Any source for drawers for DIY toolbox?

[Ford850]

I'd contact some good ole made in USA tool box companies to see if they have drawers available separately. Here's one: Kennedy Manufacturing - TOOL BOXES / CHESTS & CABINETS / SHOP STORAGE / CNC Although those quality drawers might end up costing more than a complete HF tool chest.
Another option would be to call HF and ask if they have any returns, scratch and dent, etc, that they would sell at a deep discount.

 

[strantor]

I use a lot of Rouseau storage items at work.
Storage cabinets, tool boxes & workbenches | Rousseau Metal International

you might be able to order only drawers... and only the size you want

Thanks that looks perfect. I'll send them an RFQ but my expectation is that they'll be priced comparable to Stor-Loc (well outside my budget).

I picked up one of the 72" tool chests from Hazard Fraught yesterday. $1,190 after tax. Subtracting $190 for the set of nice high capacity Albion-style casters under it leaves me with 18 drawers for $1,000, or $56 per drawer.

This doesn't mean I've 100% committed to going forward with the HF toolbox plan. It just means that I've got a temporary (albeit less than ideal) solution to my immediate problem.

Here's the story:
I'm a self employed Controls Engineer. I design & build control panels for automated machinery in my shop, and I also service/troubleshoot & install control systems in the field. My business is about a 50/50 mix of in-house & field service. Until now I have tried to maintain two separate sets of tools; one for in-house and one for field service. That way (in theory) my field service tools are always ready to go. I keep them in an assortment of pelican cases, hand-carry tool boxes and tool bags, and load them up in the truck when I go out for field work. The problem is that invariably my helper or I can't find (or don't have) a tool in my shop, so my Field Service tool cache gets raided and the tool is forgotten, and then it isn't there when I need it in the field. Some of these tools are so expensive that I can't justify owning duplicates of them, and this has happened enough times that I've been forced to realize that I'm not capable of maintaining the duplicate tool system. I need a single set of tools that serves both needs and stays 100% ready to go for either shop work or field service.

So my idea is a highway speed rated rolling toolbox. I suppose it should rightly be called a trailer, but I prefer to think of it as a toolbox that can be hitched to a truck. Picture something the same form factor as a popup tent camper, maybe a little more narrow, with drawers that slide straight out of the sides and a work surface on top. It would be very small as compared to other trailers, but pretty large compared to other rolling tool chests. I could trailer it to a customer's location, deploy casters from the under side of it, unhitch it and fold the tongue up and out of the way, and now it's a rolling toolbox that I can push straight into their facility and right up to the machine to be serviced. No more trips back and forth to the truck for this box or that bag, it's all right there. And when I'm done I push it back out to the truck, drop the hitch down, retract the casters, and roll out. Get home, park it back in my shop and carry on with shop work.

I can't find anyone selling the kind of thing I'm talking about. I found some selling "tool trailers" but not that match what I have in mind. I don't want wheels/fenders sticking out the sides. I want the closed drawers flush with the outside of the wheels, and the drawers arranged around (in front, behind, and above) the fenders. I am working on a conceptual 3D model of it in my spare time and I'll post a pic when it takes shape.

For now I will use the HF toolbox that I purchased, loaded onto my car hauler trailer. It will be a poor solution but a solution nonetheless. I will have to load/unload it at the shop with my tractor each time, strap it down, cover it with a tarp, and I won't be able to unload it at customer location unless they're able to unload it with a forklift.

From here I can either purchase another HF toolbox or continue the search for affordable drawers, or fab my own drawers. Purchasing the HF toolbox just bought me some time to figure out which direction I'm going. And if I decide to go with the HF toolbox drawers, now I have the drawers here to take measurements and design around.

 

[countrybumpkin]

Look into pit cart tool boxes, pit boxes , here is one you can drive on to a trailer , then drive into the factory or your shop. There are a bunch of different ideas and styles of pit carts that might work for you, then use a small enclosed trailer to haul it around, it would be out of the weather and not as “ noticeable” . Check racing junk.com there are several usually listed for sale.

Also one with a work surface.

 

[herm0016]

Ah, bad news. I was really starting to get myself excited over here thinking about it.

I am a woodworker.

If they are made of ply you will find that any good slide will gladly make up any seasonal change. solid wood moves, plywood moves very little.
Have built a few sets of cabinets for builtins and kitchens. I always use ply for most of the work. solid only belongs on fine furniture and you have to build with the movement in mind.

 

[herm0016]

interesting.. i read the rest.

i would probably buy a harbor freight trailer, and mount something like the durham storage drawers on it to your liking. Not sure how you want to weatherproof the whole thing. how small of an opening do you want to be able to roll it through? keep it to a 6 foot double door?
you could use one of the large roll outs for between the wheels from a pick up truck.
another idea is the cases similar to systainers, and have a cart that they attach to, this cart could be rolled into a small enclosed trailer or unloaded into a pickup. label each box for what is in it. milwalkee, ridgid, dewalt and others make similar systems.

 

[strantor]

Look into pit cart tool boxes, pit boxes , here is one you can drive on to a trailer , then drive into the factory or your shop. There are a bunch of different ideas and styles of pit carts that might work for you, then use a small enclosed trailer to haul it around, it would be out of the weather and not as “ noticeable” . Check racing junk.com there are several usually listed for sale. View attachment 569027

Also one with a work surface. View attachment 569028

I did not know these existed. It will take me some time to research and digest, but on the surface this seems like a much better solution than building my own trailer. So far I've only looked at the ones you mentioned on racingjunk and there seems to be a wide range of price from $1k to $10k for boxes that seem pretty similar. More reading required, but even for $5k I think I'm still saving money, as building the trailer will take me away from paid work, probably in excess of $5k. If they're electric powered then that's awesome. And parked inside a box trailer would be less conspicuous as you say. Very good. Much to think about. Thank you for the idea! I thought I had exhausted all simpler solutions than building a trailer.

 

[strantor]

interesting.. i read the rest.

i would probably buy a harbor freight trailer, and mount something like the durham storage drawers on it to your liking. Not sure how you want to weatherproof the whole thing. how small of an opening do you want to be able to roll it through? keep it to a 6 foot double door?
you could use one of the large roll outs for between the wheels from a pick up truck.
another idea is the cases similar to systainers, and have a cart that they attach to, this cart could be rolled into a small enclosed trailer or unloaded into a pickup. label each box for what is in it. milwalkee, ridgid, dewalt and others make similar systems.

I will look into the systainers as well. I think I know what you're talking about but I will verify. 99% of the places I go for work have bay doors wide enough to drive a truck through. They have to, in order to have previously placed machines inside. But once inside, there's no guarantee you'll be able to roll a truck-sized toolbox wherever you want. Sometimes they're cramped inside. So smaller is better. 6ft wide seems too wide but I assume there's a practical limit to how narrow you can make a trailer before it's a rollover hazard. Maybe 6ft is a good number to shoot for.

 

[strantor]

I am a woodworker.

If they are made of ply you will find that any good slide will gladly make up any seasonal change. solid wood moves, plywood moves very little.
Have built a few sets of cabinets for builtins and kitchens. I always use ply for most of the work. solid only belongs on fine furniture and you have to build with the movement in mind.

Ok, good to know. That info will come in hand soon, one way or another. Thank you!

 

[Diggin It]

Looking at the red one above gave me an idea. What about mounting your big HF box you just got to a pallet jack or similar? That would give you mobility to get it on and off a trailer via ramps and to move it around the shop or field location.

 

[strantor]

Looking at the red one above gave me an idea. What about mounting your big HF box you just got to a pallet jack or similar? That would give you mobility to get it on and off a trailer via ramps and to move it around the shop or field location.

Well the HF box already has beefy casters on it, but now that it's loaded it probably weighs >2,000lbs. I can't push it up a ramp on its own casters or with a pallet jack. It would need to have electric powered wheels to drive itself up into/onto a trailer. That's a feature I thought that these pit carts have, but as I dig deeper I'm not seeing that feature listed for them.