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Bull's Equipto Grab

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Bull

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I felt sort of like I sucked at one point, but after all this tedious labor, I'm not sure anymore. It's true that $200 won't buy you anything close to this much storage, but for people who value their time, this project would be pricey. Good thing my time is worth nothing!

My original plan was to paint the drawers while removed from the cabinet. But, where the heck would I set them all up? I can't just lay them on the floor, and I don't have a few dozen saw-horses, so I'm stumped.
 
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alpinewhite

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My original plan was to paint the drawers while removed from the cabinet. But, where the heck would I set them all up? I can't just lay them on the floor, and I don't have a few dozen saw-horses, so I'm stumped.
Paint a few (5 or 6) drawers at a time. When you see the thing getting "perdier" and "perdier" each time, it'll give you energy to keep going.
 
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Bull

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Well, I thought the quickest painting method would be to spray, so I was going to buy a small HVLP gun. That would require the masking. I'd hate to spray five drawers at a time because I'd be wasting a lot of paint with the mixing up of a new batch for every session and then dumping/cleaning the gun at the end.

Maybe I will try painting the drawers a few at a time or all at once, by hand, with a brush. The finish won't be perfectly smooth, but heck, this are cabinets. It would eliminate the masking issue and I'd not have to spend money on a gun.

I have a question for you guys. I am going to cut a piece of plywood to bolt to the tops of the cabinets. I have them bolted to each other through the sides, but plywood bolted across the top will make them more unified, which I want for when I bolt them to the wall. I am trying to decide how to bolt the plywood down. I am considering using carriage bolts through the top, with a nut and washer on the other side. But a cheaper option might be 1/2" threaded rod with washers and nuts on each end. I'm thinking about what will be most time-efficient and least expensive, I guess.
 
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Bull

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I made some progress. I cut a piece of plywood and threw a quick coat of primer and one coat of paint on it. I have begun bolting it to the tops of the cabinets to tie them together. They will then be bolted through two spots on the sides and across the top. I think this makes them much less likely to tip.

I have them bolted to the wall, and will probably add one more chain in the middle. The chain on the left isn't going to bear much weight, as it only goes through the OSB and then into a 3/4" furring strip. But if the cabinet began to lean forward gradually, which is the most likely scenario, I believe it would arrest that movement before any momentum was achieved. The chain on the right is bolted into solid wood and is therefore stronger.

I am really not concerned about these tipping in normal use. I did some tests, like standing in the fully extended bottom drawer and pulling down hard on the fully extended top drawer and there is little to no movement forward. Bolted together, I have doubled their width while only ever having a drawer 1/2 the width open at any given time. I'll still be careful, though.
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I also cut a 4x4 block to sit directly in the middle of the front span of the 4x4 cart that the cabinets sit on. It's a tight fitting block that I had to hammer into place, so it is already bearing weight.
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I do feel that these measures all have a bit of a redneck feel to them, but it's the best I can do with my Neanderthal brain.
 

TAMPAGT07

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Hey Bull, you gonna have room in there for that Ranger pick-up truck you just bought...<a href="http://www.sherv.net/popcorn.drink-emoticon-2820.html"><img alt="Popcorn And Drink" width=35 height=26 src="http://www.sherv.net/cm/emoticons/drink/popcorn-and-drink-smiley-emoticon.gif"></a>
 

TAftw

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I'd add a few more chains IMO. Remember how we tried to move them when they were EMPTY? And you want to fill them to the limit now? And we HAVE had earthquakes in the area? A couple more chains doesn't sound like a bad idea now does it? ;).

Are you dead set on having them mobile? With those things I'd set them on the ground and leave them, to hell with trying to move them ever again.
 

TAMPAGT07

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What I want to know is what Bull really wants those chains for??? It's ok, Bull...Nuthin wrong with gettin your freak on out in the garage....
 
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alpinewhite

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Use longer chains and connect the other links to the other two bolts. The chain may be loose but will hold the cabinet if ever the bolt farthest back rips out of the cabinet. You've really got nothing to lose. You can also do something similar with the chain connection to the wall by connecting two (instead of just 1 now) links to the wall using two separate lag bolts. If the closer one ever rips out, you've got a backup.

Are you dead set on having them mobile? With those things I'd set them on the ground and leave them, to hell with trying to move them ever again.
Seeing what you've got now, I don't think you plan to move that behemoth either. You won't move that thing without emptying it.
 
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Bull

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Seeing what you've got now, I don't think you plan to move that behemoth either. You won't move that thing without emptying it.

That's the truth! This will not move unless emptied.

I added another chain towards the middle of of the back edge of the cabinets after bolting the plywood to the top. I ran that chain up to the top plate of my barn and lagged it. It was long, so I ran the remaining length along the plate and lagged it in two more places. I will probably replace the lags with slightly longer ones later, but I think it's pretty good as is. I will probably swap the chain on the left for a longer one and do the same thing with it, too.
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The top space is a good area to store four ramps, which I use as backup to my jack stands whenever I am under a car. I also fit two battery chargers and a backup jack stand up there, too.

This pic shows you the stands on top, and if you look at the top-left drawer, you can see some jack stands up there. I left the top-most drawers out specifically so I could store jack stands up there. I was able to fit four 6-ton and two smaller, maybe 2-1/4 ton stands in that drawer. Those ramps and stands always took up too much floor space, but not now!
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You can also see in that pic above that I still have too much clutter. I'm working slowly at organizing it and asking myself what I really need to hold on to and what can go.


I'm sorry for the blurry pics, but I wanted to share what I got done tonight between 10:30pm and about 12:20 am. This drawer holds a lot of stuff that can be annoying to store, or at least that's how I felt in the past.
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I think this drawer will hold different kinds of gloves, safety glasses, ear plugs, and maybe cloth rags.
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I'm also using some of the lower drawers to augment my tool storage and free up space in my Lista. I was never happy having my ratchets and extensions in the same drawer as my sockets; I want just sockets only in one drawer. So, I shifted extensions and ratchets over to a drawer on the Equipto that is right next to the Lista.
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No, this isn't the final configuration and yes, I do need drawer liner. But I am basically stopping the beautifying these cabinets for now to try and get organized. later on I will come back to them to paint the faces blue, handles silver, and line them. The Equipto dividers allow me to section off all kinds of compartments. Here I have shorter extensions grouped either by drive size or length on the right. The wrench rack does a good job of holding longer extensions, breaker bars, and long ratchets.
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The area to the left of this drawer in the Lista, where the Westling trays are just sitting, was all gained back by moving the above items to the Equipto.
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I think I might use the Equipto to store wrenches, too, though I am not positive. My wrench drawer feels full, but I am not certain that I am making the best use of my space. I have considered using wrench rolls or additional racks to better consolidate the tools. I have some extra-long Matco zero offset flex wrenches that need to live in here, and I need room for some other wrenches, too.
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Bull

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Are all the drawer fronts blue now, Bull?

Uh-oh...well, you know what happens. Because the cabinets are providing me with function, I have overlooked their form. The drawers are not blue. I do still want to scuff and paint them all, but my project time this summer has been focused on doing some stuff on my Roadmaster wagon.

It's difficult to balance the project teeter-totter!
 
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