Do any of you use rolling metal tool cabinets for storage?

[wlaims]

Is it me or do woodworkers tend to stick with wood cabinets and storage for their shops? I mean it makes sense of course, but is there a logical reason for this?

For example, I'm pretty tempted to get this cabinet for my hand tools and accessories:



For $349 with coupon, it has tons of drawers and is apparently very good quality, according to this thread and others like it. With some non-slip matting in the drawers it probably will have all the space I will need for tools. Less time building shop cabinets, more time building real projects.

Any thoughts?

[LCHIEN]

they're nice

[dewi1219]

I use one (a cheap $100 Craftsman) for my auto / hand tools. I love it. But you aren't gonna be storing a whole lot of WW tools in it. No matter how hard I try I can't get my router to fit in it

By the way, I put the non-slip matting in mine. It's a must-have IMO. It keeps everything in place so all your wrenches, sockets, etc. don't slide all over the place.

[twistsol]

I have that exact cabinet but in black and have absolutely no complaints at all. It is surprisingly high quality for a Harbor Freight product. I bought it to store all my miscellaneous non woodworking tools. Many of them are still on the pegboard and one drawer has woodworking chisels in it. With that and 33 linear feet of Ikea upper cabinets and 7 sheets of pegboard, I have almost enough storage in my garage.

Freight on it was over $70 though.

[wlaims]

So are they just not tall enough for power tools? I wasn't thinking about routers, biscuit jointers, and drills as much. I have a whole bunch of stuff that just lays around here and there, like chisels, screwdrivers, router bits, drill bits, squares, calibers and gauges, feature boards, etc, that should fit in those shallow drawers pretty good. Also power tool accessories like mitre gauge, sliding tables, etc. may fit too. I imagine hand planes can fit on the bottom as well.

I probably still need cabinets for power tools and plan on having some anyway, just wondering if this is a useful storage for those stuff I listed above.

[twistsol]

The stuff you have listed is what is in mine and it cleaned up a lot of the shop clutter quickly. The top drawer has all my plumbing tools including a fat boy propane torch which barely fits. The bottom larger drawer has fits my multimax in its case and a dremel in its case with accessories. The small bottom drawer has the air tools I rarely use ... impact wrench and air chisel. The other drawers are really shallow so one layer of screwdrivers, pliers, my electrical tools and testers, my low voltage tools and testers all fit if carefully laid flat. Tossing them in and shutting the drawer doesn't work.

Most router bits standing up in a foam block don't fit in the shallow drawers. They are just tool tall. I haven't tried it but I'd bet that a plane laying on its side wouldn't fit in any of the shallow drawers but I think would fit nicely in the taller drawers. By the way, it comes with rubber matting in the drawers already.

[jabe]

I have a 2 tier c-man tool chest for my auto/wood working hand tools. Great for holding router & drill bits etc.

[dbhost]

I have an older (1990) high end (as far as they went with them back then) Craftsman. I keep my automotive tools in it. I access it a LOT, so things like screwdrivers, wrenches, sockets etc.. are there. But no woodworking specific tools are kept in it. For me, the time building cabinets is doing something far more useful. Building skills...

[smorris]

I have a 2 tier Cman LOML got me a couple years ago. The drawers are all labeled for screwdrivers, chisels, saw parts, router parts, wrenches, etc. It works well until the part where I don't put things away , but I'm getting much better about that.

[aggrex]

With some non-slip matting in the drawers it probably will have all the space I will need for tools. Less time building shop cabinets, more time building real projects

That HF for 349 is a nice cabinet with ball-bearing drawers. I have two in my garage to store and organize all the tools. With a board on top you get some new work space. Pick a model that has the drawer sizes that will fit your needs whether HF,Craftsman, etc. Most of these cabinets can accept a large add-on side cabinet to stuff plenty of saws and routers, etc

[sscherin]

I have that HF cabinet.. I love it and would like a 2nd one or the top box for it..
The bottom drawers are huge.. I can stash my M12V in there.
The 42" wide top drawer is great for long tools or large plans.

I also have a 5 drawer file cabinet and a 2 drawer I use for tool storage..
Router, drills and other large tools fit quite nicely in a file cabinet.
Nice place to stash boxes of screws, nails and so on.
Throw in a few hanging file folders to keep your sandpaper organized..

[eezlock]

rolling metal cabinets for storage

Yes, I have some rolling metal cabinets for auto tool storage . I have lately made some changes in the shop that I am really liking a lot better for all other
type equipment storage....it is 2 drawer heavy duty file cabinets from salvage
and thrift stores. They usually can be for bought for little money and are easily adaptable for use in the shop. I bought one for $3 or $4 dollars and added a
couple of cross boards with casters at each end....instant roll away storage!
Another one already had small casters on it, I made a extra top out of plywood
for it, with a handhold in the end to make it easier to move around the shop,
it also makes a good extra work top for items that are in building stages.

In the last couple of years, I have made most of my shop machines mobile,
even my clamp rack is mobile and that really makes it better when doing woodworking to have access to all the clamps whenever they are needed
and easy to get to.

[Tom Clark]

I have a similar cabinet also, but I am a retired machinist.

For $350 you could build shop cabinets with 30-40 drawers, all using metal slides, and make the drawers as large as you wish. My 18 drawer cabinet has four 12" high drawers, four 9" high drawers, and the rest are 6" and 3" drawers for small items. Metal slides are about $3 each in bulk.

[Knottscott]

I've got a couple of rolling metal cabinets. One is an industrial type, the other is a cheap lightweight Sears special.

[Larryl]

I have a similar cabinet also, but I am a retired machinist.

For $350 you could build shop cabinets with 30-40 drawers, all using metal slides, and make the drawers as large as you wish. My 18 drawer cabinet has four 12" high drawers, four 9" high drawers, and the rest are 6" and 3" drawers for small items. Metal slides are about $3 each in bulk.

I too have a c-man two tier rolling tool cabinet that I keep non-woodworking tools in (but needed around the shop), and also a gift from the wife about 12 years ago. Although Tom is like me and doesn't post very often, one of his post a few years back put me on the track of building all cabinets with drawers below waist level. It is easier to pull out a drawer than to bend down and reach behind other tools, cans, supplies, etc., to reach what you are looking for. This leaves the upper walls free for pegboard and hanging all the various jigs you will build to make each of your power tools more useful, accurate, or safer. Belated, "Thanks for the advice", Tom.