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wide drawers ??? why not

J

jniolon

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Jun 21, 2005
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hueytown, al
after I got my proto 41" box... I fell in love with that wide top drawer on the rolling box... but I wondered why there werent more wide drawers. They don't all have to be deep... even 2" deep would be great for wrenches or hammers...

Seems that it wouldn't be that hard to design the box with two or three if you can do one... that way I could have one for 1/2" sockets, one for 3/8" stuff and one for all my wrenches in one place... well most of them anyway...

any of you got an answer... I haven't seen one anywhere... seems like a great market for them to me... love the wide ones.

later
john
 
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S

Stephenw

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My feelings are that there are too many deep drawers. Most drawers should be 1 1/2". That's the best depth for screwdrivers, pliers, and wrenches.
 
C

chammyman

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Glasgow, Scotland
strength, wide drawers need strengtheners on the base of the drawers to prevent bowing. This costs money.

The other factor is weight loading, you need to double slide them to make it hardy enough to last

remember 400 sockets/200 spanners or whatever weigh a lot more than you would think.

but i agree wider drawers and more of them would make an ideal box.
 
D

Danglerb

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People have been making tool boxes for a hundred or so years, and despite changes in tools over time, pretty good chance they are making what actually works best. Certainly at least some users are in a position to get a box made exactly as they want it, and if those boxes were an improvement the options would find a way into mainstream products.

OTOH wide drawers have some structural issues, and the market could just be very resistant to any changes.

Sometimes you have to build a new idea and use it a bit to decide if its any real improvement. I'm just guessing its been done and found wanting, perhaps for less than obvious reasons.
 
S

Stuey

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I'm guessing that smaller/narrower drawers are better for organizational purposes. The bigger the drawer or storage space, the greater the chance that objects will be randomly thrown around or placed haphazardly.
 
P

paramudduck

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ohio
I've had a couple of boxes I've put the sockets all in in one wide drawer.
1. The things are hard to pull out once loaded.
2. Even with racks couldn't find any thing when I needed it fast.
3. The truck guy got tired of replacing slides.

I switched to using several small drawers with every thing in groups and it made stuff a lot easier all around.
 
A

Atlascycle

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Fremont, Ne
I used to have the previous generation 46" Craftsman Industrial Roll-a-way with the full width Top Drawer and had it loaded with all of the tools that I commonly used (1/4" to 3/4" standard length SAE sockets) Wrenches 1/4" -1 1/4" Screw drivers, and Pliers. I went through 4 sets of drawer slides before I finaly said enough and sent it back to sears. it is too easy to overload the wider drawers.

With the Professional boxes the upgraded to dual slides on the wide drawers so it is probably not such a big deal to load them like that.

Jason
 
M

Merkava_4

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Here's some wide drawers. ;)

56016.JPG
 
G

goodfellow

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Stuey said:
I'm guessing that smaller/narrower drawers are better for organizational purposes. The bigger the drawer or storage space, the greater the chance that objects will be randomly thrown around or placed haphazardly.
Click to expand...

I like the smaller drawers myself. In fact I like the boxes that were made twenty-thirty years ago. They had plenty of small narrow drawers that offered much better organization options.

I think once boxes went past 36", the smaller drawers were left out for cost and structural reasons. I still have a 1970's 36" SEARS BEST box with a drop front and nine small drawers on the top -- that is a great box.
 
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Q

qdvuu

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Norcal
For me it's a matter of flexibility. The fact that I've moved 21 times in my 50 years makes me hesitant to buy things that are cumbersome. I have an SO roller chest with ~24" wide drawers and a Kennedy with ~20" wide drawers, so with these two boxes and several luggable machinist chests I feel like I have my options open. Yes, I'm hoping to move soon, yet again!:)
 
U

Uncle Buck

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goodfellow said:
I like the smaller drawers myself. In fact I like the boxes that were made twenty-thirty years ago. They had plenty of small narrow drawers that offered much better organization options.

I think once boxes went past 36", the smaller drawers were left out for cost and structural reasons. I still have a 1970's 36" SEARS BEST box with a drop front and nine small drawers on the top -- that is a great box.
Click to expand...

I agree, I too like those old top boxes with a good number of the small drawers too. :thumbup:
 
G

goodfellow

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hholmberg said:
I agree, I too like those old top boxes with a good number of the small drawers too. :thumbup:
Click to expand...

I think many of us "older" guys have developed very distinct organization requirements that are based on vintage boxes with many small drawers. I recently bought the Red HF 41" chest/box combo because of price and function, but I absolutely hated the top box with the four "BIG" drawers -- there are simply not enough options with "big honkin'" drawers.

It screwed up all my organizational thinking with regard to precision tools, testing instruments and leads, measuring instruments, specialty tools, fittings, and small misc. parts. After almost a year with that box, I still find myself looking for stuff because it's not organized in a manner that had become second nature for over 30 years.

Most likely, younger guys that grew up with the "big" drawer boxes would feel similarly uneasy if they were required to organize around many "small drawer" option chests.
 
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D

dps

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I own one 41" bottom chest, and three 26" boxes. I'm waiting for a good price on the top box for the 41" that is only wide drawers to match the bottom, which is only wide drawers. They seem more versatile to me because you have more grouping options available. They'll hold 36" pry bars or long screwdrivers or monster Channellocks. Or all of your pliers or sockets or wrenches or whatever in one drawer. But at the same time, you can divide up a big drawer into all the little compartments you might want.

The disadvantage to the wide ones seems to be the larger mass you must get moving each time you open or close a drawer. As a hobbyist this doesn't bother me, but a pro who opens/closes drawers all day might find it tiresome.
 
F

Frank Elson

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Apr 12, 2008
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Frank Elson
my big drawers are too big and my small drawers are too small.
This is life I guess.


Toolboxes, or pants?<<<

that would be an American joke I take it? Do you call trousers "drawers" as well as pants ?
 
W

wantedabiggergarage

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Independence, MO, USA.
Frank Elson said:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Frank Elson
my big drawers are too big and my small drawers are too small.
This is life I guess.


Toolboxes, or pants?<<<

that would be an American joke I take it? Do you call trousers "drawers" as well as pants ?
Click to expand...

Yes.
Trousers is used here as more of a dress pant/slacks. Pants can be jeans or slacks. Drawers can be used as both pants and underwear or as women wear, knickers, etc.
 
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