Lets see your First Toolbox

[Ralf11]

We already got this for your current one. https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/lets-see-your-toolbox.466/

I know I stepped up at least 3-4 times, and I bet others have too.

 

[LXCam]

I still own my first box. I'll grab a pic later.

 

[bobg03]

Cameras were not invented at that time to save pics to google..lol

 

[Welderguy24]

My first Craftsman box, top and bottom, added the center section pretty soon after, Circa 2005.


And currently, 2021

 

[Ralf11]

My first one was a gray Craftsman, no drawers, lift out tray. Got in the '70s and repainted it black after it rusted. It got stolen so I upgraded to 2 drawer model:



This one is now relegated to the hated SAE sizes, and I use a couple of RollAways and a bigger box.

 

[senlow]

I bought my first box about 40 years ago and still have it. I have no idea who made it. I bought it used with no nameplate. A couple of years after I bought it, I stripped the paint and powder coated it black. Later I realized that a Snap-on badge fit perfectly in the factory punched nameplate holes. So, of course, I had to add the Snappy badge.

 

[Jgaz]

My parents got me this Craftsman hand box for Xmas in 70 or 71. I still have it.
As I moved up to larger boxes this became my race box when I was riding enduro races in Michigan.

 

[RandyRanderson]

Jgaz, I have the same box. It was my first as well. Although mine doesnt have quite as many decals.

 

[Ricky Joe]

I made my first box in shop class. It wasn’t a stellar effort. I think it was the first thing I made there. Long gone!

This is the oldest picture I have of any of my boxes through the years. I think it was taken about 1981. The Mac stack was mine.

 

[Bessy]

20" International SPG hand carry box with tray that I think I received when I was about 10? I had one other plastic one prior to this, but it eventually cracked. This is actually a recent photo when I was using it to hold some overflow items, but back in the day this box rode daily with me on my lawn maintenance route, changing many belts and pro cables on my mower over the years.

 

[crewchief888]

my dad gave me my 1st box in '76 when i started my machinist apprenticeship, a used grey CM machinist box. i year or so later, upgraded to kennedy top/mid boxes in the machine shop. bought my 1st mechanics boxes in '78 kennedy top/roller. i started as a mechanic in '84 and added mid and side boxes to the kennedy, upgraded to SO top/bottom in '86, added onto that set over the years. i havnt really used any of my boxes since '04 since i work out of a service truck

 

[BlakeTheCarGuy]

Here is the first “real” toolbox I got lol. Parents got it for me as a birthday gift for I think it was my 13th birthday possibly 14th can’t remember. Still in use today at home I have three boxes at home. First toolbox I had was a set of AWP tool bags but I still have them somewhere just not sure where lol. I don’t sell tools or toolboxes so they are staying forever haha. And yes I know my basement is a mess lol we are sorta pack rats .

 

[GaryM909]

I bought this Snap On one when I was a welding apprentice back in the 70's. I bought this box, a magnet and a blue point tape measure the same day. That was the last time I set foot in a tool truck. My son was supposed to take it with him when he moved out but after storing it for a few years I started using it for a welding cart. I was going to take the bottom drawers out to add my plasma cutter but I haven't got around to it yet.

 

[Billgluckman]

I actually just dragged it out of my storage shed and “restored” it. Need a box for work and I like projects

 

[ZRX61]

Mine was stolen.

 

[cjarvis]

My first toolbox was a craftsman two drawer hand-carried box. I wish I still had it. My first rolling tool boxes were also craftsman. One was a 26” three drawer cabinet with a hutch underneath, and the other was a 26” five drawer cabinet. Both of those were teh **** and were happily traded toward my black Snap On KR761. Sorry, no pics of the craftsman boxes.

ETA: Updated with screen shots from the 94-95 tool catalog.

 

[4lug39]

The first is just picture off the internet of the type of tool box I bought when I went to colloge . I quickly bought the 4 drawer and out grew it very soon after then the small roll around box in '86. Still have the 2nd and 3rd boxes.

 

[tez929rr]

First box purchased when I worked at my home town Sears in 1977; part of a 100 piece set. Everything fit in there even as I added tools until we bought our first home 11 years later. I repainted the tray a couple of years ago but for as much as I hauled this all over the US it’s still in great shape.

 

[BreeStephany]

Here's my first and current true toolbox!

I built a custom power drawer for it and fully shadowed it!

 

[cannuck]

My first toolbox was a small, red 6" x 15" SK Wayne with a 3/8" ratchet/socket set on lift out tray and some combination wrenches below. My Dad gave it to me 60 years ago for my 12th birthday (along with a V8-60 to take apart). Somehow it got used as a small fittings box in one of our mobile tool trailers, and employees beat the living **** out of it over the years. I finally found it again and will give it to my eldest grandson who turns 12 this summer. We will restore it and return the remaining correct original tools to it.

 

[Grimpala]

First box purchased when I worked at my home town Sears in 1977; part of a 100 piece set. Everything fit in there even as I added tools until we bought our first home 11 years later. I repainted the tray a couple of years ago but for as much as I hauled this all over the US it’s still in great shape.

My grandfather has this same toolbox full of sockets, wrenches, and various other smaller tools. I love this box. Sadly he's gone, but the box is still sitting on his old workbench.

 

[afazz]

Here is my progression, from my first box at ~12 years old until today!




The Craftsman stack on the left was first, then I expanded to include the Craftsman stack on the right.

 

[poppinjohnnies]

My parents got me this Craftsman hand box for Xmas in 70 or 71. I still have it.
As I moved up to larger boxes this became my race box when I was riding enduro races in Michigan.

My first one is identical! Stickered up and all!

 

[Junkdrawer Dog]

My first one is identical! Stickered up and all!

My ancestors were part of a wave of people who left the Appalachian coal mines in the 1950s and 60s, seeking work in the factories of the Midwest. Every one of them seemed to arrive with one of those grey Craftsman hand carry boxes in the trunk of the car, including my Dad. Until I was about 13, I thought that was the only kind of toolbox made. I had one in the trunk of my Nova when I headed off to Purdue in 1975.

 

[Blt2Lst]

Mine was stolen.

Mine was also by my scumbag neighbor.

 

[Shop-hound]

Got my first real box for my 16th birthday from my mom. She got it at Canadian Tire where I also happened to work at the time assembling bicycles. Still my go-to box and holding up quite well for 20 years old:

 

[CGarage]

Looks great!!!! Well cared for!!!

 

[mrobins297aaa]

This was my first tool box, it's a remline that I bought used in the late 60's, I still have it

 

[poppinjohnnies]

My ancestors were part of a wave of people who left the Appalachian coal mines in the 1950s and 60s, seeking work in the factories of the Midwest. Every one of them seemed to arrive with one of those grey Craftsman hand carry boxes in the trunk of the car, including my Dad. Until I was about 13, I thought that was the only kind of toolbox made. I had one in the trunk of my Nova when I headed off to Purdue in 1975.

When I took off to my first base in the USAF, I had a Ford Ranger with a bed topper. I bolted an old one drawer file cabinet in the front of the bed and I stored my Craftsman tool box in that thing - with a big padlock securing it.

 

[Trapps]

My first tool box was inherited from my grandfather. He riveted a plate to the top with his name on it. I still keep some of his tools in it.

 

[jkherd]

I bought this one when I was 16 and working in the service dept at Western Auto. Just a little bit of time has passed, I still have it but now just use it for storage.

 

[Nutria]

Had an old Sears Companion box since I was 14. My father bought it in ~1965. It was still in service in my truck when it was destroyed. It looked like this:

 

[CGarage]

Had an old Sears Companion box since I was 14. My father bought it in ~1965. It was still in service in my truck when it was destroyed. It looked like this:

Should have taken it out of the truck

 

[Nutria]

Should have taken it out of the truck

That would have been a good idea.

 

[J-BELL]

This was a Christmas gift from my dad after I left home and got married, started a family etc when I was about 21. Gees that was 54 years ago. It was a craftsman 1/2 “ socket set and the craftsman vise. That was the beginning of my acquisition of tools over my life. I think the quality of those tools is better than most of what you will find today.

 

[Matt XYZ]

My Craftsman toolbox that I got for Christmas in the late 80s. I still have the craftsman wrenches and 1/4 and 3/8 ratchets and sockets that my Dad filled it with but have upgraded. I've passed it on to my son now, not sure how interested he will be in fixing stuff.

 

[Kent_B]

Here's my first and current true toolbox!

I built a custom power drawer for it and fully shadowed it!

Is the locker on the left the one you had a build thread on a while back? If so, it came out really well

 

[MarvinBerry]

Maybe not first but first I still have & use is a 2 drawer Cman rally box. 90s era with the black crinkle paint.

Got it cheap when I worked at Sears. Was a customer return with a broken weld in the cantilever tray... and then we lost the keys lol

Still in great shape. At one point it held what was left of my blow mold socket set then sat empty a few years... Now it has my "clean tools" and speciality stuff for guitar repair.

Maybe the best $20 I've ever spent.

 

[BreeStephany]

Is the locker on the left the one you had a build thread on a while back? If so, it came out really well

It sure is!

 

[Zewnten]

Very first thing I put tools in was a 5 gallon bucket with one of those organizers around it. Then I upgraded to a very rough very old proto top chest that was way overloaded for my first mechanic job. Then came along a craftsman bottom roller with no wheels I put the proto on.