New, but tipped over Lista Cabinet

[Rated ///M]

Hey guys.
have an option to get this cabinet below for $700 bucks. Top two drawers are pinched, but functional, all other drawers still in the cabinet function fine but have minor drawer front damage.

thinking I may move the top two drawers down and cut the cabinet down to the height of good drawers I have and then weld in some upper supports to keep it square. Will be a bit of a frankencabinet, but should serve its purpose well.

thoughts?

 

[jack stand]

I really don't understand the lista fantasy. I'd be down to china freight and looking at a pair of 44"s and stick them under a bench.

 

[Grimpala]

I really don't understand the lista fantasy. I'd be down to china freight and looking at a pair of 44"s and stick them under a bench.

Who said anything about a bench?

OP, can the drawers be un-pinched? A little work with a hammer and dolly might get you two more drawers. Otherwise what you propose should work with the proper preparation and execution.

 

[Rated ///M]

yes, those top two are good, I’m just going to move them down to above the others and cut the top down to that level I think.

 

[LXCam]

Those look very fixable or you might contact American work space (a vendor here) for replacements.

I really don't understand the lista fantasy. I'd be down to china freight and looking at a pair of 44"s and stick them under a bench.

And you never will until to experience the extreme difference in quality.

 

[PoorUB]

No question Lista is good stuff, but way out of my price range!!

 

[Daniel Dudley]

700 bucks for a franken cabinet? Totally up to you.

 

[Rated ///M]

3200 bucks on Lista's website for this new. I got a closer look at it tonight, Only 3 drawers are beyond repair (bent hinges). So instead of a 16 drawer cabinet, I've got 13. $700 is slightly steep for the price I agree, but for a little elbow grease I've got a nice cabinet that will last longer than I will. Picking it up tomorrow, perhaps I'll make a thread on fixing it.

 

[Jeff Ivers]

If the cabinet is not damaged, but 3 drawers are ruined, I might be thinking of moving all the drawers to the top or the bottom and then add a fixed shelf or a homemade drawer in the remaining space instead of cutting down the cabinet. Perhaps a wood drawer with a diamond plate front?

 

[blazemaster83]

If you have lots of heavy tools you will understand the lista/vidmar fantasy. If you don't, any box will do. For instance, my step father just gave me a husky 46 inch cabinet with a butcherblock top. I have never had something this wide, so I decided to put all my 1/4" and 3/8" socket stuff in the large top drawer. The slides are rated for 150lbs and by the time it was loaded up, the slides were not happy and jammed half the time. No way it could handle the 1/2" drive stuff, and don't even think about the 3/4". It all went back in the 30" lista

With a Lista you don't have to worry, it will handle what you have. They are rated for 400 lbs per drawer.

 

[pcmeiners]

"I'd be down to china freight and looking at a pair of 44"s and stick them under a bench."

And once you got them, if you do not load them with a decent load of tools, and if you carefully open and close them every time, and if you never need slides or any other part, they might last your lifetime, if you baby them properly.
Now if you want cabinets that you do not have to worry about, carry a ridiculous load, need a bearing cleaning/greasing once in your lifetime, and once in 20 years for the next hundred years, takes incredible abuse, then you buy LISTA or an equal. Have the equal of those cabinets but (6) 60" with 10-13 drawers each, I can open 65 drawers in the matter of a couple minutes to locate something,.... like to see that done with a horror freight box (of any kind) including the Icon brand. Fantasy.... that what you have when you buy cheap boxes and expect them to last using them realistically

 

[vwpieces]

While I have a crapsman ball bearing good sized toolbox, I still use a 5 drawer Vidmar as my main tool box close to the lift. It's Old, been spray bombed, I have cut a Formica desk top that fits well, put some seriously HD Casters under it and USE it daily for the past 20 years.

But to the OP; before I cut it up to shorten it, I would really look at those drawers. Perhaps drilling out some spot welds and dismantling them a bit might allow for them to be salvaged.
I would also barter a bit on price to possibly help with buying replacement drawers before I tried to shorten the cabinet.

 

[SALIV8]

I’d ask lista.

sounds like you only need a couple drawers.

 

[RivennHewn]

I had some lista cabinets.

sold them and bought a fishing trip in Alaska.

I’ll take that trade any day

 

[bugman-74]

OP: at $700 probably a good deal. Heck, leave the 3 open drawer slots and buy replacement drawers when you are able to.

You'll never regret Listas or Vidmars. I hope to add a few to my shop some day. Use them at work, and store a ton of carbide in them. Dont have much carbide at home, so the HF box does everything I need within budget and I've never had an issue.

 

[brianpgriset]

I actually did exactly what the OP suggested here once but for mine they started as two pieces (previous owner cut them in half).

it was a fair amount of work but came out pretty good. Still had the box and use it all the time.

I’d be tempted to try to get the price to $500 and go for it.
Vidmar resurrection thread here:

Saving a Beat Up Stanley Vidmar Cabinet

During my typical CL add scanning I came across an add for "two heavy duty cabinets". Upon close inspection of the pictures i recongnized that it was two Stanley Vidmar floor cabs; althought they wern't originally configured that way. It appeared in the pictures that either the current or...

www.garagejournal.com

 

[NUTTSGT]

Start a thread on the repair with plenty of pics.

 

[PoorUB]

Call Lista for replacement drawers?

 

[LXCam]

Professional Storage, Workspace, and Workshop Gear - American Workspace Inc.

We Sell Professional Storage Cabinets, Workspace, and Workshop Gear

www.google.com

 

[yeldogt]

What's it worth .... how much for the drawers? What's it worth after it's done?

They make great cabinets that will hold great weight and that may be what you need --- in a working situation the look does not matter as it is about function.

IMO -- the goal would be to get it back to newish at a great price. For hobby use they are over kill and most people want pretty .. after all the work welding .. what do you have and what can you get for $700?

I have a bunch of Snap-on at my one place and it's very nice ... bought it back during one of the downturns years ago. It so overkill for my needs ... I have to second the HF stuff. I have some of the stuff and I have a lot of weight in the drawers and it has no problem. It's the red line ... not the cheaper black. They now have the more professional stuff ...

 

[FMB4]

More photos might better show the extent of the damage. I grabbed a pretty badly dented '79 Proto
5 dwr/cab roll around for $20 at yard sale (I suspect that the damage was done by a forklift). Hammered the shell out the best I could with a short handled 2.5 lb sledge hammer and a 3' 2x4 and 4x4 (my body tools were useless). Spent a day or so annoying the neighbors while pounding it out. Thought it was hopeless at few points, but it all worked out in the end.

 

[wolfhawk73]

If the cabinet is not damaged, but 3 drawers are ruined, I might be thinking of moving all the drawers to the top or the bottom and then add a fixed shelf or a homemade drawer in the remaining space instead of cutting down the cabinet. Perhaps a wood drawer with a diamond plate front?

Yep. Move them to the top. You can probably take the front off of one of the damaged drawers and use the remaining portion as a roll-out shelf. Lista sells roll-out shelves and fixed shelves for their cabinets.

You may want to keep an eye out for replacement drawers. I see them from time to time. One or two large, deep drawers may work for the bottom of the cabinet. With Lista, you can rearrange the drawer slides in pretty much any configuration very easily.

 

[Rated ///M]

Well looks like I won the lottery more than I thought. Couple of the drawer fronts are banged up, but no slides or drawer sides are bent. All drawers function completely normal other than the top one which is currently pinched.

Gurus out there - how would you go about bending that top back with minimal cabinet damage?

 

[LXCam]

Take all the drawers out, cut yourself a piece of 4x the width of the top and some 2x on the bottom. Place that horizontal under the damaged area then use a jack and cribbing to get some pressure pushing up and beat the holy hell out of it

 

[Rated ///M]

Take all the drawers out, cut yourself a piece of 4x the width of the top and some 2x on the bottom. Place that horizontal under the damaged area then use a jack and cribbing to get some pressure pushing up and beat the holy hell out of it

Love it. But I can’t get the top drawer out… gotta figure out how to do that with minimal damage first

 

[Terry D]

How is the top attached, plug welds? I would think you would have to remove it. Then try your best to straighten it. The metal is stretched. Maybe see if you could buy just a top. I has to be repainted anyway by the time you try to straighten it.

I think it is beyond the paintless dent removal guys

 

[FMB4]

Ok, that's really bad. I'd try slide hammering the heck out of it until you can pull the dwr out. If successful, then go with the above recommendations. Otherwise, I'd 'hide' it under a work bench and call it a day.

 

[LXCam]

Love it. But I can’t get the top drawer out… gotta figure out how to do that with minimal damage first

Notch the cap corners and peel it up like a tin can. The lock rod is already popped loose internally so other then creating a little extra metal work for ya, that should get that drawer out. If you’re not familiar with how these are constructed, I’m pretty sure you can halfway catch those details in my bench build. I’ll post a link in a minute.

 

[LXCam]

This link should take you to page 3 and you can kinda see what's going on inside

Building my ultimate Lista work bench

WOWSA . . . that's some Awesome work in building a GJ epic bench for Lista cabinets !! :thumbup: . :thumbup: As others have said, the leveling feet welding/setup is great !! Curious what that beast might weigh when done . . . WITHOUT . . . . . and . . . . . . WITH all the Lista cabinets ...

www.garagejournal.com

 

[Rated ///M]

Appreciate the input everyone. Have a busy weekend, but I should get some time to sneak away to work on this and I'll post pics.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I'm not sure how the top is attached but my thinking is the same as Terry's, spot weld cutter and remove the top.

 

[58Yeoman]

Too bad you're not close to central iL. Three Vidmar's for $1000.

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tinyurl.com

 

[Rated ///M]

Wife wanted to sleep in so I got a little time to tear into it this morning. There was so much tension on the top when I started working it I decided to just cut the front portion off past the damage. Surprisingly very little damage to the framework underneath.

I’m either going to have a new sheet metal cap made and spot weld it in, or if I can’t get that cheap/easy enough, I’ll just patch it some flats that match the profiles and paint it to match.

 

[Terry D]

Wife wanted to sleep in so I got a little time to tear into it this morning. There was so much tension on the top when I started working it I decided to just cut the front portion off past the damage. Surprisingly very little damage to the framework underneath.

I’m either going to have a new sheet metal cap made and spot weld it in, or if I can’t get that cheap/easy enough, I’ll just patch it some flats that match the profiles and paint it to match.

You still might want to see if lista would sell just a replacement top. Its a long shot, but doesnt hurt to try.

 

[Mallen]

3200 bucks on Lista's website for this new. I got a closer look at it tonight, Only 3 drawers are beyond repair (bent hinges). So instead of a 16 drawer cabinet, I've got 13. $700 is slightly steep for the price I agree, but for a little elbow grease I've got a nice cabinet that will last longer than I will. Picking it up tomorrow, perhaps I'll make a thread on fixing it.

There is no such thing as sheet metal beyond repair. At least if the metal is still there. Learn to fix it. It's a skill that will serve you well. It's no different than auto body work.

 

[Mallen]

While I have a crapsman ball bearing good sized toolbox, I still use a 5 drawer Vidmar as my main tool box close to the lift. It's Old, been spray bombed, I have cut a Formica desk top that fits well, put some seriously HD Casters under it and USE it daily for the past 20 years.

But to the OP; before I cut it up to shorten it, I would really look at those drawers. Perhaps drilling out some spot welds and dismantling them a bit might allow for them to be salvaged.
I would also barter a bit on price to possibly help with buying replacement drawers before I tried to shorten the cabinet.

If he doesn't have the skills to fix the drawers, I suspect cutting it down is going to lead to a mess. Also, 700 dollars for a cabinet that has to be repaired like that is really steep. Maybe 4 or 5 max. But if I really wanted it, for 700 dollars Id be thinking along the lines of repairing the drawers. Be drawers goes too far into the money you saved to make it worth it. There's no way I'd pay $700 for a cabinet I was just planning on cutting up.

 

[FMB4]

You could attach a HD steel work top with a brake bent edges (with a front bent edge that meets the drawer) and call it day (after paint). Doing so might be the strongest, quickest, easiest, and lowest cost thing to do.

Btw, some of that damage (upper left front corner) is not repairable without spending far more time than the cabinet will ever be worth.

 

[vwpieces]

Slice that corner of the upper left square with a cut off wheel, some heat to bend things flat again, weld up the corner cut. Your cut will also make up for the stretch from heating and straightening.

I like the idea of the bent HD topper. Nice to have a strong clean bare steel work surface that can take a beating.

 

[tjansson]

I really don't understand the lista fantasy. I'd be down to china freight and looking at a pair of 44"s and stick them under a bench.

If you buy Listas used, they are often similar cubic inch per dollar value than a new HF cabinet. I just bought a 28x28x60 12 drawer off ebay for $680 including freight. By my calculations that's about 40% more storage for 42% more money. I don't mind a used Lista, even beat up they just work so well... I also prefer the tall 60" format Listas over a stacked bottom box+top box - wastes less space and you can stack on top of it.
I do still prefer a more traditional rolling stacked box 18x24 footprint for my everyday tools.

 

[jack stand]

They are nice, no question. It's just the awkward quest of finding them that is the problem for me. If I've got a storage or tool cabinet "itch", I need to scratch it before those dollars that are on fire in my pocket... quit burning.