Cantilever Toolbox Design for Dummies

[Bessy]

I posted a few weeks ago over in the General Tool Discussion forum, about the difficulty I'm having identifying suitable tool storage with a sufficient number of shallow (height) drawers, without scouring kijiji for overpriced used solutions, or dropping considerable money on something like a Lista or other professional level box. I've been trying since to channel my inner Adam Savage and just start making and see where it takes me. This resulted in me coming home last night from Princess Auto (Canadian Harbor Freight) with a side cabinet with five drawers of 13-1/2"x10"x3-7/8" (LWH) and one drawer of ~6-1/4" depth at the bottom. It neither fits my colour scheme, nor my desire for shallow drawers, but here we are. Just start making.


My initial thought process - I credit LilScorpion's early drawer designs, which incorporate a sliding tray that enabled him to "double stack" items in his drawers - led me to a low-tech half-tray design that would slide side-to-side inside the confines of the drawer, effectively increasing the drawer area by not quite 50%. This morning however, looking through the Let's See Your Toolbox thread, it dawned on me that I could near-double, or add approximately 85-90% more area to drawers by incorporating an inset cantilever tray insert that would enable two trays to lift up and out sideways to access what is below. This doesn't exactly support first-order-retrievability - Sorry, Inner A.S. - but it does get me closer to my goal of high-density shallow drawer storage. This brings me to my current dilemma:

So I am asking the brain trust for help. I may be overthinking this entirely, I haven't yet ruled that out, but if there is anyone who can walk me through the math requirements to create the mechanism(s) necessary to cantilever either one large or two half-width trays out of this drawer, I would greatly appreciate it!

TIA!

B.

 

[rharman]

Can't help you with your math but I've done the half sliding tray mod (slides front to back) to a few drawers on my bench and it's a great help. A couple of drawers that are extra deep have two sliding trays. Of course, the lower one is "captured" and can't be removed at will but it has helped me so much.

 

[tool_scrounge]

Something a little like this in concept (kennedy CT-4)?

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum...side-tray-box-info-ct-4.216318/#post-10720549

 

[yhprum]

If I understand your question, you may be over thinking this.

You could expand this idea to add some way to grab the trays and pull them out.

 

[Bessy]

If I understand your question, you may be over thinking this.

You could expand this idea to add some way to grab the trays and pull them out.

This was my initial concept, but my thought process was that if I wanted anymore than 50% additional storage, the tray would need to lift out entirely, and I would need a place to set it down while I grab something from below. I will thank everyone now for indulging my exercise in futility here.

I suppose if I box in the base of my drill press on-top of the toolbox to provide a flat surface, this is doable, but I'd like to still be able to operate one-handed as much as possible. That is why I am instead contemplating cantilever which would allow me to lift a tray without the need to "carry" and set it back down, or worse risk dropping it and spilling the contents, which I've been guilty of in the past (do you know how long it takes to sort your father's finish nail collection into 1, 1-1/4, 1-1/2, 1-3/4, 2, and 2-1/2" nails? I do...)

Where I am getting hung up is on the mechanics of an "up-then-out" mechanism that enables a tray to nest inside the drawers sides, without adding any height. Unlike traditional cantilever boxes that tool_scrounge references - who's path of travel is circular - if I'm to make a tray with a square bottom to side profile, I still lose out on volume equal to double the height of my tray, squared, times my length. Rough back of the envelope math tells me if my initial front to back sliding tray gives me a maximum additional volume of ~50% (~135 cubic inches), then the required clearance for two traditional cantilever trays eats up ((13.5×~2× 1.75")×2) or 94.5 ci. A bit (~15%) of an increase that I could bump up to a 30% increase if I made the outermost sides of the trays 135° compared to 90°, but I struggle to see how splayed sides achieve any more order compared to simply throwing stuff in a deep drawer to dig around in.

My thought is that compared to a traditional cantilever, if a like a tray that moves on the "Y" axis first, before it makes any movement on the "X", perhaps possible using a series of slotted L shaped brackets (?) then I could clear the side first then move over, regaining most of that dead 94.5 ci.

Thank you for skimming the ramblings of an insomniac.

 

[tool_scrounge]

i think a sketch of your concept would be really helpful at this point

 

[yhprum]

Ah sorry I misunderstood the question. I get it now! I think you can make your idea work. Have a look on YT for cantilevered toolbox designs there are heaps. It seems to me it’s just a matter of placing the parallelogram arms so they clear the sides of your drawers.
I’m not the greatest with math, I have better luck designing moving linkages like this from push pins and cardboard in full scale when I can.
Here is a DIY cantilever box for inspiration.