how do you use your small drawers on your chest?

[slimshady_2469]

hello everyone, like the title says i am curious as to how you are using your small drawers. the 3 or 6 or however many you have in the top rows of your box that are around 6-8 inches wide. right now i have mine set up with from left, punches and files and such, flat screwdrivers and on the right philips screwdrivers, but i have a few screwdrivers that are too big for the small drawers but i just dont know what else i could put in there so i would like to know what other people are using them for.

thanks!

 

[alex71]

sharpies!!!!

 

[mikeyr]

You mean the short height drawers ? I was confused by your 3 or 6 comment. My toolbox was custom built and my top 6 drawers are only 1 1/2 tall so I can put in all my sockets, wrenches, screwdrivers, etc. Then one 4" tall and one 6" tall drawer the last 2 for the bigger stuff. Super happy with the design, I hated all the standard stuff at Sears and others with mismash drawer sizes, I just wanted to lay my tools down and I have a lot so I had it built the way it would fit my tools and the way I use them. I splurged on the Stainless Steel drawer fronts and the 1/4" steel plate top works wonders too Certainly not cheap but exactly what I wanted and I bet still cheaper than the "Oh wow, Snap-on, you must be a good mechanic" status toolboxes.

 

[-B-]

Small specialty tools , marking tools, taps, adjustable spanners, kelly clamps etc. , hooks and picks.

 

[T56 Impala]

First thing... WELCOME!!!

I have very small ones on my cheap Craftsman box.. 6" wind maybe? In one I have cutting tools. (Scissors, box cutter and spare blades.) Second one I have a brake vacuum bleeder and associated parts. Third one is marking tools. (Pencils, pens, scribe, small tape measure.)

In my big box the small drawers are about 10" wide. I have a variety in the top. (Marking, measuring, cutting.) Next down is brake service tools. Third is Crescent style wrenches. (All USA made. ) Next down is nut drivers. Last one is files, punches and cold chisels.

Hope this helps!

 

[Stuey]

I don't have any small drawers. I specifically only buy chests which have full width top drawers.

But I do have organizers in some drawers to separate cold chisels, punches, probes, and other tools that require finger caution.

 

[sammerdog]

Howdy slimshady -

6 of them little drawers:
1) tail light, turn signal, dash, etc lite bulbs, European fuses
2) tire plugs, reamer, inserter, tread depth guage, American fuses, small rubber brains
3) parts receipts and repair logs for the three daily drivers
4) sharpies, pens, more hose clamps, rubber dog poop, and a taiwanese tap set
5) JBWeld, blue gasket stuff, plumbers helper, 3m seal adhesive
6) allen wrenches, hose clamps, misc springs, giant rubber fly

...looks like the little drawers become junk magnets.

 

[slimshady_2469]

thanks for all the replys so quickly and the warm hearted welcome! sorry to confuse anyone, when i say 3 or 6 drawers, 3 would be one tier and the 6 would be 2 tiers of the small drawers im talking about. if i had known better at the time i wouldnt have gotten the top box i did for a couple reasons, but now i need to make do. i only have smaaers but i have the stupid plastic case for my second row. so now that im all filled up top and bottom i went out and got the quiet glide 4 drawer middle and its not exactly the same depth as my bottom or top but it doesnt look stupid and now i have 4 more drawers! so im just trying to figure out how to utilize all my stuff.

 

[lauver]

Slim,

Welcome aboard.

I have two small drawers in my chest. I keep punches, chisels, and stamps (alpha & numeric) in one drawer. I keep tweezers, miniture picks, inspection mirrors, telescoping pick up tools, soldering aides, and an assortment of small plugs for tubing and hoses in the other.

Small drawers are also good for:

taps,

bolt & screw outs,

drill bits that match your taps and bolt outs,

small flashlights,

tire guages,

Exacto knife and blades, pocket knife, and sharpening stone,

allen wrenches,

feeler and sparkplug guages,

ignition wrenches,

pocket screwdrivers,

precision screwdrivers,

magnetizer/demagnetizer,

Sharpie pens and paint sticks,

scribes and awls,

small tubes of lubes, adhesives, sealents, etc,

small metal rules, and

most important of all...a bottle cap remover!

 

[speed bump]

In the one box I keep:

Drawer 1: various little air tool bits, chucks, nozzles, and blow guns.

Drawer 2: various pliers

Drawer 3: drill bits.

As far as what you can keep, if my main box had them I would keep, hooks, picks, awls, needle files, taps, dies, drill bits, various small bits and maybe extra sockets or extensions.

 

[riley.m]

welding tips,cutting tips,allen wrenches,tip cleaners sharpies,pens,some taps and drill bits.metal shavings.

 

[Frank Elson]

interesting answers. A friend of mine keeps fasteners in his - no-one here has said that yet.

 

[Moose-LandTran]

In my top box, the first shallow narrow drawer houses screwdrivers and picks and the like, the second one is home to random stuff, pens/taps/hex keys/punches/chisels/etc.

The shallow narrow drawers on my side locker are home to special wrenches in the top and files/misc tools in the second one.

 

[lauver]

interesting answers. A friend of mine keeps fasteners in his - no-one here has said that yet.

Frank,

I have very limited tool storage space; would never put fasteners in such valuable and limited space. Does your friend have tool storage space to spare? Does your friend have a very limited set of tools? Is your friend just getting started and just recently purchased fresh storage and temporarily has space to spare?

I keep fasteners in small jars, coffee cans, tuna cans, and zip lock bags. All of these containers are stacked 3 deep on a single storage shelf until needed. As useful as fasteners are, they only rate 3rd class storage in my smallish garage.

 

[WSMC633]

I have a bunch of small drawers. This is How I use 'em

1. Small Flashlights, Safety Glasses, earplugs, Mag pickup tool, Inspect. Mirror
2. Hex Keys - T-Handles and Normal "L" shaped
3. SAE wrenches (since I only have one set of Combo wrenches in SAE)
4. (semi Deep) - Empty
5. Utility Screwdrivers (cheap ones that get banged up)
6. Punches, chisels
7. Micrometer, small ruler, dial indicator, etc. tire Gauge
8. My cool Sticker Collection
9. Air Tools (amazingly they all fit! 1/4 Ratchet, 3/8 Ratchet, 3/8 Impact, 1/2" impact, 3/8 Drill, and 1/2 Drill)

 

[voidifused]

 

[WSMC633]

You just want to see my cool sticker collection

 

[Fedwrench]

One drawer has smaller things like feeler gauges, spark plug gap gauges, picks, mirror, etc. The other drawer has expendables like razor blades, common bulbs, fuses, sharpees, paint pens, etc. Everyone needs a junk drawer.

 

[voidifused]

You just want to see my cool sticker collection

That and every one's "Junk drawer"

 

[paramudduck]

1. Old style ratcheting wrenches
2. Line wrenches
3. Brake junk
4. Ignition wrenches, Tappet wrenches.
5. Bolt outs
6. Small electrical stuff.

 

[fatfillup]

Welcome aboard slim. You probably have no idea what you gotten yourself into with this bunch. Don't worry about what to put in those small drawers, within 2 months of hanging out here, you'll need a massive roll cab

I keep picks, markers, tip cleaners, razor blades, staple guns,manuals in the small drawers. I also have a drawer of spare wrenches to replace those lost on road calls.

 

[TKmech]

In the smaller top chest im currently using i have 3 small drawers on the top row.

The left side has my screwdrivers, the right side has radiator hose picks and smaller assorted picks, and the middle one house mainly smaller prybars and chisels and punches.

although lately the middle one has become more of a junk drawer and has a couple different jumper wires, chuck keys for both of my drills, markers, a couple different sizes of heat shrink tubing, 1/4 shank quick release extensions, and a couple of harbor freight unibits that i use for drilling steel.

 

[DiStOrTiOn]

Ive got 3 in mine. I keep My OBD2 scan tool in the right hand one, my ratchet extensions/universals in the middle one, and the left one gets razorblades, a small maglight, fold-up hex key sets (they havent seen much use since I got some T-handles), and little junk stuff.

 

[jdcompman]

Agreed! I've been looking for a smaller toolbox just so I could have some nice small drawers for little stuff.

 

[Hawk321]

small tools like picks, brush, magnet, mirror and platic lever(Lisle stuff)....or my list of typical clamps, wire codes and my commonrail diesel handbook...data sheets and fault finder lists.

 

[alex71]

 

[fatfillup]

Isn't it against the rules to have a empty drawer?

 

[alex71]

perhaps some sort of donation from GJ memers is in order, so I can fill it up?

 

[RickP330]

4) sharpies, pens, more hose clamps, rubber dog poop, and a taiwanese tap set

perhaps some sort of donation from GJ memers is in order, so I can fill it up?

LOL,
Looks like draw #4 from Sammerdog - send him the rubber dog poop!!


RickP

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

Small drawers get ones, fives and tens. Larger drawers get twenties, fifties, and hundreds!

 

[JB740i]

The top left has socket adapters, universal joints, and any extensions that are special--locking, flex, whatever.

The middle has sharpies, lighters, tire pressure gauge, tread depth gauge, and a brake wear sensor off my BMW.

The top right has all the other extensions that aren't in the top left.

 

[MAD]

pictures of my little drawers

 

[mikeyr]

ok, now it makes sense what you said about the small drawers, sorry I don't have any of those in my tool box, did not want them.

Here is my toolbox the day it was delivered, glad I took a pic that day, it no longer looks like that

lots of short drawers but full width.
Top drawer has all my Whitworth Metrics and BSF stuff
Second, has regular metrics
Third, screwdrivers, allen wrenches, pliers, small misc. tools
Fourth, SAE wrenches (hardly ever use)
Fifth, torque wrenches and other measuring stuff like calipers, micrometers, anything fragile
rest of the drawers have all the larger tools and things like VOM's etc.

Basically the box is organized top-down with what I use most often, that is why the top has Whitworth Metrics and BSF tools.

 

[sk farmer]

nice top on your chest. what happens when your buddies come over, drink all your beer sit on the top and flip it over? looks way to hazardous with that wide overhang or is it fastened to the wall/

 

[mikeyr]

nice top on your chest. what happens when your buddies come over, drink all your beer sit on the top and flip it over? looks way to hazardous with that wide overhang or is it fastened to the wall/

Top is 1/4" steel plate, that thing is going NOWHERE the bottom is pretty heavy steel as well, forget what gauge the bottom cabinet is made of but its very heavy and with the weight of the top, its going nowhere. I have had several hundred pounds on the ends and its gone nowhere. Its on wheels so not fastened to anything.

 

[Moose-LandTran]

Whitworth Metrics

Eh?


+10 Characters.

 

[goodfellow]

Eh?


+10 Characters.

Just go with it Moose. Whitworth, Metric, they're all foreign concepts to most US mechanics that work on older cars.

A few years ago I one so called "expert mechanic" at a dealership try to convince me in no uncertain terms that Whitworth fasteners were invented, and were used exclusively, in Australia.

I couldn't argue with an "expert".

 

[mikeyr]

Your expert was not too far off by saying Australia after all Australia is part of the U.K. so he gets a plus for knowing its British and he gets a fail for geography.

Whitworth threads or Whitworth Metric refers to bolts that have BSF or BSC threads, British Standard Fine or British Standard Course (although I have been told its British Standard Cycle, I have heard both for the BSC). Its a metric system that was heavily used by the British until sometime in the late 1950's, completely different threads than SAE or Metric and its own set of tools/wrenches as well. Its what fills my first drawer of my tool chest because its what I use most often.

Of course Moose being in the UK I would expect you to know these things !!! or correct me if I am wrong since you are where they were invented and all I know about them is what I learned after years of cussing at why I could never find a wrench that fit my cars parts.

 

[Frank Elson]

Mr Whitworth was born just up the road from where I live here.
The village is called, strangely enough, "Whitworth".

We all owe this guy a huge vote of thanks for even suggesting that fasteners have standard sizes.

 

[goodfellow]

Mr Whitworth was born just up the road from where I live here.
The village is called, strangely enough, "Whitworth".

We all owe this guy a huge vote of thanks for even suggesting that fasteners have standard sizes.

So true Frank. Working on vintage British cars all these years, I've put together a nice selection of vintage European and US "W" "spanners" and "sockets", and am always reminded that Mr. Whitworth is one of the true unsung heroes of the industrial revolution.

EDIT: Correct me if I'm worng here, but I think the only aspect of Whitworth fasteners that's associated with anything remotely metric is the BA standard, which used the same "thread angle" as metric fasteners (IIRC -- 47 degrees). The BA standard is sometimes referred to as Whitworth, but technically not correct. Traditional British Whitworth, as originally developed by Mr. Whitworth uses a 55 degree thread angle.