The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Tool Chest Home Built Tool Chest

I've been looking for a new tool chest for a while now, but couldn't find one I liked. Seems like the drawers are always either way too shallow or too deep and not enough of them. Not to mention the price tag on the bigger chests. So I decided to build my own. The cabinet is made out of 3/4" birch plywood and the drawers are made from 14 gage sheet metal. The slides (ball bearing) and handles are from Home Depot. The drawers are also 30" wide, 20" deep, and 3-1/2" tall.

Here are a few pictures to show it off. Hope you all enjoy and thanks for looking. Paul.

http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2917836400099958186bVutDu

Very nice work !!!....Love it !

Now theres a nice way to go.Great looking tool chest.Looks better than the store bought ones.

You do nice work. Your shop looks neat and clean too.

Nice Work!! That's how you get exactly what you want and need!!

I had a nice tool box till some yahoo stole it. . .

I took a 4x4 IHC load star 1700 392 V-8 5spd truck with 60" cab to axle. . .

built a tool box on it door's open up to drawer's like a snap on or mac tool box, up and down both side's of the truck air compressor in the middle ran off the PTO 60 gallon air tank 225psi. . . hydralic pump with port's nice rig. . . was looking at a generator for it. . .

truck sat about 4 month's went to my starage yard and poof there she was gone. . .

I was :mad:. . . thinking of building another one out of a 5 ton army truck. . .

Mike

Beautiful work!

Can I ask for some details?

How is it constructed? Is it all just screwed together or did you weld anything?

How much do you think you spent in materials and how long did it take you to make?

I've been looking at chests and was disappointed in what I found. They were all the wrong size for me and so expensive. I'd appreciate any details. Thanks.

Hey guys, thanks for all the complements. 66bowtie, the box part of the tool chest is made out of 3/4" birch plywood, and is held together with glue and screws. The drawer slides are held to the box with machine screws and t-nuts (blind nuts). You can see the t-nuts on the outside of the box. I don't like the way they show, but I didn't think wood scews holding the rails from the inside would stay put. I've come up with a couple ways to get around this if I were to build one again.

The drawers are just basic pans that I had a sheet metal shop form. Then I welded up the corners. After I drilled all the holes for the slides and handles, I had them powder coated. The faces of the drawers are sheet aluminum cut to size. One machine screw at each end and the handles hold the face to the drawer. The aluminum I used was about an 1/8" thick, but I think it would look better if had used 1/4" material.

All together I think I spent about $600 on materials, which is still isn't cheap. But I think it's as good or better than the store bought ones at twice the money. I worked on it when I could, but my best guess would be about 60 to 70 hours. A lot of that time was design time, so the next one will go a lot faster and I'll be able to make it a little more refined too.

One trick to remember is to build the drawers first. That way you can build the box to fit them. If you build the box first, and the drawers end up a little too big, yer screwed. That's the basics of it. If you have any more questions, I'd be happy to answer them. Paul.

Great job, looks very nice.

John

The nicer the box the more likely it'll get stolen hell mine was a whole darn 12,500lb truck. . .

Mike

I can't agree on building drawers first. Build your box to the size of your largest tools. The full extension slides you are using reqiure a 1/2 to 9/16 space on each side of the drawer box. Just subtract 1 inch or a bit more from the rough opening of your cabinet to get the drawer size.

Man, it must be nice to have that much time on your hands
Nice work!

I love it great job....now how many can you make a day? cuz I want one

Man, now thats what I call a beautiful tool box.Looks too nice to use...The rest of the garage looks imaculate as well with those painted and labled cans and that beautiful wood work bench is outstanding. Loved the pix.