New to me toolbox project

[thoraudio]

I'd been looking for a decent toolbox, but I am also in a very budget conscious period, so I'd been scouring Craigslist. Found this earlier this week for $100.

It's Allsteel, and looks to be a modular unit of sorts. It is of a medium gauge steel. Certain parts are extremely heavy duty, and others, not as much. The lateral file drawer is obviously designed for hanging weight, and not stuff piled on the bottom of the drawer. But the drawer guides are heavy duty ball bearing types, and there is plenty of storage, so I think I've got a project on my hands.

The sides are uncovered, as this probably came out of a bank of similar units. One of the first projects will be to find suitable side covers. Diamond plate sounds nice.

Obviously designed for hanging files, I'll need to seal off the bottom of this drawer. A piece of MDF should make a good bottom, right?

Drawer guides.

What caught my eye in the ad was the roll up door.

Includes an adjustable shelf, and plenty of places for wire runs. Looks like a tool garage to me, complete with lights and chargers.

Picture of the hardware on the top shelf. It's great because the door opens OVER the top of the unit, taking up no room on the inside. I figure some small shelves for part bins will work great up here.

Picture of the frame. It has level adjustable legs, but we'll see if we can't get some casters under there.

Looking forward to getting to work on it.

 

[blackhawkdriver]

Should be pretty sweet. you gonna paint it?

 

[thoraudio]

Should be pretty sweet. you gonna paint it?

yes, but I need to pick a color.

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

I don't know how strong a unit that would be rated for. I would store bulky items like power saw, jigsaw, etc, in there and find a regular toolbox for hand tools. Just my $0.02.

 

[neophyte]

It looks like a nice unit. If you use MDF you'll probably want to finish it with a solvent resistant finish, maybe something epoxy based. As far as strength goes, the cabinet should have a pretty good weight capacity since paper files can be very heavy.

 

[thoraudio]

it will be mostly a storage unit for my small power tools (jigsaw, router, etc...). I don't plan on putting 500 pounds of sockets and wrenches in it (not that I have that much anyway).

BUT, it's a pretty strong unit. Stronger than the inexpensive rolling box that currently holds my tools.

The drawer faces and top cabinet door unscrew, so painting those will be easy. The middle roller door area will require a more delicate touch.

 

[thoraudio]

Progress. Nearing completion.

added some casters for mobility.

Nut and Bolt and Screw storage up top.

work area

Deep drawer at bottom is great for oversized stuff and boxes.

What's left? Power strips and lights for the bolt storage and work area.

 

[skippy24]

Nice work.

 

[thoraudio]

thanks. it was a lot of fun.

 

[zkling]

That is just all kinds of awesome. Great job Cool paint scheme, peg board, roll down door.

 

[SweetD]

Hey, nice job! How are you finding the drawer operation with some equipment in the bottom of that file folder drawer? OK?

Dave

 

[thoraudio]

Drawers are roller, and designed for lots of paper. So they work great.

Couple of nice features are auto close drawers and lockout which keeps multiple drawers from opening.

The autoclose drawer feature almost bit me in the **** though. I measured the depth for clearance for the casters with the drawer open, and I was good. Put on the casters, and as the drawer closes, the gap gets smaller and smaller until the bottom drawer catches on the caster stem about 2 inches from being closed. Had to cut another half inch off, and use a half height jam nut to make it fit.

 

[rick carpenter]

Looks nice. What are you planning to work on in the work area? A suggestion... add a pull out shelf for light duty work. Then you can sit down at it and have an overhang for small clamps etc. A clever hinged section in the back the same depth as the pull-out depth will give you a solid worksurface.

 

[jakemac]

I'm thinking that if you can add an exhaust vent to to the back of the work area, that would make a great air-brush / painting station.

 

[thoraudio]

Looks nice. What are you planning to work on in the work area? A suggestion... add a pull out shelf for light duty work. Then you can sit down at it and have an overhang for small clamps etc. A clever hinged section in the back the same depth as the pull-out depth will give you a solid worksurface.

Small and/or electronic work mostly.

I definitely want to put in a pull out work shelf, it's just a matter of figuring out the hardware.

 

[06ramctd]

Looks good!

 

[thoraudio]

Looks good!

Thanks.