube and put it back in service. Plus you never know what you'll find in the case under the bottom drawer...I've found some decent tools that fell out and got lost over the years!

 

[Shiftless]

I’m a home gamer with one first generation 40 inch U.S. General box. I used to think the high end SnapOn boxes were the smoothest but while touring an ultra precision machine shop I pulled on a heavily laden drawer in a Lista cabinet. I think it’s fair to describe that as a sensual experience.

 

[Ultradog MN]

By the way,
If any of you are tempted to feel envy toward a guy who just got some cool new tool cabinets...
I would have you consider the task it will be to transfer and try to organize the contents of my current boxes into the new ones - and throw a little pity my way.
It's just now dawning on me that this is going to take me a month or more.

 

[whateg01]

...even one old Snap-On top box which ain't anything special.

Oh man! From what I've read here, snap on, old or new, just can't be beat!

All of the military shops I visit have a ton or more (literally, those things are heavy!) of lista, vidmar, Stanley boxes and I have to carry a mop with me to get all the drool I leave behind. I keep watching for a deal but haven't found it yet. They are super nice, for sure. I can't imagine you won't be thrilled with them.

 

[LXCam]

By the way,
If any of you are tempted to feel envy toward a guy who just got some cool new tool cabinets...
I would have you consider the task it will be to transfer and try to organize the contents of my current boxes into the new ones - and throw a little pity my way.
It's just now dawning on me that this is going to take me a month or more.

You’ll get no sympathy here..



As a matter of fact, the beatings will continue until your morale improves.

 

[Sumboodie]

I have 2 a bench is on. They Hold random stuff like rags, wiring supplies, bolts, nuts, etc.


looked up new prices. Most of my vehicles haven't cost that much!

 

[Shiftless]

They Hold random stuff like rags…

Wow!
I keep my rags in a plastic milk crate on the floor and you keep them in a Lista /Vidmar class tool box drawer.

 

[AJHD]

@Grant Gunderson Well I'm jealous of just about everything in your post... the space, the cabinets, the organization, etc.

 

[rocksnstumps]

Wow!
I keep my rags in a plastic milk crate on the floor and you keep them in a Lista /Vidmar class tool box drawer.

Yep! Had the same reaction! Mine are in a metal bucket btw.

Been trying score some reasonable priced lista/vidmar cabinets at local auctions for about a year. Ok I'm also chee...ah frugal!

Did see some go semi reasonable in a small town plant closing auction....like 15 hr round trip two states away.

 

[Shiftless]

like 15 hr round trip two states away.

I drove further than that for a dozen bench vises.

 

[rocksnstumps]

Musta been a heck of a vise deal to do that. Was it Middleofnowhere, IA like I saw?

But I did find a great deal on some sliding door Lista floor cabinets. But those are obviously not the same appeal as the multiple drawer units and do **** up some room.

 

[Shiftless]

Musta been a heck of a vise deal to do that. Was it Middleofnowhere, IA like I saw?

It was actually Michigan but to be fair, my wife went along and we made a road trip vacation out of it.

 

[rocksnstumps]

Hah, now you got me remembering about another one of those plant closings right now that is in Michigan. But this pesky thing in the route called Lake Michigan to go around and Chicago makes it a lot longer trip. Besides, auction still ongoing so who knows if any deals to be had.

But yeah had me some Lista envy looking at above pictures.

 

[rsanter]

I use them for my specialty tools and machining tools

 

[GrayFlattop]

I have a few - the two purchased new were expensive, but I was able to configure them with exactly the drawer sizes needed and maximize the space I had for them.

Several years ago, I did pick up a well-used lista from a machine shop. Bringing it back to life took way more time than I expected. That it had a crappy coat of paint on top of the original, just made matters worse. Everything was stripped, primed and painted. The slides were a mess that took hours to clean, lube and repair. The end result is serviceable, but could be prettier. I’d never buy a heavily used one again unless it was really cheap, but ymmv. I’d rather spend my time differently.

I also have a tall Lyon drawer cabinet (similar to lista / Vidmar) - also from a machine shop- but in better condition. All I did was wipe it down and put it to work storing fasteners. Even with hundreds of pounds in each drawer, the drawers move with ease.

 

[tool_scrounge]

I like Lista, Vidmar, Lyon, when you can find them for cheap enough. In So Cal they are available on the used market, but often sold by dealers in well-used condition for top dollar. But if you look hard enough there are deals to be had. Years ago I purchased a Kennedy tool chest. I saw the seller had two Lyon mobile storage cabinets in storage in the garage. I inquired but they were not forsale. Four years later they finally show forsale. The 4 drawer shown and a similar 2 drawer for $400 for both. The butcher block tops were something I added from a scrap top I had around.

 

[Ultradog MN]

I like Lista, Vidmar, Lyon, when you can find them for cheap enough. In So Cal they are available on the used market, but often sold by dealers in well-used condition for top dollar. But if you look hard enough there are deals to be had. Years ago I purchased a Kennedy tool chest. I saw the seller had two Lyon mobile storage cabinets in storage in the garage. I inquired but they were not forsale. Four years later they finally show forsale. The 4 drawer shown and a similar 2 drawer for $400 for both. The butcher block tops were something I added from a scrap top I had around.

Like.
A small rolling box like that would be very handy.
Doing brakes on your car or truck?
Pull that right up by the fender and you'd have all the needed tools right there and never need to get up from your roll around mechanics stool.
PS,
Reminds me of an old girlfriend I had -
nice top.

 

[RichieP_MechE]

Big Lista fan here. I have 9, looking for at least 2 more to fill out the back wall. The only one purchased new is the dark blue one which is from their Technician Series (which is mostly the same as their standard cabinets aside from fancier looking casters, glossy paint, and a different style of push handle). The best deal was the 14 drawer one on the right, won it at an auction from a nearby pharmaceutical manufacturing company. It was full of electrical surplus parts. I managed to sell some of them on ebay and ended up making most of the money back on that purchase.

 

[1/4atatime]

I got a few …

And they are full!

I have two 16 drawer standard tall Listas. Two of the extra wide tall ones and 4 short Vidmars plus two more short wide Listas and a Tall Lista that I still need to clean and paint.

One of my socket drawers





I use a combination of Kaisen Foam and Toolbed.de for the foam.


Unlike Snapon, etc the more you load these up the better they feel.

While the Vidmars are very high quality my preference is the Listas. I think they are just a touch nicer.

Gosh dang!! Do you even use those things or are they for show? JK JK Very nice setup. I'm just happy with my US General Workbench I made and my 3d printed holders

 

[1/4atatime]

Wow!
I keep my rags in a plastic milk crate on the floor and you keep them in a Lista /Vidmar class tool box drawer.

I keep my rags in a harbor freight bucket lol this thread is calling me poor in about 1000 different ways

 

[Grant Gunderson]

Gosh dang!! Do you even use those things or are they for show? JK JK Very nice setup. I'm just happy with my US General Workbench I made and my 3d printed holders

Haha. I run a mountain bike suspension rebuilding service out of my garage, so it all gets used. By the nature of the work, I have to keep it clean and orderly in order to be efficient. I’m actually looking for a commercial spot to move the business into, and a 3D printer will be high on the list. Just no clue what one to buy, but I’ll want one large enough to do custom tool holders for my boxes, etc.

 

[Ultradog MN]

I just bought some Stanley Vidmar tool cabinets at an auction. Needed something better than the crappy ones I have for my machine shop tooling.
Probably could have gotten by with one for that and maybe one for hardware and miscellaneous but ended up with three of them.
The cabinets I have for my mechanic tools are also all ****. Masterforce, Craftsman, even one old Snap-On top box which ain't anything special.
Does anyone use a Lista or Vidmar type cabinet for their wrenches, sockets and mechanic stuff?
Thanks

I have the Stanley Vidmar boxes home and have spent a few days cleaning them up.
Getting ready to start loading them but would like to put drawer liners in some of them first.
and am wondering what you Lista, Vidmar, Lyon guys are using for that.
Most of the drawer liner stuff I see for sale is narrow for regular mechanic boxes and I'd have to splice it or piece it in. I hate to do that though I could as I got a Lot of dividers with the cabinets and could splice them under those. Also, These drawers are 25 1/2" X 25 1/2" inside so there would be a lot of waste.
Have 32 drawers and would like to line about half of them.
Oh, and I spent most of my tool alowance for the next 6 months on the cabinets and don't have a lot of $ left ;(
Would appreciate some ideas from you guys.

 

[senlow]

I like the liners from NSI: https://nsimaterialsgroup.com/

 

[66HertzClone]

I have the Stanley Vidmar boxes home and have spent a few days cleaning them up.
Getting ready to start loading them but would like to put drawer liners in some of them first.
and am wondering what you Lista, Vidmar, Lyon guys are using for that.
Most of the drawer liner stuff I see for sale is narrow for regular mechanic boxes and I'd have to splice it or piece it in. I hate to do that though I could as I got a Lot of dividers with the cabinets and could splice them under those. Also, These drawers are 25 1/2" X 25 1/2" inside so there would be a lot of waste.
Have 32 drawers and would like to line about half of them.
Oh, and I spent most of my tool alowance for the next 6 months on the cabinets and don't have a lot of $ left ;(
Would appreciate some ideas from you guys.

I bought a roll of yoga mat material, it's 24" in width so the drawer depth is a perfect fit for my cabinets. Sorry, I couldn't find the link to the one I purchased.

 

[C.L S2000]

Gosh dang!! Do you even use those things or are they for show? JK JK Very nice setup. I'm just happy with my US General Workbench I made and my 3d printed holders

That is a nice wooden topper you have on your bench, did you make it? or purchase ?

I keep looking for either a nice butcher block topper for my boxes or SS topper but not sure want to spend that much $$$ on a custom SS topper.

 

[pcmeiners]

Have 13 Vidmar cabinets, mostly 60" cabinets. Have all my 600 piece socket/wrench/screw driver set in one 40" high cabinet. If you plan to use a cabinet for heavy tools such as sockets( hundreds of them) I highly recommend using a full length drawer divider to stiffen the drawers, installed in either direction, especially with drawer wider than 27". If you use bins Akro bins are more durable than Shaller bins for larger bins. All my units have wheels, be careful to get quality wheels with a very high load capacity per wheel.

you can pull the drawers in 5 minutes or less, stack them all up, tip the cabinet on it's back into a truck then reload the drawers for transit.

That what I did with one cabinet, locked it, but the lock did not hold, had multiple draws laying in the street...do not trust the Vidmar/Lista locks. Without the drawers in the cabinets one man can tip them over onto a pickup truck bed and get them onto the pickup bed. It is easier if you have 2x6s or 2x8" to sled them onto a pickup bed with a wool blanket ( UHaul blanket), the wool lets the cabinet slide like Teflon, unlike other blanket materials . Definitely line the drawers with durable material.

 

[1/4atatime]

That is a nice wooden topper you have on your bench, did you make it? or purchase ?

I keep looking for either a nice butcher block topper for my boxes or SS topper but not sure want to spend that much $$$ on a custom SS topper.

I bought a 96in butcher block countertop and then stained it

 

[Ultradog MN]

Went to Menards yesterday and found a couple of indoor/outdoor area rugs.They were an odd size 6'5" x 9'7"
Made in Eqypt of all places.
My drawers are 25 1/2 x 25 1/2. If you do the math you can get 12 drawer liners out of each one with only a ~12"x6'5" strip wasted.
Cool!
I also finished modifying the bases the cabinets sit on so I can slip my pallet jack under them to move them. I will prime and paint the new bases up to the blue tape where theres already a factory seam.
Lastly, Im a sucker for color I guess. Saw this matching cabinet on FB marketplace so I bought it pretty reasonable. I will modify the base like the others and use it for my heavy lathe chucks, mill and drill vices, rotary table, vee blocks, angle plates and other related stuff.
I'm really grooving on this and making progress.
They will use up a lot of shop space but by consolidating Everything into these 4 cabinets I will actually Gain some space by getting rid of the hodge podge of mostly crappy cabinets I have now.

 

[pcmeiners]

Would appreciate some ideas from you guys.

Yes the drawers are 27" but most roll material is 24", I found some 30" liner at Home Depot, cut it down to 27". Check Lowes and Home Depot in the rug department, believe my material was thin floor runner stuff, have not done it in years so not sure what is available. Make sure it is thin.
Just a warning, mice and chipmunks make condos out of the drawers they like Akrobins the most, maybe cover the holes in the cabinet bottoms with tin or something.
As a safety warning be careful how many filled drawers you open at one time these cabinets could become deadly. Watch kids if they become interested in opening drawers. Only had one cabinet tip partially over years back.

 

[Ultradog MN]

Thanks.
Yes, they can tip over!!
I pushed one of the tool boxes I'm replacing against the wall to get it out of my way.
Floor wasn't level there. It was fine for a couple of days untill I opened 2 drawers at the same time.
Then I had an avalanche. All the drawers started opening faster than I could close them and the whole thing tipped over - top and bottom boxes together.
Fell on me. Tore my pants, broke my belt buckle and skinned up my shin. And I still think I was darned lucky...
One reason I Iike putting everything on skids and using the pallet jack rather than casters is I can slip a small piece of 1/4" plate under the front of the skids before I set it down.
That 1/4 inch "back lean" makes a huge difference.

 

[whateg01]

You can put shims under casters too.

 

[GrayFlattop]

Most newer cabinets of this style incorporate a locking mechanism to allow only one drawer to be opened at time. It can be a PITA at times, but considering that your outcome could have been much worse…