Tool cabinets and deep drawers

[Steevo]

What do you all do with the deep bottom drawers that most of these rolling tool cabinets have in them?
My experience with my rollaway and my tools is that the deeper the drawer, the bigger a mess it becomes, with all kinds of non-tool junk ending up in there.
I have been looking for a new/additional roll-away but want one with more shallow drawers and none of those 12" deep caverns that stuff disappears into forever. Maybe nothing more than 6" deep would be ideal for me.

What are your thoughts?

 

[mrholeshot]

I stack up some of my pastic box stuff (like pressure testers,meter boxes, etc) handle up so I can pull it out easy. It's good to have a drawer to hold bulky stuff.

 

[Steevo]

I like to keep anything that is in a plastic case on a shelf, some in a side cabinet and some in a dedicated two-door metal cabinet in the shop. All powered tools, corded or cordless are in their plastic cases on shelves in the steel cabinet.
Roll-away side box has a door with shelves, and houses things like tap & die sets, pressure tester kits, puller sets, etc. That way I can slide one out without having to dig down through a pile in a drawer.

 

[warmpancakes]

Hammers, I havent found a easier way to store them

 

[Buckgnarly]

Like said above, tools/sets in plastic cases.

 

[Scout Driver]

Like said above, tools/sets in plastic cases.

Same here. Plus my fender cover and a box of odd wrenches lives in the deep drawer. The big drawer is pretty handy.

Scott

 

[gtivr4]

I use mine for my cordless power tools. Its one of those things that I could use a lot more of or a lot less of and store them elsewhere. I would think you could probably source some small drawers to replace the larger ones if you needed.

 

[emeraldcoupe]

in the wider of the two on mine is where i keep my air tools and impact sockets

 

[premierplayer]

Work box:
Corded tools, hole saw set, tap & die sets, drill bit cases, ez out sets, and some **** that dosn't belong in there.

Home box's:
1. Hammers, hack saw's, pipe wrench or two, staple guns, impact & sockets, 3/8 air ratchet, large adjustables, pry bars, nut splitter, stuff I don't use, and some **** that dosn't belong in there.
2. Large wrenches, tap & die set's, flare set's, swedge set, clamps, number/letter stamps, speed handle or two, and some **** that dosn't belong in there.
3. Cased power tools, meters and guages, torque wrenches, and some **** that dosn't belong in there.

Notice a trend here? Think I'll buy box's with shallow bottom drawers from now on.
Oh yeah, my organization skills could use a little help too.

 

[Steevo]

Yeah, I find that over a period of twenty-something years (or maybe it's thirty-something now . . .) I have ended up with more of that "**** that doesn't belong in there" than I have tools.

I fully understand the situation where a professional is working in a commercial shop and everything he owns has to be in his toolbox, so a lot of odd things end up in the roll-away drawers.

At a home shop though, one has options for the boxed items and power tools, etc.

I have one drawer in my rollaway, maybe 6" deep, that originally held only electrical tools. Soldering guns/irons, solder, wire cutters and strippers, testers, meters, etc. In the years since I first outfitted this box (circa 1976), that drawer has morphed to where it is filled to capacity with "electrical-related" stuff. Switches, connectors, circuit breakers, a bazillion fuses (both glass ones and blade-style), small coils of wire in a multitude of rainbow colors and gauges, battery cable ends, solenoids, a Honda handlebar switch from an old street bike, and even an electric fuel pump.

My bottom drawer is similarly crapped up with dumb stuff that is not "tools".

 

[pep]

The funny thing about home shops is that if the larger drawer is filled with things you don't use very often, it might as well be a cardboard box or a plastic tote.

I'll bet that most home hobbyists would do just fine with a 26" or even an 18" benchtop toolchest for holding socket sets/screwdrivers/pliers/etc. and keeping everything else on a shelf in a container of some sort. Of course, you have to ask why I own four sets of screwdrivers.

 

[Theloniousmonk]

deep drawers for teh hammers and airtools and drills, etc...

I actually hate deep drawers though, I see it as a waste for hand tools. 2" deep is what I like, and alot of them...

 

[HookWorse]

I'd trade my deep drawer for 2 equal not so deep drawers in a minute. I'd rather put my boxes etc. in a cabinet.

 

[Ign]

At home, corded tools.

When I worked in shops, scrap and drops of solid stock or whatever that I'd smuggle out later. Give a machinst 3 pcs and he'll lose one, F one up and put one in his box.

 

[dwm]

I keep small bins in mine. Handy for consumables like 100-packs of Rolocs, etc. Also keep my pneumatic sanders in one, with a bin of various compounding, polishing and waxing pads. Another has all my rivet nut tools, bins of rivet nuts and a box of 200 clecos.

 

[crewchief888]

bottom drawer in my work boxes had acro bins with jic & ORS caps, plugs, and fabricated fixtures and pullers.
extra deep drawer in my side box had air tools that werent used every day.
one set of home boxes has a SO armature turner, armature growler, and an early matco digital tach/dwell analyzer, open bottom compartment in the other box has cased corded elec drills.

 

[rsanter]

one toolbox has the air tools in the bottom
the machinist box holds the large tooling
and another box holds the engine building specific tools

bob

 

[Dust]

It's mostly stuff I don't use too often but still need, some extra gloves, some "Ultimate Weapon" tools, and assorted odds and ends. I only have one deep drawer each in my box and cart.

I believe in keeping clutter to a minimum. Most mechanics have a Junk Drawer, which is just one drawer full of unsorted ****. I have a small section of one drawer, mostly because I have not yet devised a good way of sorting it, or don't have enough tools of one type to warrant dedicating a full drawer to them.

 

[RLRRLRLL]

i keep my tube of wireties, wire rolls, die grinder, towels (my garage gets hella dirty in the summer, grass blows in like no other, so i like clean towels, latex gloves, and whatever else i need to in the deep ones. its a waste of space i agree, but make use of what you got! ive been keeping my eye out for cheap chests like mine to steal drawers and slides out of to get more out of my box.

 

[hdemk1]

I have to participate to this thread too. I managed to get a hold of 3 steel office drawers. They are like 3ft tall and there is only 2 drawers in each. They were used to store A4-sized paper files side by side (landscpae), width of the drawer is like 2ft 10". The problem is if I remove the cage for the hangers, only the front panel is high enough, sides and back panels are only 4-5" high, doesn't support any loose stuff at all. I know, pictures would be great, but hell almost freezes over here right now, it's -13'F and I'm comfortably scrathing my balls, so I won't be heading out to the garage to take any pictures... Tomorrow forecast says it is -22'F.

I'm thinking to use the hanger cage as support. Or not, let's see if I get some useful ideas from here. There is plenty of room for whatever stuff, just need to get it organized well. I know how it ends if there is no proper set up for different tools or spares or whatever I end up putting there.

I have the big picture in good shape, now starting to go to the details. I'm sure there will be good ideas to share.

 

[Johnny chaos]

definitely hammers

 

[TheDukeofDeere]

I've got more cordless tools but half of them are in my truck....these are stuffed in the "basement" of my toolbox. This is probably my most unorganized drawer in my box.