Large construction site tool cabinet reconfiguring

[toddoky]

I'm in the middle of reconfiguring a large construction site tool box to something that will be much more efficient and practical for storing large tools in my garage that are currently all over the place. In it's stock form, this box is a pain in the *** to load things in and out of and will be converted to a 2-shelf front load cabinet with 4 doors for easy access. I will be keep the flip top operational and be adding a 2" deep tray under the top to store furniture clamps and other long and skinny items.

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[LXCam]

Very cool. I have a couple of that style and it seems no matter what it is you're looking for, it's always on the bottom. Will you be doing a color change also?

 

[toddoky]

Very cool. I have a couple of that style and it seems no matter what it is you're looking for, it's always on the bottom. Will you be doing a color change also?

You got that right, what you need to get to is usually buried on the bottom and you can never really use all the cubic storage space that they have...I'll be able to stuff it full now. I'll probably keep it red and just do a rattle can touch-up job across the front of it since it matches my Snap-on KR1000/KR1010 set-up.

 

[jhn9840]

You should be able to put a ton of stuff in there in that configuration. I've wondered why they never manufactured those job boxes this way.

jhn9840
John

 

[LXCam]

You should be able to put a ton of stuff in there in that configuration. I've wondered why they never manufactured those job boxes this way.

jhn9840
John

They do, knack makes one that the entire front opens up on. But they ain't cheap.

 

[toddoky]

They do, knack makes one that the entire front opens up on. But they ain't cheap.

They're about $1500 to $1900 if I remember correctly.

 

[rsanter]

I have some of the deep lista drawers if you wanted to install some deep drawer for storing stuff

Bob

 

[toddoky]

I have some of the deep lista drawers if you wanted to install some deep drawer for storing stuff

Bob

Thanks for the offer Bob, but I'm going without any type of drawers on this project for maximum flexibility and the ability to store a large quantity of tools that I keep in their blow molded cases.

 

[toddoky]

Finished up the reconfiguring and painting of the interior of the box, which included adding plywood to the bottom and middle shelf. I will give the paint a week to dry before loading in the rest of the stuff I want to put in it and will put some doors on it in the coming weeks.

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[Strouty]

Looks nice, I am interested in how you do the doors. Ever planning on using it outside or is this now an inside only box?

 

[toddoky]

Looks nice, I am interested in how you do the doors. Ever planning on using it outside or is this now an inside only box?

The doors will be sheet metal bent on a brake to have a 1" flange all the way around. The handles will be locking recessed T-handles like what you see on the doors of a truck utility bed. It will be used indoors only; if I was going to be using it outside I would build the doors from the aluminum clad plywood panels that are used to build semi-trailer doors and use the same double lipped gasket strips around the edges to create a weather proof seal.

 

[toddoky]

I ordered some plastic bins from ULINE and starting taking advantage of the storage and cleaning up my garage...I'll be able to get more into this thing than I planned for once I build one more shelf above the bins, load what's in the bins now onto the shelf and then load the bins with the last of my **** scattered about. I received the doors today from the sheet metal shop (look great) and need to weld the corners up and paint them before I can hang them. Once that's done, I'll mask the box off so I can paint the front to match the doors; I'll paint the rest of the box some other time between projects.

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[sqznby]

Awesome job, it looks great.
Man I could've used your creative mind back in the day. We used to dump everything at the end of the day and curse ourselves every morning digging it out, haha.

 

[toddoky]

Awesome job, it looks great.
Man I could've used your creative mind back in the day. We used to dump everything at the end of the day and curse ourselves every morning digging it out, haha.

Thanks, the effort has been well worth it. I used to be able to work in a cluttered environment when I was younger, but It drives me nuts now and I can't stand tripping/crawling over stuff or not being able to immediately find what I'm looking for.

 

[toddoky]

I validated the fitment of the outer door panels this morning, so I can now build inner frames for them next week from 1" square tubing and get them painted. The holes in the door panels are for accepting the recessed T-handles I plan on using.

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[LXCam]

That's turning out great!

 

[toddoky]

Thanks, it think it will perform its intended function admirably.

 

[Strouty]

That will be a great addition to the arsenal. I would love to make something like that, maybe someday, at least I have this thread for motivation. Every once in a while there will be dozens of those boxes at an auction and they will sell for $50 or less. Next time I may just scoop up a couple. Most of them have some seriously dented up fronts, your fix solves that issue!

 

[toddoky]

That will be a great addition to the arsenal. I would love to make something like that, maybe someday, at least I have this thread for motivation. Every once in a while there will be dozens of those boxes at an auction and they will sell for $50 or less. Next time I may just scoop up a couple. Most of them have some seriously dented up fronts, your fix solves that issue!

As long as someone has the time and skills to execute it, I think it's a good way to go. I'll only have about $500 in it when its all said and done, so it's a pretty cheap way to get a large amount of semi-secure bulk storage. I'm a little pissed that I didn't think of doing it years ago when I first bought it and just suffered with it until recently when I decided to sell it due to its major shortcomings.

The light didn't go off in my head to create it until I started pricing large cabinets that would do the job, but I guess it's alright in the end since I'll end up saving a ton of cash and get exactly what I need instead of something only close.

 

[southalabama]

Wow

I started reading this thread and raised my eyebrows wondering how it would turn out.

The answer is freaking awesome.

Good job.

 

[toddoky]

Wow

I started reading this thread and raised my eyebrows wondering how it would turn out.

The answer is freaking awesome.

Good job.

Thanks,it should look even better once I get the final steps done.

 

[toddoky]

It's been a few months since I posted about this project, but I recently got the inner frame structures built into the door skins and am getting them primed before I install them into the face frame of the cabinet. Once I get that done I will mask off the cabinet and paint the doors and install the handles to finish it.

 

[gearhead1]

I totally agree about everything on the bottom. What you have done is make Ito the way it should be to begin with. Nice work.

 

[toddoky]

It's been a few months since I posted about this project, but I recently got the inner frame structures built into the door skins and am getting them primed before I install them into the face frame of the cabinet. Once I get that done I will mask off the cabinet and paint the doors and install the handles to finish it.

Thanks. I think the original configuration might work well for a construction contractor, but it wasn't well suited for automotive/garage tool storage.

 

[Richard Cranium]

nice looking storage, I think I would of put the lista drawers in it also. But that is just me also.. Richie

 

[toddoky]

nice looking storage, I think I would of put the lista drawers in it also. But that is just me also.. Richie

Thanks. I have no shortage of drawers in the collection of mechanics tool boxes I own, but have been lacking suitable, secure, bulk storage for some time. This solves that problem and is instantly reconfigurable. No drawers needed.