Does anyone else hate small (narrow) toolbox drawers as much as me??

[1982fxr]

You know on top boxes, how they make them with 3 drawers across instead of just 1 large drawer? I hate that! Seems like wasted space and added manufacturing costs, no?

Is there a reason pro wrenches like this design? I'm not a professional...What do you keep in those drawers that is so important it can't get mixed up a little with some other stuff (as it might were it 1 large drawer)?

Just asking

 

[volvo92906]

punches/chisels, snap ring pliers, allen wrenches, pens, etc...

 

[ihatelaramie]

Also quite useful on a machinists type box... And what he said^^^

 

[neophyte]

Better for small machinist gages, square, etc. If the box tilts for some reason the small itms are less likely to get lost or messed up.

 

[MikeF2316]

You know on top boxes, how they make them with 3 drawers across instead of just 1 large drawer? I hate that! Seems like wasted space and added manufacturing costs, no?

Is there a reason pro wrenches like this design? I'm not a professional...What do you keep in those drawers that is so important it can't get mixed up a little with some other stuff (as it might were it 1 large drawer)?

Just asking

When you don't have many tools, it's a good design. My first top box had 3 drawers in the top row, 2 5" wide drawers on each side and an 11" in between. When I first got it, all my screwdrivers fit in the 5" right drawer, my punches and chisels in the left 5" drawer, and all my pliers in the middle. Obviously any pro would need more space and couldn't use it that way. And I outgrew it many years ago, but it was a perfect box when all my tools fit in it.

 

[WWIIjeep]

What do you keep in those drawers that is so important it can't get mixed up a little with some other stuff (as it might were it 1 large drawer)?

My very old Snap-On Roll-a-Bench has three small drawers across the top. Two of them even have OEM dividers spot-welded in, making the small drawers even smaller.

Ignition wrenches and other small wrenches, 1/8" drive sockets, jewelers screwdrivers, picks, small punches, contact point files and other small files, small precision measuring tools, tweezers, pens, pencils, miscellaneous small parts or other small tools, couple of pocket knives, utility knife, single-edge razor blades, spare change for the pop machine, and a knife, fork and spoon left over from when I worked where we had a lunch room, refrigerator and microwave, instead of having to bag a cold lunch or go out.

 

[devoncoolman]

they are great for small items and machinists. other than that they really annoy the **** out of me!

 

[larry_g]

If you work with precision tools then the small drawers are essential. You don't take guages, mics, tooling , and other high dollar items and jumble them in a big drawer. Not everyone who uses tools use the same set of tools you use. YOU have to decide what equipment suits your job, but you have to allow those of us who have a different job to have to tool box that suits our work. No reason to hate just because something does not suit your purpose. I made a good living turning wrenches that I carried in a briefcase style tool box.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[John in OH]

Actually, I rather like the small drawers! And mine must look a lot like WWIIjeep's ....

Left drawer: Ignition wrenches, misc. other very small wrenches, jeweler's screwdrivers, misc. other small screwdrivers, set of picks, tweezers, small magnetic pick-up tool, feeler gauges, and ignition files.

Center drawer: Electrical tape, teflon tape, small tube of pipe joint sealant, small tube of Loctite, small tube of dielectric grease, couple small boxes of automotive fuses, 3 or 4 test wires with alligator clips, and a few other misc. small items.

Right drawer: 0-1" micrometer, small vernier caliper with depth stem, 6" steel scale, tweezers, 6" combination square, tape measure, tire gauge, 4-way tire valve tool, couple of pencils and a scribe.

I don't necessarily agree with MikeF2316, I think the MORE tools you have the more useful the small drawers are for keeping track of all the little stuff. But, Larry_g is a wise man, we all work differently on different things!

 

[chadster1]

You know on top boxes, how they make them with 3 drawers across instead of just 1 large drawer? I hate that! Seems like wasted space and added manufacturing costs, no?

Is there a reason pro wrenches like this design? I'm not a professional...What do you keep in those drawers that is so important it can't get mixed up a little with some other stuff (as it might were it 1 large drawer)?

Just asking

I don't usually hate inanimate objects.

 

[MasterOod]

I never liked them either, so I ordered a new full length drawer.

For any of the non-griplatch ball bearing Craftsman boxes that came with them, you can removed the slide supports on the top section, and borrow two slides for the new drawer.

I would cut down and re-rivet the old supports, to prevent sag in the top storage area though.

I'll have to see if I have any pics of the process (but I did this years ago when I first got the box)

 

[jeffmoss26]

The 3 small drawers in my Craftsman chest work just fine for my needs. Things do get moved around but this is the most current-
Left drawer: punches, awls, scissors
Center drawer: nutdrivers
Right drawer: tape measures and rulers/scales

 

[bobcatdan]

To me the small drawers on a top chest work fine and are great for many idems. On the other hand I had a 40" SO KRA 4813 and hated the narrow bank.

 

[zkling]

I personally like them. Not only do they help organize, but I just find them neat. One benefit on the cheaper boxes (the ones I own, so no offense intended) is that they actually stiffen the top compartment as the supporting structure for the drawers adds rigidity. Also the smaller drawers can technically hold more weight as they typically have the same slides as the full width drawers, but at a shorter span.

All the ones I have are ~6" wide. The only box that has much narrower drawers that I know of is the KR537, which I would like to try and own one day, but those drawers are pretty narrow at ~4.5".

What I personally hate is when manufactures put a few deep/tall drawers compared to multiple shallow drawers. Then again each person's storage needs are different.

As for what I keep in mine, similar to what others have said, small like items. Nut drivers, bit driver handle and bits, punches, awls, chisels, scissors, razor blades and holders, socket extensions, 3/8" speed handle (it is tight, but fits, only speed handle I own). Misc.

 

[lilredex]

I prefer the three across, I'd have all the top section like that if it were offered. I find the full width drawers fill up with junk you can't find, sag on the bottom, then scrape on the drawer below........very annoying. Wish I could fit those wide drawers in my beader and run a few beads across, to correct that.

 

[blackz26]

I have a cman 26x16 box with 12 small drawers. That's enough for me and love it. (Even if my dad wasn't the one who gave it to me. Everything else I like at ~26" wide and ~12" wide (44" box) I have one full length 44" drawer but would like 2, or three for that matter.

Other then that I can't add anything that hasn't been said for small drawers.

 

[zkling]

I prefer the three across, I'd have all the top section like that if it were offered. I find the full width drawers fill up with junk you can't find, sag on the bottom, then scrape on the drawer below........very annoying. Wish I could fit those wide drawers in my beader and run a few beads across, to correct that.

Hey someone else, like me, with the cheaper boxes. I feel your pain bro.

What I did to correct those is to find or make a smallish, thin piece of angle steel and spot weld it to the bottom and sides of the drawer. Acting as a divider, but really becoming a drawer stiffener. My 16" deep Cman top was really bad about this when I got it.

 

[abvw]

Not as much as I hate shallow drawers.

edit: depth, not height.

 

[bob from indiana]

I have an old Craftsman 12 drawer top I bough in 1980 and love it. I wish they still made it. I really like the wide, narrow, wide drawer layout on the top three rows.

 

[sk farmer]

no. a feature that has been dropped from too many lines. i used to have a little side locker with six drawers. it kicked *** for organizing small things like punches, chisels, pens, pencils, rulers, precision pliers, receipts and 100 other things. sure, you can dump them in a drawer 4 inches deep and 40 inches wide but how the hell do you find them again?

 

[RCStocker]

Not as much as I hate shallow drawers.

edit: depth, not height.

I love the shallow drawers. I have 10 roll around boxes and 2 are full of machinist tools and little things. 2 are for wood working. I have several hundred carving tools and chisels and the shallow drawers are fine. I have all kinds of wrenches and files in other. 4 of my cabinets are 8 and 9 drawer. They are all full of things in shallow drawers. My deeper drawers have small boxes of special tools in them and I need to take half of the drawer out to get to what I want. I would like one with all shallow drawers. I would go to the expensive cabinets but I never find any cheap. I find tool boxes all the time for under $100.

 

[Packard V8]

Tools expand to fill the space available. It has taken fifty years, but I've finally gotten more boxes than tools. It's really, really nice to have a drawer for everything.

Having said that, the big pullers and strut compressors still are living in a wooden box. Does any tool box have the answer to those large, heavy monsters?

jack vines

 

[BDT/NWMN]

Thanks to the small drawers in my SnapOn Road Chest, I can easily find small tools quickly, rather than searching through the larger drawers where little tools can hide so well... I favor dedicated drawers for the small tools that people have already mentioned..

 

[therealwormey]

i like those 3 drawer styles. makes it easy to find the little special tools and/or you can have a drawer devoted to specific jobs like brake tools. guess thats why they make them in different configurations for people that dont like em.

 

[bobcatdan]

To me this is the perfect top chest design.

 

[Farmall450]

There's a million uses...

As they've all said.
Wire brushes too!

 

[Jeff]

I find the small drawers very handy:

 

[1982fxr]

After reading what y'all have said, i guess I can see why some people like them, especially pro wrenches and machinists or people with different types of specialty tools.

I still hate 'em, but i see why not everyone does