It appears that there is a lot of wasted space with the workstation type top chests. I prefer a full chest as opposed to the triangular shaped, although that laptop slide out shelf is a nice feature. To compare the "strictly toolboxes" 41" they look like nice toolboxes but they don't have the Griplatch type drawers, they don't have the pull out work shelf and they don't come in red. The black and blue don't do it for me.
You are talking about volumetric efficiency, so think about that wasted space comment, and take a browse through the "toolboxes of GJ" thread. Then apply that "wasted space" concern to the overly deep drawers most tool boxes have today. Sure the drawers are getting wider, and in some cases deeper front to back, but much that top to bottom volumetric space is in fact wasted most of the time. After all, it's much cheaper to manufacture five 4" deep (or more) drawers, than ten 2" deep.
My current 15-20 YO 11 drawer Husky roller (only 26" wide) has mostly shallow 1-1/2" drawers, a couple at 4" and one wasteful 6" deep bottom drawer. I HATE that drawer, it's is quite frankly a miscellaneous "collector of "STUFF".
Yes they are tools, but many, if not most of them could easily fit in 2" or 4" deep drawers. Those 1-1/2" deep drawers are plenty for wrenches (even on racks, except for 1" and up), screwdrivers, Pliers (unless on racks, then 4" works better), and ratchets and extensions. Sockets need 4" drawers, unless stored on their sides (deep sockets) for the most part, (very large or 3/4 drive and up need deeper...) but even the 4" has a lot of wasted space.
Current designs appear to me to be designed mostly for the storage of blow mold boxes, which can far more easily be stored in either side cabinets with shelves, office type storage cabinets, or if you have a lot, a lateral file. But the common "solution" to needing more space is often a side box with a bunch of shallow drawers. So what did the "industry" do? Make "double wide" boxes that built the needed shallow drawer space into the second width...
Yeah, let's band-Aid the real problem with a "solution" that duplicates the add on band-Aid...
The average person needs ONE maybe two 4 " deep drawers. One for sockets for sure. Even that drawer will have wasted space.
What I want in a socket drawer is an add-on side to side sliding tray, maybe 1/3 the width of the drawer, for storing ratchets and extensions, it can even have knock outs in its bottom to accommodate the drive of the ratchets so the tray can be a little as an inch. Those knockouts can even be sized i concentric circles for the different drive sizes, (or you could simply have dimples, and tell the user to use a step drill and position as desired...)
Store the deeps off to one side and you still have more than 2/3 of the drawer width to slide the tray over the shorter sockets.
The reality is that the average double wide roller wastes more space as this crossover box does, even adding in the total "waste" of that triangular space.
That space is mitigated IMO by not having to open and close at least three drawers constantly as you work. How much time is wasted there? these boxes are supposed to be saving us time...
You have available with one lift of the door, two sets of SAE combo wrenches , two sets metric combos, a relatively full set of sockets, a full set of drivers and all the basic ratchets and extensions...
You could probably do 95% of all your work without ever touching a drawer.
Historically, some of the most popular pro boxes had many shallow drawers, and these still command a lot of interest on the used market. But those boxes cost more so many took the less expensive route to "get by for now"
I know I shopped long and hard for that Husky I currently use as my main box, and the driver was to maximize the shallow drawers... Even that was not my ideal, but it was the best I could do at the time. I've far outgrown it, so the hunt for a decent wide Lista/Vidmar/whatever continues.
Everything in life is generally a compromise, but most of the current roller or stack offerings don't compromise; they are thrown together with minimal thought as to what actually lands in a box, but lots of thought as to how to make it cheaper...
