Tool Chests

[scotta]

Ive been looking at getting one for the garage. The Halfords one seems decent.

https://www.halfords.com/workshop-tools ... hest-black

Annoyingly its gone up £25 since before xmas.

Tool Station have this Draper one but its a bit smaller

https://www.toolstation.com/draper-tool-chest/p91065

Any other recommendations?

[mik]

Not got one, but this looks good value. SGS

[Barry]

I've got the Halfords professional ones, that one and the base drawer trolley. Drawers on bearings, solid quality, no complaints. IIRC I got both as a sale bundle for reasonable money.

[NotoriousREV]

Ive been looking at getting one for the garage. The Halfords one seems decent.

https://www.halfords.com/workshop-tools ... hest-black

Annoyingly its gone up £25 since before xmas.

Tool Station have this Draper one but its a bit smaller

https://www.toolstation.com/draper-tool-chest/p91065

Any other recommendations?

I’ve got that Halfords one, the middle one and the roll cab for it to sit on. I’m ridiculously happy with it. No issues at all.

[Marv]

I bought a couple of Clarke HD tool chests a while back. Bit expensive, but they are nice and robust.

[Sundayjumper]

Halfords here too. No complaints.

[mik]

I have a “US Pro” chest which has always been good. I was gifted it so never knew what it cost, but it seems there are some good deals available on those too
https://usprotoolboxes.com/product-category/sale/

Edit : mine is actually an “American Pro” which is at least 18yrs old and still going strong. Can’t see any for sale though so I guess they Closed down or rebranded - I have no idea If US Pro is the same company

2nd edit (ffs) - it looks like they are actually now “Sealey American Pro” ?
https://www.sealey.co.uk/category/56371 ... erican-pro

[Mito Man]

I have a “US Pro” chest which has always been good. I was gifted it so never knew what it cost, but it seems there are some good deals available on those too
https://usprotoolboxes.com/product-category/sale/

Edit : mine is actually an “American Pro” which is at least 18yrs old and still going strong. Can’t see any for sale though so I guess they Closed down or rebranded - I have no idea If US Pro is the same company

Was just looking for some wall mounted tool shelving earlier, that site is very well priced so may get one.

[V8Granite]

US Pro is good kit. I used SGS for my garage and am
Very pleased, I got the 41” chest which is lovely. A US pro side box as a free-standing set of drawers to go along with it.

Dave!

[scotta]

The sealy one looks good and are a bit cheaper from amazon. Interesting.

[Richard]

My local Homebase has loads of similar tool chests out on display. Might be worth going to have a look at some to get an idea of what things you like or don’t like about different designs?

[jamcg]

My local Homebase has loads of similar tool chests out on display. Might be worth going to have a look at some to get an idea of what things you like or don’t like about different designs?

Machine mart might also be a good one for looking around if you have one local

[scotta]

[mik]

Having dithered over this topic for VERY many years - I finally got some more tool storage. Reduced individually in the Amazon Prime sale, plus a further 5% off for buying two together. £260 for the pair.

I'd never heard of the Larbanke brand previously, and they are of course made in China. Reviews are pretty digital - either very positive on build and finish, or very negative as they arrived damaged.

These came well packaged - no issues in transit. I'm sure they won't impress professional mechanics, but the constuction is solid enough - welded bits look clean, paint finishes are fine, and the drawer runners are fairly chunky and slide in and out with minimal side-to-side "wobble". All drawers have rubber inserts, which must cost £buttons, but is a nice addition. They come with small-ish castors plus solid adjustable feet. I won't wheel them around, so I used the latter for greater stability.

Happy enough so far, and will really clear the shelves I've stacked tools up on for years. Does makes my 20+ year old American Pro toolbox look rather knackered though.....

[duncs500]

I bought the Halfords Advanced base one a month or two ago. I'm usually a big fan of their stuff in terms of price vs quality but I must say I was a little disappointed with it. The draws just seem a bit grabby, and only wanting to close if you apply 100% central perpendicular pressure. Admittedly I haven't had the chance to play with it really so it might just need a bit of WD40 to loosen it up, let's see about that. Looks cool at least.

However I also bought the empty plastic liner in order to decant my current Halfords socket set into it, and I am seriously disappointed in that. First thing, it doesn't have enough spaces for my set, which probably is on me for not knowing how many pieces in my set (liner sold as 120 piece, so presumably I have a 150 piece). What I can't abide though, is the liner is way smaller than the drawer in all directions, so it just sits in the middle looking out of place.

I've been looking at various foam liners you can buy from Ebay etc to try and get it more organised, anyone got any suggestions?

[Ascender]

Thanks to @mik for pointing me in the direction of the thread...

Looks like the Larbranke ones are the way to go - you can get a single unit for £150 - unless anyone has any better options?

Amazon Clicky

Although this one looked quite funky for what you get.

B&Q

[mik]

B&Q one does look good too. I see that Larbanke seller is offering the same 5&7 drawer combo I have for £280 which would work out the same width as the B&Q one (and there are (fiddly) links to join them together. B&Q job is a lot deeper though so ultimately it’ll swallow more.

Really depends what you are planning to put in it. I had no use for a cupboard, but I did end up with a couple of long files / levers / drill bits that don’t fit in mine.

[Mito Man]

Do you want it to be mobile? Do you want all the chests to be the same height? Have a look at the stuff you want to shove in it and think of the future junk you might want.

[V8Granite]

Do you want it to be mobile? Do you want all the chests to be the same height? Have a look at the stuff you want to shove in it and think of the future junk you might want.

You get it all set, this is perfect, absolutely top class.

(20 years in a man’s future)

Hmm, where can I put my medieval mace collection as they are 70cm handles ?

Wheels are handy but ultimately just refine it over time. I’ve chopped the top off an old toolbox to put all my Makita stuff, mounted battery chargers on charging boards, built a fold up workbench for when I need a bit more worktop space and have fold out shelves down one side. If you are fiddling and improving in the garage, are you even garaging ?

Dave!

[unzippy]

Bunnings finest!