Woodworking meets Metalworking

[Anthony Whitesell]

Have you seen the price of toolboxes? I needed toolboxes with a lot of drawers. Based on the price of toolboxes that fit the need, I couldn't afford to buy them. So I decided to make them.


Milling Machine and Toolboxes.jpg

The wood came from my sawmill, so no real cost there. I needed 2 sheets of plywood, a whole bunch of full extension drawer slides (like 39 pairs of them), and dozen casters. All spent, the total is around $250.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

You did an excellent job! Those are great looking tool cabinets. Does the the "all spent $250" include hardware? Which drawer slides did you go with?

[Michael Burnside]

Well done. I'm a toolbox fanboy myself, Husky brand, which are a good mix of quality and affordability. I've heard Harbor Freight have a line that is reasonable, but I haven't been in the market for a couple of years. That said, seems like you didn't need anything but time and a pile of drawer slides!

[George Yetka]

The HF are great bang for your buck. They are better in my oppinion and cheeper than the craftsman. Husky are comparable. I like homebuilt best though. I like how if you think it out you can have perfectly customized space. I wanted a metal box for the garage but ended up building and im pretty glad I did. I did however by a metal hf box for the basement for gunsmithing/cleaning. I like the magnetic accessory aspect to metal boxes

[Cameron Wood]

Those look great! They'll take on a nice patina of oil and grease over time, too.

[Anthony Whitesell]

I have a US General 26"x22" roller top and bottom toolbox from HF. I LOVE IT! Ball bearing drawer slides, smooth operation, right number of drawers, right size drawers. Love it.

[Anthony Whitesell]

You did an excellent job! Those are great looking tool cabinets. Does the the "all spent $250" include hardware? Which drawer slides did you go with?

$250 for everything. The hardware inclues the 42 pairs of drawer slides (I only needed 39 and have 3 on shelf) and 12 casters. The hardware was from Amazon. I was paid ~$30 for a 6 pair pack and ~$45 for a 10 pair pack. Would have preferred to buy them local, but can't afford $15-18 a pair.

[Keith Outten]

Those are great boxes, I really like the fact that you can build exactly what you need to fit your personal needs.
The only thing I would do different is I would not need wheels. I purchased a mini pallet jack several years ago so two or three four by fours glued and screwed to the bottom provides the clearance for the jack and it is much easier to move heavy items on the jack. Saves me money over time, I even removed the wheels from several of my machines once I got the pallet jack, have a large box of wheels in my storage building now

I intend to remove the wheels from both of my metal tool boxes when I get the time, they are just to heavy to roll around on wheels. I rarely move either tool box but there are times when it would be really nice to move the mechanics tool box to the other end of my shop when I am working on cars and other machines.

[Anthony Whitesell]

Those are great boxes, I really like the fact that you can build exactly what you need to fit your personal needs.
The only thing I would do different is I would not need wheels. I purchased a mini pallet jack several years ago so two or three four by fours glued and screwed to the bottom provides the clearance for the jack and it is much easier to move heavy items on the jack. Saves me money over time, I even removed the wheels from several of my machines once I got the pallet jack, have a large box of wheels in my storage building now

I intend to remove the wheels from both of my metal tool boxes when I get the time, they are just to heavy to roll around on wheels. I rarely move either tool box but there are times when it would be really nice to move the mechanics tool box to the other end of my shop when I am working on cars and other machines.

This is a basement shop. Absolutely no room for a pallet jack.