think these lateral filing cabinets are a good find?

[dockdoc]

From what I'm reading these are really solid options for tool storage. $200 a bit excessive?

craigslist link

 

[FMB4]

Yes, well made lateral filling cabs can be very practical for tool storage. Don't seem them too often tho, so the price might be OK. Note: never 'open' more that 1 drawer at time (you probably know this, but I thought I'd mention it anyway).

 

[dockdoc]

Yes, well made lateral filling cabs can be very practical for tool storage. Don't seem them too often tho, so the price might be OK. Note: never 'open' more that 1 drawer at time (you probably know this, but I thought I'd mention it anyway).

Cool - yeah I don't see many other 5 drawer options around here, but might offer $150 or something.

 

[65ranchero]

I have one and paid nothing, had to remove the lock mech. it was on the scrap pile at the loading dock
And as I recall you cannot open more than one drawer at a time

 

[driftpin]

I have one and paid nothing, had to remove the lock mech. it was on the scrap pile at the loading dock
And as I recall you cannot open more than one drawer at a time

Older ones may-not have that feature. Something to investigate, depending on what's stored.

When I worked fire-rescue, the wife of a co-worker got hurt at the south Florida municipality where she worked, having multiple drawers open, on a filing cabinet, and it fell on her. She got a settlement from the municipality, and quit. She was a real piece of work. He was, too. He could barely-read, but he's been on a long time and was a supervisor. One day, at the end of shift, he returned to the station from the parking lot, "my van's been stolen!" He had one of those factory-customized vans, back in the '80's. He went to the police dept. next door to report the 'theft,' and they told him, "your truck was repossessed, for non-payment! The recovery tow truck agent filed the papers with us and took your truck!"

He was in the habit of turning-over to his wife, the one who had the files topple onto her, his paycheck, and she gave him an allowance, and paid the bills. Shortly after the van repossession, his house was foreclosed-upon. His wife had been cashing the checks, not paying the mortgage, and socking-away the $$$. She took-off for 'greener pastures,' after emptying all the bank accounts. He was able to borrow $ from a relative, to come current on his house, but the 'dutiful bookkeeping spouse' was in the wind, with his $$$!

 

[jack stand]

They are great
I have a 5 drawer and several 2 drawer units. There's a safety mechanism that only allows 1 drawer to open at a time.
$150 would be a decent price.

 

[PapasDaLife]

I wouldn't pay more than $50.

There's nothing special about used office furniture, it's everywhere around here as business' are being "forced" to shut down or move out of state, scale down, or whatever they want to call it. More people working remotely.

Good luck with your sale.

 

[joshmodelskidoo]

Those go for about $50-60 here and thats at the goodwill restore

 

[dockdoc]

Thanks all - I think you’re right $200 seems kinda absurd and plenty people have found them for free. I’ll keep looking, in no rush.

 

[Jayman17]

I would never pay that amount although those are in excellent shape. In my area lateral files can often be found for free on CL.

Jay

 

[dockdoc]

I would never pay that amount although those are in excellent shape. In my area lateral files can often be found for free on CL.

Jay

Yeah sounds good. I’m going to save my cash for a rolling tool cart or steel cabinet system for now. Looking at New Age and Trinity from Costco.

 

[Colin Len]

Price seems quite high to me. If you need them in very good condition and need them all matching then perhaps this would be a good buy and they'd give you a bulk discount.

Around here there are multiple companies that specialize in office furniture and have warehouses full, here's an example:
https://losangeles.craigslist.org/lac/fuo/d/lateral-filing-cabinet-keys-and/7376433812.html Generally, you'd pay more buying from these guys than finding them from some random Joe on CL. But if you need multiple and want them to match then going through a reseller like in the link above or in your post would be the way to go.

 

[dockdoc]

Price seems quite high to me. If you need them in very good condition and need them all matching then perhaps this would be a good buy and they'd give you a bulk discount.

Around here there are multiple companies that specialize in office furniture and have warehouses full, here's an example:
https://losangeles.craigslist.org/lac/fuo/d/lateral-filing-cabinet-keys-and/7376433812.html Generally, you'd pay more buying from these guys than finding them from some random Joe on CL. But if you need multiple and want them to match then going through a reseller like in the link above or in your post would be the way to go.

Great point thanks

 

[jives]

Agree with others on the price. Waaaay too high. Most all of my storage is in lateral file cabinets (8), including 3 drawer units that form my work bench. Auctions, surplus sales, free. Probably paid about 200 for all of them. Not all are the same quality, and not all have full backs to the drawers. Find out where UNC-Charlotte and other local universities sell their surplus (e.g., PublicSurplus.com) and be patient.

 

[steaks&anvils]

Price seems OK, depending where you live. Those are nice and clean, an office environment would want those. If you want them for the garage, then they are over priced and you can get them cheaper.

Units with the fold up door and slide out "try like shelf" are nice. Some have every drawer like that. Two-three drawer units are also handy vs the tall five drawers. You can use the space above the three drawer units to hang tools or put rakes/shovels between the studs behind the unit.

I used to have one in my garage. it was nice because it was pretty mouse proof. It had a full bottom on it. I did fill in a few holes, just threaded in short bolts no nut needed. They hold a lot of weight. Good for power tools, electric cords, groupings of specialty tools (the sprinkler repair bucket etc) . I used boxes and plastic boxes to hold other stuff. It did get old lifting out whole boxes to get at things.

Sports equipment fits too.

Some units have no back panel on the drawers, you have to make one or stuff snags, jams and can fall into the back of it.

Mine fit nicely along the garage wall, nothing to snag on getting in and out of the car.

 

[4xdog]

I have a set of three 2-door lateral files that make a credenza across one wall in my library. For files, they're great. For tools? Meh.

Their overall shape is awkward for storing small pieces, and retrieving something from a well-loaded lateral drawer would be a PITA. If one has larger items -- like shoebox-sized items or collections of smaller stuff -- perhaps. But I don't have a single tool in any of mine...

 

[65ranchero]

The one I have in the work shop portion of the basement stores at least 7 yrs of tax records and some of the lower drawers holds extra household cleaning products

 

[FMB4]

Older ones may-not have that feature. Something to investigate, depending on what's stored.

When I worked fire-rescue, the wife of a co-worker got hurt at the south Florida municipality where she worked, having multiple drawers open, on a filing cabinet, and it fell on her. She got a settlement from the municipality, and quit. She was a real piece of work. He was, too. He could barely-read, but he's been on a long time and was a supervisor. One day, at the end of shift, he returned to the station from the parking lot, "my van's been stolen!" He had one of those factory-customized vans, back in the '80's. He went to the police dept. next door to report the 'theft,' and they told him, "your truck was repossessed, for non-payment! The recovery tow truck agent filed the papers with us and took your truck!"

He was in the habit of turning-over to his wife, the one who had the files topple onto her, his paycheck, and she gave him an allowance, and paid the bills. Shortly after the van repossession, his house was foreclosed-upon. His wife had been cashing the checks, not paying the mortgage, and socking-away the $$$. She took-off for 'greener pastures,' after emptying all the bank accounts. He was able to borrow $ from a relative, to come current on his house, but the 'dutiful bookkeeping spouse' was in the wind, with his $$$!

The one I have in the work shop portion of the basement stores at least 7 yrs of tax records and some of the lower drawers holds extra household cleaning products

I think they'd also be good for hard plastic cased tools, and other 'bulky' items like circ saws, and the like.

 

[steaks&anvils]

I think they'd also be good for hard plastic cased tools, and other 'bulky' items like circ saws, and the like.

Hard cases for the circular saw and drill those fit nicely! They store better than shoving them on a shelf or under the workbench.

Also, if you are lucky and get the keys, they lock nicely. Mostly a good way to keep the kids out and away from tools or stuff you don't want them to mess with.

 

[nadogail]

I am sure you could anchor them to the floor and walls to keep them from falling over.

I see them on Craig's List because their value to their present owners is exceeded by the cost of hauling them away.
I pass on them because they would hog the limited floor space in my shop.

 

[kbs2244]

They are common on the free page of CL around here
Paper files are a thing of the past

 

[jives]

I have a set of three 2-door lateral files that make a credenza across one wall in my library. For files, they're great. For tools? Meh.

Their overall shape is awkward for storing small pieces, and retrieving something from a well-loaded lateral drawer would be a PITA. If one has larger items -- like shoebox-sized items or collections of smaller stuff -- perhaps. But I don't have a single tool in any of mine...

Correct. Which is why they should substitute for cabinets/shelves rather than drawers or hanging stuff on the wall. My lateral file cabinets store power tools, cords, work lights, large hardware, plumbing supplies, electrical supplies, scrap steel for welding, tool belts, and other bulky stuff. Way easier to pull out a large drawer than rummage through the back recesses of a shelf in a cabinet.

 

[NUTTSGT]

They look nice, like they haven't been abused. Good price for in an office or pantry but too much for a garage. Atleast that's my thought.

Those types of cabinets or any office cabinets are on Govdeals all the time.

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

They can be made to look VERY cool. Look what this GJ’er did to his. Pretty sure he only painted the outside but that would be fine for me. YMMV

 

[BillK]

I have almost the same exact cabinet. One of my neighbors was moving and was giving it away because he didnt want to move it Check your local school district. Ours has a tag sale at least once a year where they get rid of surplus items. Stuff like this usually goes for $10 or so.

 

[c39er]

I used to electrostatically paint office furniture in the 70's...painted every type of steel office furniture.
2 Dr's, 4 and 5 drawer Steelcase filing cabinets, laterals 30x60" desks with returns.
It was common to repaint any old office furniture back then as the cost to replace it was horrendously costly.
Computers came around..made storing billions of paper documents not take up any space.
Metal office furniture values went down the drain...all businesses scrapped most of it.
Not much value in any of it today.

 

[GreyOwl]

I bought an identical stack last year at one of our Goodwill for $25 and should have bought the second one also. That price seems pretty high to me.

 

[Steve from Socal]

I have several lateral files I bought at auction for 35-50 each. They are not as nice as the CL but the price seems high.
They are fantastic storage and make the shop look neat and clean with the doors shut. Here are 4 in a corner, I have 3 other groups.

 

[555]

I have 3 file cabinets. Two are three drawer horizontal cabinets and one is a two drawer horizontal cabinet. I bought one of three drawer cabinets from a closing financial office with keys for $25. I don't think it had ever been in use. They had several more sitting in a storage area for the same price. The other three drawer was free and was in good shape too. The two drawer was pretty rough, had a bit of rust and there was some paint spilled on it. It is the only cabinet I "fixed up". I gave it a Harley Davidson look and added some old badges left over from past projects.

 

[That Guy Scott]

Ill leave this here. You can make them look pretty cool. This video is the one that I watched and copied. I use them to store larger tools and bulk materials.

 

[chevelle67]

Picked up 2 for nothing a little over a decade ago, great storage. I wish I could find a few more for free.

 

[andyvh1959]

The credenza style cabinets are great and plentiful, easy to get cheap. But one issue is they are designed to hold hanging files which are up to ten inches high. Great for paper but not so good for hand tools or smaller items, but ok for larger power tools like circular saws.

But that drawer height does allow for another slide out drawer inside the larger drawer. There are many reasonable drawer slides to mount to the side walls of the cabinet and create a plywood tray with shallow sides. Use the bottom most drawer for the larger heavier items that the drawer depth suits (and holds cabinet stable). Add a second slide out tray to the upper drawer and make it much more suitable for smaller items, small parts bins, divider trays like those used for kitchen utensils. Could even put a simple latch inside so the upper big drawer pulls out the inner shallow tray when opened. If the lower section of the upper drawer must be accessed just slide the inner tray back.

 

[mv213]

I think a better choice are the ones that resemble these but the front has doors that open like a lawyer bookcase. No drawers. Full access to each compartment. I picked up one for $75 about 5 years ago. Could have had up to 5 more but only got the one. Went back for another and they were all gone.

 

[mikedodge]

I saw some free for pickup the other day and was thinking about getting them.

 

[Jazz1]

Lateral cabinets make excellent paint/ flammables cabinets.

 

[rust in the eye]

Lateral cabinets make excellent paint/ flammables cabinets.

Until the fire marshal stops by.

 

[mv213]

I think a better choice are the ones that resemble these but the front has doors that open like a lawyer bookcase. No drawers. Full access to each compartment. I picked up one for $75 about 5 years ago. Could have had up to 5 more but only got the one. Went back for another and they were all gone.

Edit: Here’s the one I got. Wish I had picked up one or two more.