How do I make cheap, fast tool crates for moving my shop to a new location?

[Ty Williams]

So, god willin an the creek don't rise, we're about to get our first house. We've submitted an offer and we're waiting to see if it's going to be accepted. One of the nice things about the new place is that it includes a separate workshop in addition to the 2-car garage under the house. This is great for me because I'm a mechanic and I own my own shop. I'll have about a 25' commute to work.

The thing I'm dreading most is moving the workshop from the place it is now to the new place. My woodworking tools are actually going to be easy to move because it's all stuff that was designed to be used on-site anyway, with the exception of the BIG bandsaw. However, my mechanic's tools are an entirely different story. After asking on GJ, I've been convinced to empty the rolling tool chests before I attempt to move them. Additionally, I've realized I have more stationary tools that no longer have shipping boxes than I thought I did. So, I need to build some tool crates out of wood to move all this stuff. I need two things, really: custom fit crates for moving specific stationary tools and a bunch of generic crates so I can dump out each drawer the rolling tool chests into its own crate and load that separately from the rolling chest itself.

The two factors that are really dogging me on this are money and time. When this gets rolling, I'm not going to be able to devote a week to making crates. I need to keep the shop up and running (to keep making money) until the last possible moment, then crate everything as quickly as possible and haul ass to the new place. The other issue is cost. We don't have a lot of money, as I'm sure anyone that's self-employed in this economy can relate to. These crates have got to be CHEAP. I think if I go over $5 per crate (1 crate being one drawer's worth), I'm going to be out of money before I'm out of drawers. That rules out basically all the woodworking methods of box making I know of, since I do furniture and fancy stuff as a hobby, not rough-n-ready industrial things. :lol: The really low-end stuff I can think of (cheap crates made of lathe and staples like you get some HF tools in) wouldn't hold a drawer full of sockets without the bottom falling out.

So, does anyone know of a construction design and materials that will allow me to make a bunch of crates cheaply and in a short amount of time?

[William Adams]

Cheapest box design I know of is the slab sided style used for munitions --- M159 signal flare boxes are the perfect size and have nice handles.

Have you considered making a couple of crates, open at two ends sized to fit a small moving box?

- put the ``bottom on the box'' --- load it up
- pack so that the box can be rotated w/ damaging contents
- put on ``top''
- transport
- rotate box so ``top'' is now on the bottom
- unfasten ``top'' and slide it out
- remove ``bottom'' and slide box off
- repeat

Should go pretty quick and keep the tools safe until they're put away.

[Larry Edgerton]

Why make crates? I recently moved my shop 25 miles to a new location, and just like you I will have my shop and home in the same location, something I am excited about. I moved everything on an open trailor with a fork lift on each end of the journey. I have more stationary tools than most, and didn't even think about building crates. You don't say, but it does not sound like you are moving cross country? I would screw 2x4 around the base of a tool [wooden deck trailor] and strap them well, no issues.

I bought about twenty of those plastic storage tubs that stack for the smaller stuff, and had shelves already up at the new shop so stuff could be put away immediately. Well, most of it, I still have tubs full of misc.

I did screw some OSB sides to wooden pallets for the things that could not be stashed in tubs.

Larry

[Todd Burch]

There's a nice thread on GJ that shows how one guy made his crates. Plywood ends with 9 boards (1X4's, I think, 3 bottom, 3 each side). Ply ends have hand holes cut in them. Glue and screw or staple.

When it was crunch time for me to move, and I didn't have enough time to make more boxes, I went to Target and bought stackable "milk crates". A bit more flimsy than your mind's eye picture of a traditional hard plastic 4-gallon milk crate, but sturdy enough to each hold one or two electric motors and still stack 5 high. $3.99/each.

Todd

[Brian Tymchak]

...I've been convinced to empty the rolling tool chests before I attempt to move them.
..... a bunch of generic crates so I can dump out each drawer the rolling tool chests into its own crate and load that separately from the rolling chest itself.

...We don't have a lot of money, as I'm sure anyone that's self-employed in this economy can relate to. These crates have got to be CHEAP. I think if I go over $5 per crate (1 crate being one drawer's worth), I'm going to be out of money before I'm out of drawers.

IMHO, building wood crates seems like overkill. When I moved my woodshop I packed all the tools from drawers, cabinets, etc into cardboard boxes from HD. (Seems like those boxes were a $1-something each. Used newspaper and bubble-wrap to cushion those items that I wanted to have a smooth ride and then taped the boxes shut. I noticed not long ago that HD now has a heavy duty cardboard box (at least the one near me does). And it seemed like it would be a very substantial box.

Good luck with your purchase and move!

[John Sanford]

Several options: First, if you can find a shop that handles electrical motors and/or small compressors, they'll have very stout cardboard boxes that they may be willing to give you.

A second option is from, I believe, Shopnotes. I built 4 crates from their design, the crates stack. They are STOUT. I have one filled up with clamps. Yes, filled, with C-clamps and the lit'l bar clamps. It takes two people to carry it, no worries that it will fail. I'll try to scare up some pics tonite.

Here's a third option: http://www.instructables.com/id/How-...n-storage-box/

[Michael W. Clark]

We moved cross-country with movers. We did not unload the tool chest (mechanics type, metal craftsman). Instead, paper and bubble wrap was placed inside the drawers to take up any dead space. Then the drawers were closed and locked. As long as the chest doesn't tip, no problems.

I would crate/box things that may get damaged, the rest would go as the others say.

[zayd alle]

Ty,

I have a bunch of these heavy duty totes for packing my tools: Totes

Costco happens to have them right now for about $8 and change. They hold quite a bit of weight.

[Dan Hulbert]

I've been moved professionally several times. The crates the movers had built for my last move were made to fit in the street in front of my old place. The builders had a miter saw, an air stapler, and a razor knife. The crates were framed of 1x4 pine stapled together with 1 1/2 staples with cardboard cut to fit and stapled from the inside with shorter staples. Nothing fancy, but they survived moving 900 miles and three weeks in storage.

[Michael W. Clark]

I've been moved professionally several times. The crates the movers had built for my last move were made to fit in the street in front of my old place. The builders had a miter saw, an air stapler, and a razor knife. The crates were framed of 1x4 pine stapled together with 1 1/2 staples with cardboard cut to fit and stapled from the inside with shorter staples. Nothing fancy, but they survived moving 900 miles and three weeks in storage.

Same experience here. That is exactly how they crated some of our large breakable items.

[Dave Halter]

Why not pull the drawers out of the chests, load the chests in your truck or trailer then put the drawers back in to transport. You can either tape or strap the drawers shut. If that won't work take some heavy cardboard or hard board, cut to fit then tape over the top of the drawers. You can then stack the drawers outside of the chest.

[Todd Burch]

Wide stretch wrap is your friend. I used a ton of it (wide and narrow) for my recent "move to storage while I find a new home".

[mreza Salav]

You can get large (like 5x10 or 4x8) card-board sheets from plywood suppliers (they use ti between the sheets in their packs).
1x3 or SPF and cardboards stapled can make crates fast and easy. For small but heavy (sockets/wrenches/etc) I'd use a different method:
simply use moving boxes and cut a small OSB/ply sheet the size of the bottom, place it there and staple it so that the bottom doesn't fall out because of the weight.

[george newbury]

Boxes with thick cardboard from the liquor store tend to hold up. I've some that have been used for years.

[Harley Reasons]

My 2 cents is on the plastic tubs for unloading the mechanic tools into. Use cardboard or paper to seperate layers. They cost about what one cheap 1x4x8 at the big box store and you have no build time invested. Check your local BORG. Empty the drawers, put them back in and as another poster said, stretch wrap it. If you find some pallets, then stretch wrap stuff on it also.