crewchief888
Well-known member
i filled mine and added a side box about a year later...
10 years later it had grown into this...
Determining the right tool box size
- Thread starter Kenrevo
- Start date
i filled mine and added a side box about a year later...
10 years later it had grown into this...
Moose-LandTran
Well-known member
That's a lot of boxes!
crewchief888
Well-known member
yea it was. i didnt know how much i really had until i lined them up on both sides of a 17ft uhaul.
had just enough room between the boxes for my harley and my few belongings.
by the time i was loaded up, the truck was sitting on the bumpstops.
APEowner
Well-known member
In my experience the right size toolbox is always slightly larger than whatever you own now. It's the same with garages as well.
Al Borland
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2016
- Messages
- 1,598
Doesn't REALLY matter what size box you get. The tool set will expand to fill it and then some.
RedneckWelder
Well-known member
I'd advise at least the 56 combo with a locker or two. If you were a pro and had space at the shop id say at least a 72 box or larger.
po28der
Well-known member
I don't know what you really need. What I did was went to home depo the got the biggest husky box they had. Two years latter I have no regrets. I was always a big crastman fan but this box is = to the quality I had in 1995 with my first crastman box. I still have that box and it is not going any ware. I see no need buying a 4000-8000 big name box. I would rather use that money to buy more tools or more toys.
Empty Pockets
Well-known member
Even at my advanced age, my tool collection keeps growing, 35+ years ago, i bought a used 26" Mac top box (with tools) from an older gentleman who was retiring. I thought I had all the tool storage that I would ever need. Was I ever wrong!!!!
That box sat on a workmate in my garage for a few months, soon to be moved to the top of a new CM bottom box. That Christmas, my then wife bought me a CM intermediate box, on which it now sits.
A new CM set was soon in order (Base, middle and top boxes). They sit next to each other. Along the wall is a 20' shelf unit with multiple small boxes, and various tools in both blow molded and metal cases.
This doesn't count the drawers i have mounted under my work bench or the massive amount of fasteners that are also stored under the bench. Oh, don't forget the pegboard on the far side of the shop. And I'm out of space
IMO, just buy what you can afford and fits in the space you have, and plan to expand your storage over time
That box sat on a workmate in my garage for a few months, soon to be moved to the top of a new CM bottom box. That Christmas, my then wife bought me a CM intermediate box, on which it now sits.
A new CM set was soon in order (Base, middle and top boxes). They sit next to each other. Along the wall is a 20' shelf unit with multiple small boxes, and various tools in both blow molded and metal cases.
This doesn't count the drawers i have mounted under my work bench or the massive amount of fasteners that are also stored under the bench. Oh, don't forget the pegboard on the far side of the shop. And I'm out of space
IMO, just buy what you can afford and fits in the space you have, and plan to expand your storage over time
Will a 72" tool box fit in a normal garage? Currently I have a large garage, forget the actual size but it's sized for 3 cars but only 2 doors and ~10 feet in the front of a car. So I have a lot of space and the 72" would fit but in a normal garage would a 72" tool box fit?
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If you think it'll be big enough, trust us, it won't be. . . . whether it's a garage or tool box.
I'd buy a 44" HF box and put it into a bench like Steevo. ...and keep the casters. If you run out of room, buy another, need more room, buy a top box for it.
dam427
Member
Greg85mcss
Well-known member
The 56 & 72 are 4" deeper than the 44. That will help a lot with storage but will come that much further out from the wall plus the depth open is that much more. I wouldn't worry about that little bit of difference but it will be an issue if you look at something like a 72 montezuma or used krl as they're 29-30" deep.
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I got the HF44 top and bottom and side drawer; it is easy on depth, width, and height...I am 5'10". I love it. I kept my my nearly new 20 year old Craftsman stacks for less often used, non car tool and part storage. I have a pretty good organization plan, but I do find myself hunting for less used tools or odds and ends in so many drawers.
Next house I am getting a HF56 too, for a work bench.
Based on what you said, I would recommend the HF 56 bottom, then the 44 top, then the side drawer cab. I can see loving the big drawer on the 56 for more sockets. Plus those drawer latches! The extra depth won't get in the way too much in a residential setting. The 56 holds 2x what the 44 does, and is simply a great toolbox...they both are.
The 72 seems less flexible, but I f you have room, and don't mind the sheer weight at a move, then go for it.
Next house I am getting a HF56 too, for a work bench.
Based on what you said, I would recommend the HF 56 bottom, then the 44 top, then the side drawer cab. I can see loving the big drawer on the 56 for more sockets. Plus those drawer latches! The extra depth won't get in the way too much in a residential setting. The 56 holds 2x what the 44 does, and is simply a great toolbox...they both are.
The 72 seems less flexible, but I f you have room, and don't mind the sheer weight at a move, then go for it.
drink
Well-known member
Have you ever considered buying a complete set of tools with storage included? It can take a lot of the guess work out.
Maybe you can develop a computer program to estimate and properly size tool storage. It could have stuff like the dimensions of each tool, weight of each tool, and the size of each storage compartment of each tool chest. Then you can have a massive calculus program with computer imaging to figure stuff like the most economical box to choose.
Maybe you can develop a computer program to estimate and properly size tool storage. It could have stuff like the dimensions of each tool, weight of each tool, and the size of each storage compartment of each tool chest. Then you can have a massive calculus program with computer imaging to figure stuff like the most economical box to choose.
APEowner
Well-known member
The problem with that approach is that there's no real definition for a complete set of tools.
bcradio
Well-known member
Will a car fit in a normal garage? If the answer is yes, then a car is bigger than a 72" toolbox, so it will fit too.
Haha, yea, I have been lurking here for a while getting ideas for when I finally find a house. Figured I would start posting and contributing my $.02.
crewchief888
Well-known member
i agree.
for the average homeowner/weekend mechanic, basic hand tools will take care of most everything needed.
there are pro's on this forum that surpass those basic tools 10x's over.
whenever i comment on a thread like this, i try to put myself in someone elses shoes, trying to imagine that i havent been pulling wrenches for 30 years, and buying tools since i graduated HS in '76
619DioFan
Well-known member
Thanks for the replies everyone. I got the 72" and I'm glad I did. It's not full by any means but alot fuller that I was expecting it to be. I need to look into tool organization.
Picture:
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Awesome. now you have no excuses for not buying more tools 'cause empty drawers are lonely drawers
Steevo
Well-known member
When I was 17 years old, and riding the bus to trade school, the "right" tool box size was what I could carry from home to the bus stop and from the bus stop to the school.
When I got my first job turning wrenches at a Kawasaki shop in 1970, the "right" size box was what I could store and lock my tools in when I went home at night.
When I took a job at a Honda dealership in the mid-1970's, the "right" size box changed almost twice a year, to accommodate the new tool purchases.
As the years passed, I ended up with multiple boxes, specific to their purpose.
When I built my shop (at age 56), I built a box to "consolidate" most of my tools into:
Now looks more like this:
I still have two other tool boxes, both with top & bottom boxes (the Snap-On from my M/C mechanic days:
And a classic Rem-Line), and one has a middle section. One holds just machine tools and precision measuring tools, and the other is in the attached house garage, with household tools in it (plumbing, electrical, basic wrenches, pliers, screwdrivers, etc.).
There is no "right size" tool box, just "right for now" or "right for this purpose".
When I got my first job turning wrenches at a Kawasaki shop in 1970, the "right" size box was what I could store and lock my tools in when I went home at night.
When I took a job at a Honda dealership in the mid-1970's, the "right" size box changed almost twice a year, to accommodate the new tool purchases.
As the years passed, I ended up with multiple boxes, specific to their purpose.
When I built my shop (at age 56), I built a box to "consolidate" most of my tools into:
Now looks more like this:
I still have two other tool boxes, both with top & bottom boxes (the Snap-On from my M/C mechanic days:
And a classic Rem-Line), and one has a middle section. One holds just machine tools and precision measuring tools, and the other is in the attached house garage, with household tools in it (plumbing, electrical, basic wrenches, pliers, screwdrivers, etc.).
There is no "right size" tool box, just "right for now" or "right for this purpose".
ZRX61
Well-known member
I had one cantilever, which ended up being stolen. I replaced that with a "double wide" cantilever that had wheels on the bottom made by Talco.
Then it was a 3 drawer SnapOn chest.
Found a pic of a Talco double wide:
K-Dog
Well-known member
money_man
Member
I have a 56" that I love and don't find it to be to big at all. My dad just bought a 72" Snap-on box and I wish mine were that big.
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AV tinker er
Well-known member
What kind of mill is that?
a52-830
Well-known member
would you not be concerned about how the 44" top is going to be supported?
assuming you slid it to one end or the other, that end would be at the side, where there are vertical supports, but the other end might be floating above drawers. are you assuming that the other end will line up between the long and short drawers? since there are no wheels under that riser, i would be concerned that it is not rated to hold the extra weight there, and it might sag.
not trying to be a pain here, but i have seen this kind of suggestion before, and wondered about the advisability of stacking smaller chests on top. . . . .