Lag tool box to wall?

[HellaFab]

Hey GJ.

I have a ~20 year old craftsman tool box I don't have a standard use for.

Have any of you guys lagged a top box to the wall before?

I want to use this top box to put my milling/drilling tools and holders in this box but also need to be able to put my horizontal band saw under it for storage.

Can I mount one of these boxes to the wall? I would likely need to space it off the wall so the top still opens, but a few 2x4's would work fine.

 

[readhead]

Why not. Drill some holes in it and hang away.

 

[PelicanPines]

Use big washers or a strip of flat metal as a support on the inside of the box. Remember you will carry all the weight there.

 

[Mr_B]

make a shelf with triangulated supports upwards if can't be below, then do spacers and screw to wall as well . if welded up some metal brackets you could probably just have the L's no further supports and maybe not even screw to wall .
The box will likely sag in time if heavily loaded and no bottom support

 

[EOC_Jason]

I would make a shelf, with triangular support. Trying to bolt that sheetmetal to the wall I think you will end up with it flexing, then your drawers won't open & close smooth, and the top might not close all the way.

 

[larry_g]

I would not trust a few lags through the back to hold that up with the weight of machining tools in it. If you pull the drawers I believe that you'll find all the structure in the box is at the 4 corners with the side metal just tacked on. So like said above build a shelf that supports the 4 corners of the box. The shelf can be triangulated from below or from above whichever serves you better. That said make your shelf as long as possible to be able to set other accessories on it that will not fit in the box.

In the following pictures you can see how I use the commercial girts as shelves in my pole building.

View media item 46608
View media item 46502
View media item 46263

 

[nadogail]

IMHO, the structure of the box will not tolerate the heavily loaded box being supported by the rear panel.
Put a strong horizontal surface under the box.

 

[readhead]

It's no different than hanging metal cabinets. Holes near the top close to the corners should work fine. I do like the angle bracket idea.
Just goes to show that any problem can have lots of solutions.

 

[Voi]

If you need to space the box away from the wall anyways I'd go ahead and make a beveled (aka "French") cleat system.

You could then make the attachment point to the wall wider than the box if necessary. Also, the attachment points on the box could be anywhere along its matching cleat and not only 16" on center.

You could still support from underneath like others are suggesting.

 

[nh_yota]

Put in on a shelf. I have one of those boxes and it's not very rigid with the top open.

 

[GrayFlattop]

I'd vote for the shelf solution as well. It is amazing how much weight can be packed into drawers - especially with tooling.

And lag bolts? That's a 1950's solution. For this application, I'd use something like GRK RSS in a 1/4" or 5/16" diameter X at least two inches of stud penetration. The GRK screws won't split the stud like lag bolts will.

 

[John in OH]

Mill tools are heavy. All weight in the drawers will be carried by the side rails. All load on the side rails will be carried by the sides of the box. So .... support must be provided for the SIDES of the box, not the back. As others have suggested, use either a shelf under the box or triangular shelf brackets directly under the sides of the box.

I'd be concerned that trying to support the box via the back only would eventually result in the box "racking" to the front and binding the drawers.