Anyone Using Drafting Cabinets?

[nolimits76]

I have an opportunity to pick up some of these. The guy I am talking to has about 40 sets of them. Each one measures roughly 18" tall x 32" deep x 43" wide. He wants $40 per cabinet, which seems reasonable.

I currently have 2 sets of 44" HF cabinets for my tools, but thinking about snagging a couple of these units to use as parts cabinets.

If you got'm show off some pictures of how you've configured them to be useful.

 

[Miss_Sissy]

I like the idea, but be aware that the drawers are probably not made to hold as much weight as toolbox drawers. You might have to limit what you put in them and maybe even line the bottom with hardboard if the sheet metal deflects too much under load.

I still think it's a great idea to snag a couple at $40 each. Go for it.

 

[rlitman]

$40 is a you **** price! Go buy some so we can remind you that you ****.

Even nicer than those cabinets BTW is the tanker desk you can see the side of in the second picture.

 

[nine4gmc]

Actually Fred, they can usually hold more weight than an average tool box. Reems of blueprint paper is pretty heavy. I built one into a lathe bench and the drawers hold all my lathe tooling. Pics are in my projects thread in my signature below.

Nolimits, search map or blueprint cabinet here and see all the people using them. Also, for $40 each, YOU ****!! I'd buy them all at that price...

 

[ADSR]

you'd be crazy not to take all of them and the tanker desk.

lol, please buy them!

 

[Miss_Sissy]

Actually Fred, they can usually hold more weight than an average tool box. Reems of blueprint paper is pretty heavy. I built one into a lathe bench and the drawers hold all my lathe tooling.

I've worked at a firm that had them for C and D-size blueprints. The were were not nearly so strong. It seemed that they really relied on the equal distribution of weight one would get with paper. They didn't even have ball bearing drawer slides. I'm sure that they vary. Just something to be aware of.

 

[RivennHewn]

$40?

Buy them and resell at twice the price.

 

[nolimits76]

Thanks for the heads up guys, much appreciated. I will go ahead and secure some of them tomorrow. By the way, if I buy 10+ then I will **** even more...as he is willing to drop the price to $35/each!

I do have some space I could temporarily store 10 units. Might be worth it and then just sell what I don't use. What do these normally cost? If I can re-sell for enough cash, this might be the incentive I need to secure some epoxy or race deck tiles.

FYI, I also noticed the tanker. I actually have one in my office right now that looks very similar. The paint on mine is a little better, and mine is a little bigger at a little over 6' long x 3' wide. Best of all, the price was right -- free! My work just let me have it. They thought I was crazy in the head for wanting it so bad. Then my buddy thought I was crazy for asking him to help me move it as we nearly broke our backs, lol.

 

[Doug B]

.... By the way, if I buy 10+ then I will **** even more...as he is willing to drop the price to $35/each!

Watch it! Bordering on self-suckage there...

I would buy them all if you can. I think $100 each would not be out of line for resale

 

[BearsFan315]

Wow, They are great items, we have tons of them here at work and STILL full of drawings !!

Can store all kinds of goodies in there !! I know the mayline we looked at a few years back were hundreds of dollars a PIECE !!

 

[zcar751]

I picked up one and built a work bench around it for my wifes stain glass hobie. She keeps tools and patterns in it.

 

[McLean]

Always wanted some of these, but up here in the PNW they usually go for $200-500. I'd try to offer 1k for the lot and make some serious cash!

 

[ADSR]

Always wanted some of these, but up here in the PNW they usually go for $200-500. I'd try to offer 1k for the lot and make some serious cash!

I'm in the same neck of the woods just across the water. 150$/each is the norm around here.

 

[blacksporty]

I just got one for free and still trying to figure out how I am going to use it, takes up a lot of space, very heavy....time to reorganize the garage to make it work.

 

[catch2otwo]

I'm in the same neck of the woods just across the water. 150$/each is the norm around here.

$150 is too much for those now-a-days. No one in that industry really uses paper anymore. Demand is pretty low especially for the larger ones.

 

[nine4gmc]

I sold one like the black ones a few months ago for $100, didn't have it listed for long either and had several calls on it. I listed it at $150 obo.

 

[Kev442]

I just got one for free and still trying to figure out how I am going to use it, takes up a lot of space, very heavy....time to reorganize the garage to make it work.

I had one for free too, along with some open faced ones made out of wood. I decided I needed the space more, gave away the metal one and cut the wood one in half. At 14" deep and able to see exactly what each shelf has on it has been better for me.

It wasn't just the metal cabinet that was the issue, it was the additional space needed in order to open a drawer all the way. That's a dam big footprint.

 

[willy (traer)]

I've got 4 that I painted and mounted inside my new bench - would love to get some more!

 

[bp460]

That is a great price for those flat file units. Keep in mind that there are several different quality levels. The better units will have thicker sheet metal, ball bearing slides and some sort of drawer bottom stiffeners.

-Brad

 

[MattPSC]

Do the drawers extend fully on these?

 

[volleyball]

We call them map drawers. The ones I have have a metal plate to hold the paper down

 

[ADSR]

I've got 4 that I painted and mounted inside my new bench - would love to get some more!

that's awesome!!

 

[Old Moparz]

They may not be as sought after as they used to be, but they are still extremely expensive if you need to buy a good one. Even though most blueprints are digitally stored now, as an estimator for a construction company we do have printed plans we need to save & store.

I have a wooden one at home that was given to me that's made from birch plywood. One drawer holds some older, signed prints from an artist my Mother knew personally, Christo, until I get some of them framed. Another drawer holds smaller pieces of oak veneered plywood & a few other pieces of hardwood that I don't want banged up & scratched.

One thing I found a good use for in another drawer, are wheel lip moulding storage. I think one drawer holds at least 2 to 3 sets & keeps them safe.

 

[rohartman]

Damn I wish you were closer to Ohio I would love to have about 6 of those. 2 tall and about 3 wide would make a great work bench!

 

[alberto]

Smoking deal. I've been looking for some for a while and in San Diego, you'd be very lucky to find them at $150 each.

 

[NOMAD]

I'd take them asap if I were there. Shipping is probably a lot or I'd be in line to buy!

 

[Steelhorse27]

I'm just south of dallas...... Wanna sell me some?

 

[4xdog]

Man, I could use a couple of those for posters and prints I've collected over the years. I check CL from time to time, but nuthin' like the deal you've found!

 

[nolimits76]

Willy...your setup looks killer!

Okay, thought I'd update this thread. All these are from a local business that is relocating. About half of them were stored in their basement and judging by the rust was exposed to water at some point. The few that weren't rusted, were banged up pretty decent and couldn't open/shut properly.

The other half of the stash, employees had picked through. The ones that weren't spoken for had issues with drawers shutting, feeling very flimsy and/or they were a little bigger than the sizes I stated early on which didn't fit well in my space.

All in all, I walked away from the deal as it wasn't a good fit for me. I'm always looking so maybe I'll find something else of value in the future.

 

[catch2otwo]

If anyone needs a lead, I picked up a couple vidmars from a guy with a garage full of them. 4'x'5ish for the big ones, he had a couple smaller ones too.

 

[nolimits76]

Is your location correct -- San Pablo, CA? If by chance in OK, I am interested.

 

[catch2otwo]

ya sorry, his location is orangevale CA

 

[longlivepunk]

This makes me tingly in my special spots.

I see you already made your decision on these, and it sounds like a wise one. As much as I love these old map cabinets, there are definitely different qualities and conditions. If they were sturdy and half-decent shape I'd fully agree with the guys who said to buy them all. The strong ones are bomb-proof and make for classy-looking, really useful tool-storage. Around here people want WAY too much for them to make it a viable option.

 

[Cyberbear]

I have three blueprint cabinets that are used for my knife collection display and storage.

 

[metalhead140]

 

[wafer]

I've got three sets. Wish I had a couple more. Weight has not been an issue.

Bases exist if you want them raised off the floor. Also, the depth of the cabinets can vary from 30" on up. Mine are 30" deep. If they were any deeper they would stick too far out from the wall.

 

[EarlyBroncoGuy]

I've got one that I got for free years ago from a company my brother worked for. It's pretty big, like 36" front to back, so it was too big to fit under a normal workbench/countertop. I ended up putting it in the corner, building a base for it, and building my counters/cabinets around it.

I use it for storing all of my hardware, but I have to be careful to spread the weight between drawers. What works for me is standard in one drawer, metric in another, electrical in another, etc.

The local government surplus warehouse seems to always have quite a few for sale for decent prices.

 

[volleyball]

Since so many have these, maybe we should throw out what we use as dividers. If I found a good source I MAY be encouraged enough to organize mine. Mine is blocked right now so it is more dead storage but I would like to better utilize it.

 

[wafer]

Since so many have these, maybe we should throw out what we use as dividers. If I found a good source I MAY be encouraged enough to organize mine. Mine is blocked right now so it is more dead storage but I would like to better utilize it.

I use cigar boxes with the lids removed in some of the drawers, and for small items I repurposed plastic bins from some old sets of parts bins.

 

[randydupree]

i have a dozen sets of them,way down in SW Ga,$75 each.
I even have 4 sets of wood ones,cabinet grade.
$100 each.