Sailboat Tool Chest

[Microship]

Hi folks...

I'm new here, but have landed in your discussions many times whilst Googling for answers about tool-related questions. I just joined yesterday, and did an intro post that gives a bit of background and points to a 2.4 meg PDF about my 24' mobile lab.

Anyway, since the Introductions forum is probably not the place for a tech question, I'll jump in here. I've seen a lot of interesting threads about tool boxes, I can't justify the cost of a Gerstner, and I don't like junk that falls apart... in my lab I have a big stainless Kobalt that is adequate (although not inspiring) along with a battered old Craftsman from my salad days in the '70s. But I now have a much harder problem to solve.

Basically, I'm converting the original salon region of my 44' steel pilothouse sailboat into a lab/studio, with four 19" sloping rackspaces wrapped around a central seat. (These are networking/systems, media and audio production, communciations, and lab instruments.) The central desktop retracts and a full-size digital piano can be pulled out on stainless drawer slides, and there are a few other "transformer" features as well as integral compressor, shop vac, parts inventory drawers, 3D rapid prototyping machine, and printed-circuit fabrication tools. Most power tools are in individual bags attached to labeled and tethered lines, stuffed back into a deep cabinet that would otherwise be dead space.

But here's the issue. On the right side of all this, adjacent to the "Lab" console and above a small "wing" of the desktop, I want tool storage... my existing methods aboard have been a real nuisance and thus rarely put away (roll-ups and kits in a drawer down at floor level, with power tools in an under-seat bin). I have about 24" of width to play with, around 16" depth, and 32" from desktop to ceiling (including an opening lid, if it's that type of multi-drawer tool chest). Width and depth are a little tweakable if needed; I'm still working on the console system and have some flexibility.

Conditions are intermittently rough, and I've learned from YIKES experience that I don't want to leave the helm in a blow to deal with a heavy drawer violently slamming open and shut on every wave due to a wimpy latch that got loose. The tool chest has to be sturdily lockable, and built well enough to handle years of movement ranging from gentle rolls to negative-G moments (and their aftermath).

Money is an object, but I certainly don't want to waste it on stuff that will just have to be replaced when it falls apart after a lot of time embedding it into an installation. I assume that rules out HF and the like, so I went to Amazon and bookmarked a bunch of Excel, Waterloo, and Homak products... none of which I've ever actually touched. First question: are any of these adequate, given the environment, or are you rolling your eyes at their very mention?

I was initially intrigued by the wood ones at Grizzly, but online reviews of things that look identical did not exactly inspire confidence. The boat's interior is beautiful wood joinery (teak/holly sole, mahogany, and nicely finished marine ply), so wood would be my aesthetic preference... but MOST important is something that is not going to rattle to pieces. Stainless would be excellent, and if it's mild steel, it needs to be powder-coated or otherwise passivated... because, well: Water corrodes. Salt water corrodes absolutely.

If any community has the answer, it's this one... so I'm looking forward to any comments, suggestions, brands to avoid, lust-worthy alternatives that won't cost and arm and a leg, or outta-the-box solutions that I'm not currently visualizing.

Many thanks! Here's a pic of the ship; more are at the Nomadness walkthrough and the related blog. I'll follow up with reports and photos... this should be a fun project.

Cheers,
Steve

 

[ibedayank]

heres one option...but it does come ""needs assembly""

http://images.lowes.com/animate/ToolChest.pdf

 

[RivennHewn]

Picts of the question areas would help.

Lots of picts!

Sounds like a fantastic project.

 

[Outlawmws]

Another new thread has intrigued me for very compact, very easy to access tool storage. A small version looks like this:

and the thread is here:

http: //www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=126874

Now just imagine making a wood version with say finger joint corners etc.

They make these boxes in 26, 30 and 36" widths (at least), and I think these have much more potential than any top box with drawers. (I'm not a fan of large top boxes myself generally)

 

[Microship]

Those plans are cool, Ibedayank - thanks. Saved for further contemplation - it would need some scaling and locking hardware, but it could be a good starting point. I'm hoping not to have to spend quite so much time, though... already in major overload!

RivennHewn - will do! You can slightly see the region in question forward of the pilothouse in that "Walkthrough" page; I just finished making a temporary mockup desktop and am in the process of using my CAD system (Cardboard-Aided Design) to make a life-size model of the consoles. I'm not one of those people who can design a human workspace on a computer, even with the aid of Mr. Template... I need to sit in it and pretend for a few hours. I'll post a photo of that when it's together enough to give a sense of the space... but the tool cabinet is constrained to approximately 24X16 with 32" to the ceiling.

This photo is the region before I removed the original cramped table and seats. Imagine a nice office chair (Aeron or Mirra) just past the mast partner on the ledge, facing left (port). The desk is about 8 feet wide and covers the whole space between bulkheads and out to the hull (less the sliding sections as mentioned). The wrap-around consoles are at 45 degrees to each other, and the tool cabinet space is to my right against the far wall in the photo (just to the left of the door to the forward cabin).

Cheers and thanks for the comments!
Steve

 

[Microship]

Outlaw - now that's intriguing - speaking of "outta the box!" Yah, the trouble with a normal lidded box in that constrained space is that I will have trouble seeing into the top.

The design you show is interesting. It does seem optimized for sets of things, not random clusters of tools, but it has potential... I'll go learn more.

Thanks!
Steve

 

[Steve from Socal]

Honestly I would talk to a cabinet shop about making a small set of drawers to optimize the space. Tool chests have a bit of dead space that could be precious on a small boat. The other thing is, wood will absorb some moisture and be much quieter. You don't really say what you want to store and how much weight each drawer will have. Wood drawers with plain old wood slides will offer the best durability in the salt air.

Steve

 

[Microship]

Good point, Steve. Steel makes me nervous, though robust and padded Stainless would feel good. But wood is, well, warm... the same thing I like about the boat interior (and all the framing around the console systems will be wood).

I had not considered custom cabinetry optimized for the space... I like it.

As to the contents... each of the 15U (15 X 1.75") rack spaces will have one drawer, and the lab one will probably end up with the electronics tools. A surface mount soldering and rework station will be in the panel, so at least that category is handled. The cabinet will end up with general hand tools (including my much-loved Link socket set and a couple of Nautitool stainless wrenches... crescent and vise-grip clone). Pretty normal stuff, I suspect - heavy, with a wide range of sizes and a lot of things that like to roll around. I don't mind kitting little stuff to reduce that, but my experience with roll-ups for all the normal hand tools was just annoying.

The Makita set, bits, and other heavy steel stuff could end up in a space across the hall, where a vise will mounted for standing messy workspace....

Steve

 

[route246]

How about a Veto tool bag? http://www.vetopropac.com/

 

[Steve from Socal]

If you want to have something made consider having the shop look at how wooden machinist chest drawers were made in the old days. They were lock rabbited and use a thin sheet metal bottom. For a boat aluminum would be better than steel and each drawer only loose 3/4 inch interior dimensions.

I would consider foam to keep stuff from rattling around, closed cell that won't hold moisture.

Steve

 

[Microship]

Route246 - I do like bags for travel and have a CLC, though random stuff seems to get lost in the rather arbitrary pockets. For lab bench use, I think I prefer smoothly operating open spaces. (Those are nice, though!)

Steve - thanks for the tips. Anodized aluminum trays with foam lining, or even velcro'd-in foam-core dividers. That would keep all the screwdrivers from piling on one edge, then the other, trying to leap over the drawer sides. Heck, it could be as simple as bending up a few trays on the brake, then using stainless drawer-slides in an enclosure integrated with the consoles. Maybe an off-the-shelf chest was the wrong idea entirely, and "which one" was a misleading question. I like this idea.

-Steve

 

[dwm]

How about just using more rack space? I'm a pretty big fan of Middle Atlantic's DC, D and TD series drawers. I have about 30 of their TD series drawers. They won't hold anything long, but they're good for 50 lbs of stuff and are available from 2U to 8U. They're also fully enclosed, each one is inside it's own box. IMHO all of them look very nice with natural wood, but I'd get the anodized aluminum fronts for your use. Lock kits are available, or you could attach a hinged locking bar to cope with rough seas. The ones I have for portable use are in 16U SKB road cases, so when they travel I just put the fronts and backs (padded) on the road cases (4 latches per front or back). You can turn those cases upside town, tumble them, etc. and the drawers stay shut and hold their contents. They wouldn't look pretty in your situation, I'm just suggesting the drawers and not the road cases. Although it might be handy to be able to tether one of them for on-deck work.

quikdrawers.com is not bad for custom-sized dovetail jointed drawers if you want to build your own wood cabinet.

 

[Microship]

DWM... I am smiting myself on the forehead. Of course! perfect fit with all the rest. I have not used Middle Atlantic stuff yet, but of course know of them... tempted by their pull-out and rotate assembly.

Seriously... that is the right approach, and was in front of me all along. Thank you!

Steve

 

[Provincial]

I mounted a Craftsman tool box in one compartment of my service body on my pickup. I did not have room to use the top compartment because of the shape of the upper end of the compartment and did not have a way to use the existing drawer locks. I discovered that the compartment door would retain the drawers if I used strips of high density closed-cell foam to bridge the gap.

This leads me to suggest that you hide your drawers behind a nice looking wood door. If you make the door sturdy enough, or use a wood facing to pretty up a metal frame, the door can be the locking mecanism for the drawers. The latch can be a positive bolt(s) so you don't have to worry about it popping open in rough seas.

Research service body equipment online. Service trucks are often exposed to the weather and the tools/equipment are subject to cornering, stopping, and starting loads in addition to rough roads. Stainless is becoming a more common option for these applications.

Because of your dimensional limits, you will probably have to modify almost anything that is factory-built. A good fabricator should have no problem with that. Good luck!

 

[Monte]

Gedore Nautic
corrosion resistant tools and water tight case

 

[dwm]

DWM... I am smiting myself on the forehead. Of course! perfect fit with all the rest. I have not used Middle Atlantic stuff yet, but of course know of them... tempted by their pull-out and rotate assembly.

Seriously... that is the right approach, and was in front of me all along. Thank you!

Steve

Middle Atlantic makes nice stuff. It's pricey, but worth it to me. Cosmetically it's beautiful, and after breezing through your walk-through, I think that's somewhat important to you.

I would not expect the drawer latches to keep the drawers shut in rough seas. As Provincial suggested, a cabinet with a door that can be firmly latched is a good option. There are options from Middle Atlantic, or you can build it (using Middle Atlantic parts or not).

 

[Microship]

Mmm, yes, I like the door idea. I'm thinking of a family of cabinets with exterior doors anyway (lexan gasketed would be ideal, given the environment when things get a little crazy... even from crew galumphing through the cabin with wet foulies).

I just grabbed the Middle Atlantic catalog... looks like one-stop shopping, trading money for time (a lot of each, I suspect)

Monte - those look nice. The ones I have are Nautitool - crazy expensive now (like $150 for a crescent wrench that sinks just as fast as a crappy one), but got via a friend's employee discount 20 years ago. They are amazing...

The other corrosion-related discovery was the marginally more expensive but vastly better gold-plated Bondhus ball-drivers. Friends roll their eyes until I show them the old set, all rusty... these are as shiny as they day they arrived 4 years ago.

Steve

 

[dwm]

If you end up going with Middle Atlantic stuff of any kind, make sure you shop around. Prices vary pretty widely.

 

[jeffmoss26]

Middle Atlantic makes some of the best rack-stuffs!

 

[Microship]

Middle Atlantic is looking good. Anyone have any experience with the Starcase aluminum units?

I'm thinking of 5 sloping desktop units now, with added "skins" of plywood and smoked-plex gasketed doors. All have to be tiltable or hinged for service... tricky installation. Here's a photo of the space, and the tape I'm looking at is set at 24" overall including the body. The desktop is just scrap ply temporarily fixtured in place to aid in visualization, and the two "wings" on either side will have to be retractable.

Thanks for the brainstorming... it really helps!
Steve

 

[jeffmoss26]

So are you taking the trailer lab and moving it all into the sailboat? Just wondering...

 

[Microship]

Jeff - there will be some migration, but the inventory packaging in the trailer would never work in the boat. All that little stuff will make its way into zip poly bags sorted into binders, bins, and packs...

Key tools, yes... though the space and power constraints of the boat require a few changes. Besides, I'd rather risk a cheap Chinese digital oscilloscope (Rigol or Owon; haven't decided yet) than my trusty old Tek.

I'll sell the mobile lab, since I now have rental workspace at the head of the dock... and it served its purpose. *sigh* I built it with the assumption that it would be parked at a marina, but the current setup is better by far. The commute is about 1 minute each way instead of the 2 hours that rendered me completely ineffective for years.

Steve

 

[Scout Driver]

Outlaw - now that's intriguing - speaking of "outta the box!" Yah, the trouble with a normal lidded box in that constrained space is that I will have trouble seeing into the top.

The design you show is interesting. It does seem optimized for sets of things, not random clusters of tools, but it has potential... I'll go learn more.

Thanks!
Steve

How 'bout something like the box mentioned above, but arranged to suit your needs. Then, hinge the lid from the bottom. Makes the lid a small table when open and lets you see in from the top.

Scott

 

[Microship]

That's a neat idea. I like the rack space for the full tool "library," but there's also a small standing workspace across the hall with a vise, shop air, and vacuum port... that would be a perfect spot for a little fold-out sloped enclosure with cutting/grinding tools that I would not want to use at the electronics bench anyway. Thanks!

Steve

 

[Microship]

Update from the Nomadness lab...

I'm now looking at homebrewing the five rack cabinets, letting me optimize them for the available space and panel-hinging needs (while saving about a kilobuck, though spending way more time...). I was close to one commercial product line, which come as kits, but there are corner fittings that consume a total of 3" of otherwise useful rack space (requiring a trim panel). Nah, although I otherwise like them. Middle Atlantic has some great stuff, of course, but the one closest to my size requirements has only the 10-32 threaded holes... which in the dynamic and corrosive environment of a voyaging sailboat are more likely to fail than square holes with replaceable stainless cage nuts.

The idea by DWM to use rack drawers for tool storage is now part of the plan, and all the cabinets (except that one) can hinge forward onto their faces and have various side/back/top panels unfold for service (about 10 square feet of mounting space per module).

All these mount on a frame integrated with surrounding boat structures, and there are two pull-out units: a vacuum-bagged tabletop with an internal layer of perforated steel to accommodate magnetic objects, and a digital piano.

Current project is a full-size mockup of all this with Kregged 1x2 framing and Coroplast... then it's time to drag the Hobart Handler from my Amazon wish list into the shopping cart and undergo that long-overdue learning curve. I'll be back, I'm sure... thanks again for the brainstorming help, y'all.

Cheers,
Steve

 

[dwm]

Steve,

You can add caged nuts on the threaded Middle Atlantic rack rails, I've done it with heavier items (old Crown amplifiers, UPS and I forget what else). They're not the square-hole type. The ones I have are the SKB ones. They can be a bit tricky to use on the Middle Atlantic rails and I wouldn't recommend it if you intend to reconfigure often. But they do make an effective backup if you're worried about pulling out the threads in the Middle Atlantic rails. I've never had my gear in a constantly salty air environment, but I've hung some very heavy stuff on the Middle Atlantic rails (100+ lb 2U UPS, even heavier 4U UPS) without problems, even when only using their pre-threaded holes. Part of the key is to fill the rack so you don't have stuff free-hanging on only its own rack mounts, and put the truly heavy stuff on the bottom.

Best of luck in whatever you do!

 

[Microship]

Good to know about the compatible cage nuts; thanks. I'll keep that in mind if I drop back to stock units... I doubt I would need to reconfigure very often.

The temptation to go custom with stock square tubing is strong, since there are some rather weird requirements here... including a limiting hypotenuse that kicks in when I hinge a module forward and its back upper edge nears the headliner. Commercial racks offer a very small number of choices in the 12-14U vertical and 13-16" depth range. Besides, I still have to accommodate a knob-clearance frame including gasket seat for removable front door, hinging panels for access, fixtures for hinging and latch-down, etc. DIY will give me a lot more freedom...

Must go... writing in bed just before sleep, and that "Shocking" smilie over there is driving me crazy enough to want to find a piece of electrical tape...

Will post photos as this unfolds, and thanks again!
Steve