Machinist rollaway organizing

[Codyyy]

I inherited an old Craftman rollaway with two Kennedy top boxes, the intermediate box is a 2-drawer and the top box is an 8-drawer type. I like this rollaway and wish I could add to it with a hang-on side box, but I'd rather organize it better. I'm not much into machinist tools other than a few calipers and stuff. The first two drawers are too shallow to put any sort of ratchet or even sockets in. Basically my sockets sit in one of the drawers for the Kennedy top box, and it is very heavy. My screwdrivers sit in another drawer which is not big enough to put all of my screwdrivers in. Do you guys have any better ideas or should I just get a different rollaway eventually and use that one for the tools that better fit in it? Thanks.

 

[rockwithjason]

you will want to change boxes for the bigger items

 

[larry_g]

There is a reason that mechanics and machinists have different style of boxes. Select the box that will serve you. Free is not a good price if the item makes life harder for you.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[Codyyy]

Yeah, that's probably what I'll have to end up doing. I really like the rollaway but wish it had thicker drawers. I know that it was built for a different purpose than mechanic's toolchests. I bought an old beat up Craftman basic 5 drawer rollaway just for overflow/ specific tools that do not get used much. Still, that's more of a Band-Aid to the situation. I was going to put a bigger intermediate cabinet in but that would make it too tall.

 

[cheechi]

with some photos we may be able to help you out in the short term. The advice to get boxes that suit your needs better is still ultimately best.

 

[zkling]

I'm going to assume that you have a 29" wide bottom box, which narrows down your selection, but...

Get rid of the top and mid and get a full size top box of this style.

There is a reason that mechanics and machinists have different style of boxes. Select the box that will serve you. Free is not a good price if the item makes life harder for you.

lg
no neat sig line

I still question why those "machinist" boxes are still so popular. I think they are just a carry over from back in the day when guys needed to be mobile and only had a bench top for their work space. Thus the thinner boxes were popular. Now a days manufacturing facilities seem to be going to industrial cabinets and individual work stations.