Lateral Filing Cabinet Quality Levels

[Bull]

What brands are considered "excellent" in terms of quality? What features do the better cabinets have? Are new cabinets as sturdy as vintage ones, or is it like it usually is and the older stuff is heavier duty? What is the weight limit per drawer?

I don't know anything about these, and am starting to look for them. I want to put a bunch in the upstairs level of my barn to store all kinds of different stuff.

 

[larry_g]

Bull; I'm beginning to think you are gearing up for a guest spot on the Hoarders show.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[Bull]

Bull; I'm beginning to think you are gearing up for a guest spot on the Hoarders show.

lg
no neat sig line

Larry, you should see all of what I am getting rid of. My dad is probably a borderline hoarder. I am constantly going through and selling or tossing stuff.

But when you have three cars that you work on, there are a lot of parts. I also love books, so I have a lot of those. I also have a young child, with another one making a debut in the spring, so there are toys and clothes to keep in the short to medium term.

In that other thread, a lot of the stuff that you see is from one large project, and some of the pieces in that space are on the "get rid of" list.

 

[JimVonBaden]

The industry standard: http://www.hon.com/Products/Files---Storage/Lateral-File-(977).aspx

They will hold at least 200 pounds per drawer, and are generally better than vintage for capacity. Vintage can be cooler though.

Mine:

Jim

 

[Rockcam]

Office furniture has been my business for 25 years - I work for a major manufacturer. We will leave the name out of it.

Actually, HON is a "budget" product, but has certainly improved.

Highest quality lateral file products include Steelcase, Meridian, Haworth, Knoll.

 

[JA94Vette]

I just picked a couple of these up for my garage...I'd be interested to see any good uses of them for garage organization?

 

[Treorp55]

Cant go wrong with a vintage (or Newer) Steelcase! I work for a dealer and am always bringing home stuff for my shops.

 

[JimVonBaden]

Office furniture has been my business for 25 years - I work for a major manufacturer. We will leave the name out of it.

Actually, HON is a "budget" product, but has certainly improved.

Highest quality lateral file products include Steelcase, Meridian, Haworth, Knoll.

Thanks! In that case, the "good stuff" must be damn impressive.

Jim

 

[SteveL]

Was in the office furniture biz from 1975 to 1993 and the top three were:

1. Steelcase
2. GF (General Fireproofing)
3. All Steel

All three built like tanks and were very expensive new.


Hon was considered **** back then but have improved over time. The really cool lateral files are from the late 70's & early 80's when tape and punch card drawers were popular. Would frequently see 30", 36" & 42" wide cabinet with all 4" high drawers. Don't see many now though. Hmmmmmm, I wonder where they all ended up going?

Problem with lateral files is that they are 30" or 40" high which is not a good counter height, at least for me.

The center drawers from the old "tank" style desks from the 50's and 60's make awesome tool drawers. I have a home made bench in my basement wood shop that has eight of them. Looking back, I should have grabbed a lot more.

 

[ny1]

Steelcase stuff is really good. I couldn't afford it new however it's not hard to find it gently used. There are some great used office furniture outlets in Mass. There is a company in Holyoke that has a showroom in a old mill that worth going to just to check out the building.

 

[darkk]

I luckily got all mine for free. And they really are built like tanks. Even the drawer type will hold massive weight. One of the drawers in the drawer cab is full of electric motors and it still opens and closes easily. I'm thinking of getting some overhead type for over the work bench.

 

[JimVonBaden]

I luckily got all mine for free. And they really are built like tanks. Even the drawer type will hold massive weight. One of the drawers in the drawer cab is full of electric motors and it still opens and closes easily. I'm thinking of getting some overhead type for over the work bench.

Hon?

Jim

 

[torquednutzcustoms]

We can't forget flexible montisa in plainwell mi they make top quality modular and lateral files.

 

[c39er]

Was in the office furniture biz from 1975 to 1993 and the top three were:

1. Steelcase
2. GF (General Fireproofing)
3. All Steel

All three built like tanks and were very expensive new.


Hon was considered **** back then but have improved over time. The really cool lateral files are from the late 70's & early 80's when tape and punch card drawers were popular. Would frequently see 30", 36" & 42" wide cabinet with all 4" high drawers. Don't see many now though. Hmmmmmm, I wonder where they all ended up going?

Problem with lateral files is that they are 30" or 40" high which is not a good counter height, at least for me.

The center drawers from the old "tank" style desks from the 50's and 60's make awesome tool drawers. I have a home made bench in my basement wood shop that has eight of them. Looking back, I should have grabbed a lot more.

Above info is 100% right on!. I used to do Electrostatic office furniture painting back in the 70's and moved and painted thousands of fully loaded pieces of metal office furniture.

HON was a light weight cabinet compared to the above three brands.

 

[Cryptic1911]

Hon?

Jim

Actually I think the ones we painted red might be steelcase?

 

[voodoowagon]

I have a recycling center here in Fort Worth and come across these all the time and unfortunetly due to our space dont have room to keep them. However if your in the DFW area and are interested in some when I get more in I will let you know, pretty much would sell them to you for scrap value.

We also get lockers and other metal cabinets.

 

[Bull]

I have a recycling center here in Fort Worth and come across these all the time and unfortunetly due to our space dont have room to keep them. However if your in the DFW area and are interested in some when I get more in I will let you know, pretty much would sell them to you for scrap value.

We also get lockers and other metal cabinets.

Oh, that is a sweet hookup for local folks!

 

[LutzTD]

mine are Hon four drawer laterals and they were a handful to move, very heavy and they are now heavily loaded with no issues in performance. I guess the design is for them to be stuffed with paper which is not light, anyway I would not shy away from the Hons even being the light weights. Seems all are intended for commercial applications and so dont suffer the low cost burden of retail to every joe shmoe, keep an eye out and get the cheapest ones and they will still be fine.

 

[Lippyp]

Mine are canadian made from a company called Teknion and are incredibly well made. You can see them here

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=136616

 

[JimVonBaden]

mine are Hon four drawer laterals and they were a handful to move, very heavy and they are now heavily loaded with no issues in performance. I guess the design is for them to be stuffed with paper which is not light, anyway I would not shy away from the Hons even being the light weights. Seems all are intended for commercial applications and so dont suffer the low cost burden of retail to every joe shmoe, keep an eye out and get the cheapest ones and they will still be fine.

Me and my friend's dad carried them down two flights of stairs, two 5 drawer and one 4 drawer. These things are fuggin heavy!

Might be the cheap ones, but they are not light.

Jim

 

[Bull]

We can't forget flexible montisa in plainwell mi they make top quality modular and lateral files.

Does ayone here have any experience with the Montisa brand?

After a lengthy search during which I found mostly high prices or dimensions I didn't want, I found a pair of three drawer Montisa cabinets that are supposedly from the '60s or '70s. I think they are 42" wide, 39" tall, and 19" deep.

I got the pair for $70.

I plan on putting them next to each other, fabricating a thick wood top to "cap" them with, and use them as a workbench with storage for bulky items underneath.

 

[akdiesel]

Bull

Good score. I am only familiar with the Hon and Lista file cabinets, it looks like they will serve your purpose.
Are you planning on keeping them secured to the wall? Some on here have done some nice rolling filing cabinets, but the only concern I have for that is the tip factor. Those drawers can be over loaded and with rollers on them it reduces the foot print even more.

 

[Dustball]

Office furniture has been my business for 25 years - I work for a major manufacturer. We will leave the name out of it.

Actually, HON is a "budget" product, but has certainly improved.

Highest quality lateral file products include Steelcase, Meridian, Haworth, Knoll.

As a former office furniture installer, I concur.

 

[SwampCat]

Just picked up a Borroughs brand out of Kalamazoo, still NOTHING like my famous AllSteel.

 

[Spudland_Dave]

I've got a 3 Meridians (One is in my basement) and 2 Borroughs (sounds right, cant remember exactly)...all of them are extremely well built when compared to a normal toolbox, by that I mean a Craftsman/HF/Lowes/etc type box...I'd put them on a quality level equal to a tool truck branded box. Good thing is the price, bad thing is the drawer selection, or lack thereof.
I just officially sold my Craftsman 40" Combo Saturday and officially moved my tools into the 2 Borroughs cabinets in the corner. SOOO much more solid then my CMan.

BUT at the end of the day, I sold my Cman because I was tired of the quality of it (Lack thereof) and while I'm currently happy with my current storage solution, and no plans on getting rid of them...I do have my sights set on re-homing my hardline tools into a Macsimizer or KRL/Epiq.