picked up some Lista cabinets for the workshop

[j keith w]

Picked up Lista cabinets for the workshop Friday from a 50-year-old local company that built graders and has now closed (also where I got my Weldsale table and my 3'x12'x1" welding table) - approximately 35 linear feet of counter-height storage wall components in various conditions depending on where they were installed in the plant.

Here are the units I purchased:





I spent yesterday unloading and separating everything to inventory the drawer sizes, configure my installation, and note what needs to be serviced.

As you can see, many of the drawer faces have had a rough life and are chalky - I'm hoping I can clean and wax them or restore the finish somewhat to make them presentable without having to repaint them; other components like several of the side columns will need to be painted once I determine the paint code (the RAL codes on LISTAs site don't seem to match these cabinets, and I suspect I have a mix of Classic Blue and Brilliant Blue in my package.)







Here's the configuration I'm thinking of (well, I'll add it when I figure out how to post a PDF.)

I prefer the drawers line up section-to-section with some symmetry, so it's off to the spreadsheet to see what can go where. Does anyone know of any LISTA drawer exchange sources in case I need to substitute some sizes for a nicer handle alignment?

 

[loganb]

That's an awesome addition ! It you need ideas on outfitting them be sure to hit up @MadeByMiller and @Grant Gunderson build threads as they both have many of them well kitted out!

 

[Grant Gunderson]

Congrats! Wish I could find a deal like that!
I have 3 Lista cabinets and 2 Vidmars. The Listas are my favorite.

Those are 16 drawer unites, and are awesome for parts storage and machine tooling.

https://www.schallercorporation.com is the best source for the bins to line them with.

The Lista trays are really nice for tooling that has variable lengths such as reamers and taps.


This is one of their wider cabinets that I restored.

I am using custom foam inserts from www.toolbed.de




There is no more efficient or better built storage system than Lista.

 

[zkdiesel]

Wonderful score! Love that for new building

 

[j keith w]

Thanks, guys - and thanks for the links! I'm in the shop right now trying to find a suitable container to use with Evapo-Rust to clean up the slider support brackets (2/3s of them are really rusty.) Hard to find something with a 28" clear bottom span, it seems.

 

[RMERR]

I needed a long soak tray too. Found a different solution, but here's a couple I looked at.

American Metalcraft MT6 29 3/4" x 6 1/8" Black Melamine Market Tray

Display your delicious culinary creations with a sophisticated background by using this American Metalcraft MT6 29 3/4" x 6 1/8" black melamine market tray. It is ideal for everyday use at your bakery, deli, restaurant, or buffet. With a smooth melamine surface that resists cracking and...

www.webstaurantstore.com

https://www.amazon.com/Novelty-Poly-Pro-Plastic-Planter-36-Inch/dp/B000BQNB8Q/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[LXCam]

Whatta a score, congrats!

 

[loganb]

Thanks, guys - and thanks for the links! I'm in the shop right now trying to find a suitable container to use with Evapo-Rust to clean up the slider support brackets (2/3s of them are really rusty.) Hard to find something with a 28" clear bottom span, it seems.

Tarp or clear plastic and 2*6's tacked together

 

[NC Fabricator25]

Nice cabinets and looks like you’ve got a nice shop to be able to set them up and use them. I’ve got a few Vidmar units lately, still trying to get them incorporated into my space.

Curious where you’re located, don’t happen to be near Charlotte do you? Asking because I’m aware of a local company that built graders and closed shop several years back and I’m wondering if it’s the same place.

 

[j keith w]

Found an appropriate trash can at Lowes:

 

[j keith w]

Nice cabinets and looks like you’ve got a nice shop to be able to set them up and use them. I’ve got a few Vidmar units lately, still trying to get them incorporated into my space.

Curious where you’re located, don’t happen to be near Charlotte do you? Asking because I’m aware of a local company that built graders and closed shop several years back and I’m wondering if it’s the same place.

Champion, right? They still have a lot of LISTA left - several tall storage walls, and some roll-around units.

 

[MadeByMiller]

Wow, awesome score! Those modular rack style Lista configurations are interesting. I've only got one Lista, the rest are Vidmar, but you will surely love them. Definitely pays to get them nicely cleaned up before you start loading them.

I'm not aware of any drawer swapping resources and I'm sure shipping would kill that sort of deal. You could try eBay though. Also, American Workspace is a Lista resource if you need parts. The owner Joe is a member here (@Motorhead Extraordinaire), but unfortunately he hasn't been active in a few years.

Here are my cabinets:



Hopefully you got some of the sheet metal dividers with your boxes. They're really useful. My best organized drawers are in my hand tool cabinet, I'll link to my thread HERE for you to see.

Another noteworthy drawer:


And the hardware drawer:


*Edited to say: I totally understand the aesthetic decision to want all the drawer pulls lined up, but I recommend organizing the drawers in whatever order makes the most sense for the tools stored in them. Keeping related tools in the same section makes more sense in my mind than having to move to different sections of the system just to maintain the pull height.

 

[j keith w]

Ok, while I'm ordering paint samples, what's the consensus on pressure washing these? The LAST thing I want is to create rust issues in the seams (particularly since I'm making efforts to remove the existing rust.)

Wash & heat to dry, or some such process?

 

[Grant Gunderson]

I’d pressure wash them, but not the drawer cages with the ball bearings. Just wipe those down and be sure to re-grease the bearings/ rails when you reinstall. I used super lube on mine.

 

[pcmeiners]

Pressure wash entire cabinets after spraying with de-greaser, including the bearing, but you need to soak up excess water after washing, with some old towels, and apply heat. I placed a tarp over a few washed units, place a turbo torch in one unit, low flame, and dried mine out. Packed each bearing with synthetic grease, light coat on every rail surface where the bearing/rollers contact. Body putty for any rust spots

 

[NC Fabricator25]

Champion, right? They still have a lot of LISTA left - several tall storage walls, and some roll-around units.

Yes, that's it. Had a great tour of the shop by the owner, or may have been the owner's son, very neat to see such industrial grade equipment fabricated from basic steel, hydraulics, etc.

Side note, I've seen a few of their recent "project graders" for sale on FBM; these must have been the machines that were in partial stages of completion when they ceased production. Would be a neat project to buy and finish up, but that would require more time, space, and money than I have at the moment.

 

[j keith w]

Well, the trash can was a failure (but the EvapoRust isn’t)



The can started to split with 15 gallons in it.



-the side mounts showed improvement in just 20 minutes or so:

 

[j keith w]

Ok guys, 2 new questions:

First, what's the consensus about using leveling feet under the uprights? I have a substantial slope to address over 30 feet or so, so threaded feet would be the easiest setup, I think. Logically, the drawer weight is on the side supports, which are attached to the uprights' front and rear vertical legs, so the weight should be carried directly downward onto the feet. I suppose the counterpoint is that with a drawer extended, it applies 2x weight on the front feet and has a counter-levered lifting action on the rear, and there is no actual attachment to the slab to prevent sliding...

Second, I use 3D printing daily for fit verification for the steel parts that I design, and although I largely view printing actual products as a novelty, there are filament advances that I am certainly unaware of - is it plausible that there might be a filament capable of withstanding the compressive forces these cabinets might produce when loaded, so as to be used as printed custom leveling shims with 100% infill?
At 440 potential pounds per drawer, it would be asking a lot of the filament, but the convenience of printing an exact shim for the height/slope as needed would be attractive.

I typically use HDPE sheet in conjunction with redhead anchors to create shims for locating and leveling my lifts and welding tables, but it's a lot of cutting & drilling work and I'm wary of stacking too many - which would be the situation along the long side of the cabinet installation.

Thoughts/Wisdom?

 

[Sumboodie]

What's the difference between Lista and Villar? *vid mar... stupid phone keeps changing it!

 

[Sumboodie]

Ok guys, 2 new questions:

First, what's the consensus about using leveling feet under the uprights? I have a substantial slope to address over 30 feet or so, so threaded feet would be the easiest setup, I think. Logically, the drawer weight is on the side supports, which are attached to the uprights' front and rear vertical legs, so the weight should be carried directly downward onto the feet. I suppose the counterpoint is that with a drawer extended, it applies 2x weight on the front feet and has a counter-levered lifting action on the rear, and there is no actual attachment to the slab to prevent sliding...

Second, I use 3D printing daily for fit verification for the steel parts that I design, and although I largely view printing actual products as a novelty, there are filament advances that I am certainly unaware of - is it plausible that there might be a filament capable of withstanding the compressive forces these cabinets might produce when loaded, so as to be used as printed custom leveling shims with 100% infill?
At 440 potential pounds per drawer, it would be asking a lot of the filament, but the convenience of printing an exact shim for the height/slope as needed would be attractive.

I typically use HDPE sheet in conjunction with redhead anchors to create shims for locating and leveling my lifts and welding tables, but it's a lot of cutting & drilling work and I'm wary of stacking too many - which would be the situation along the long side of the cabinet installation.

Thoughts/Wisdom?

No worse than plastic door shims. Or wood.

 

[Sumboodie]

Champion, right? They still have a lot of LISTA left - several tall storage walls, and some roll-around units.

Champion hasn't existed for nearly 30 years. Bought out by *****.

 

[j keith w]

Champion hasn't existed for nearly 30 years. Bought out by *****.

Apparently, Gary bought it back from Volvo — but they've been pretty much closed except for spare parts sales for the last several years. A real estate developer has since bought the property, so he's selling everything now to vacate.

It's like a candy store for small shop owners - so much cool stuff!

 

[j keith w]

I think I'm going with these leveling feet - 1300lb capacity each: Carr Lane Manufacturing
those should elevate the cabinets 1" minimum (which is ok, since I mop) and give me about 30mm of height adjustment.

28mm is the tallest shim stack I have under the low end of the current row of shelving that the cabinets will be replacing, so I'll probably weld nuts to the underside of the last upright to get that full extension, or worst-case use a couple of traditional shims under those 2 feet...

 

[pcmeiners]

"applies 2x weight on the front feet and has a counter-levered lifting action on the rear "

Do not go crazy creating leveling shims, stacked thin plywood chocks are sufficent.

With my Vidmars, I had a client give me slabs of steel approx 1 1/2 thick, varying around 50lbs each, I placed a steel slab in the rear below the lower drawer to counter weight opening drawers in each cabinet. Some second hand gym weight machine weights will also fit. Vidmars and Lista are basically the same spec wise.
They can be lethal if they fall forward. On the other hand you get used to opening only a couple drawers at a time. The real danger is if a child opens more than one drawer at a time; with kids, anchor to a wall.

If you have the resources, AC 300, ac 600 or ac 1000, have these on a couple machines

AUTO CFT Carry master AC-600 CASTER WHEEL | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for AUTO CFT Carry master AC-600 CASTER WHEEL at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

 

[j keith w]

"applies 2x weight on the front feet and has a counter-levered lifting action on the rear "

Do not go crazy creating leveling shims, stacked thin plywood chocks are sufficent.

With my Vidmars, I had a client give me slabs of steel approx 1 1/2 thick, varying around 50lbs each, I placed a steel slab in the rear below the lower drawer to counter weight opening drawers. Some second hand gym weight machine weights will also fit. Vidmars and Lista are basically the same spec wise.
They can be lethal if they fall forward. On the other hand you get used to opening only a couple drawers at a time. The real danger is if a child opens more than one drawer at a time; with kids, anchor to a wall.

you know, the wall anchor isn't a bad idea - and easily done. Thank you!

 

[j keith w]

If you have the resources, AC 300, ac 600 or ac 1000, have these on a couple machines

AUTO CFT Carry master AC-600 CASTER WHEEL | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for AUTO CFT Carry master AC-600 CASTER WHEEL at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

I use something similar on my Langmuir table.

 

[pcmeiners]

When I first got my Vidmars I had 2 cabinet fall forward, thankfulness they were not fully loaded yet, no damage and no major pain on my part. Since then I only open 2 drawers at most. After having a 60" cabinet go over , you do not forget. Again these cabinets could easily kill a child.

"I use something similar on my Langmuir table."

Have a 1350 lb band saw on similar set

 

[j keith w]

Quick update: Because of the amount of rust I must remove from the vertical side frames and lower universal panels, I think I've decided to have those powder-coated for longevity. At that point, I'll paint the faces of the drawers to match. I'm seriously considering changing the color to white once the spray-out arrives from LISTA. I have Bright Blue and White on the way.

(It's a budget-buster, but I suppose I'm considering it an investment in tool storage for the rest of my life.)

I could not match the existing colors to any of the RAL numbers that LISTA cites on its site, so I'm interested to see if the spray-outs match RAL codes at all. The representative I spoke with seemed hesitant to confirm any color matches and suggested I have custom paint matching done locally (not easily achieved with the variety of faded shades I have.) I'll likely match the spray-outs as best I can with available powder and then custom-match the drawer face paint to the chosen powder if needed.

The drawers will get a pass on the leading edge of the lower side with the gray used by LISTA inside to cover the factory blue overspray. Any drawer that doesn't clean up well will also have that gray sprayed inside. Then, I envision a simple masking/positioning jig for easily setting up and painting the drawer faces individually as I assemble the units. I'll need to determine how to remove and reinstall the handles safely, so if anyone has done that, I'd appreciate advice ahead of time.

I'd prefer to have the drawer faces professionally painted (and may do so in the end), but I still have to determine the countertop solution and budget for that as well.