Thank you for sharing this. I recently got a Craftsman tool box. Although I don't work with angle iron, I did stiffen the bottom with plywood; and used bolts, nuts, washers and lock washers to install new wheels.
Hey that's a really good idea! I have 2 of the Harbor Freight roll around tool chests. For the money - they are a great buy and super box. I do agree that with 400 + pounds in them they can be a little wobbly though. Mine are stationary and rarely move .. but I did do a similar bottom side modification to an older Craftsman bottom chest. I cut a piece of pressure treated 3/4" plywood and laid into the bottom below the lowest drawer. Attached it with 5/16" bolts and big washers .. then replaced the wheels and casters with heavier duty type and bigger through bolts. Did the trick and really stiffened the entire box up!
+bmwelch320 Thanks! I agree 100%- for the money they're hard to beat. Yeah, I keep mostly machinist tools in mine and moving it around was a bit scary with the wobble. This mod straightened it right out! I was going to point you to my caster upgrade video- but since yours stay stationary there's no point...lol. It sounds like your mods/upgrades to the Craftsman box worked out well. That's cool! Why they (most lower ended makes) don't just build them stiffer to begin with is beyond me. Perhaps they think most that purchase them don't really load them up to what they state their capacity is- who knows? Take care, G.
That is a super fix and you've solved a problem for me because I put my bandsaw on wheels and got flex in the base, this solution will solve that problem. Thank you. Best Wishes, Brendan.
I bought one of the black stacked tool boxes (all three) a few weeks ago. First thing I did was dig the bolts for the castors and then bolted a piece of 3/4" CDX to the bottom of the box with 1/4"-20 bolts and ny-locks nuts.
My father-in-law has the same box and he likes it. CDX on the bottom of anything would stiffen it right up for sure. I could have done the same thing with this box, but didn't think of it. Thanks for the info, G.
Excellent! I will do this to mine. I love this box, but I also load it up pretty heavily. I just got the 44" one and put an old, red Craftsman top box on it. It is much more sturdily built across the bottom and has better casters. This was just a matter of being a more lightly built box, I think. I wish they would incorporate your idea here with better casters, but it is what it is. Both boxes have pleased me completely, save for the slight wallow of the 26" box's floor and its cruddy casters. I up-thumbed this as well as the caster video. Headed over to watch your Max-Air compressor video next. Thanks for posting these vids on the HF 26" box!
Thanks Holton! Yeah, the two mods made this box perfect in my opinion- especially for it's cost. I wanted the 44 when I bought this one, but simply didn't/don't have the space. They could use better casters on this one, stiffen up the bottom a bit , and it would contend with higher ended boxes hands down. I would guess most won't load them up like we do, so it might be moot. Either way, glad you liked the videos! The Max-Air compressor was a great CL score. A few mods and it's going great! Feel free do dig around my channel for anything of interest. Thanks for the post and take care, G.
I did this to mine when I first bought it. mainly because I had 8" suspension wheels to put on. (my box needs to be able to roll around the shop everyday). I but a piece of angle on the underside though welded to the main frame. nice clean job guy!
Thanks Turbo! It sounds like you've shored yours up quite nicely to meet your needs. This mod, and the caster upgrade I made sure made for a sturdy and smooth rolling cab. Thanks for the post and good luck, G.
Here we go again 3 years later and I’ve got one again they were blowin out on sale 1/2 price & I’m back at this video for reference 👍 Going with a full castor upgrade to 4 swivels and precision bearings. They have a different lock and don’t quite clear the bottom lip so I’m running a length of flat bar lengthways between the castor & bottom of the box as a riser and then throw some angle in across the inside like this.
I have a tool box that is used in Aircraft it had the 3" casters were removed from the roll away and a sheet of 2 pieces of plywood were bolted through the bottom. The thinnest 5/8" is the smallest one it fits inside the bottom lips of the roll away. The second one is 4" larger that the base of the roll away and then 6" casters were mounted to the plywood and towards the outside of the wood. This give the roll away a bigger foot print making it's balance more stable going down inclines and easier to roll. I did the same thing to my cheap Craftman roll away it used to flex on the 2.5" casters it don't flex no more.
+Frederick Kaludis Great Mods on your boxes Frederick! The manufacturers really should make them right- out of the box, but modding like we have does take care of the problems. Good luck, G.
If this is the 26" 16 drawer version.... I modified one of these for a friend by stacking and mounting two 1/8" sheets of steel plates under the bottom shelf to get 1/4". Made a big difference in stability and the base no longer rocks like it used to when he opens the heavier drawers. However.... his casters had thicker steel than the ones shown in this video. He has about 350# of tools in it and it still rolls pretty easily even over his asphalt driveway.
+pm0501 B (PM0501) It is the 26" 16 drawer version. Good solution with using the plates! I loaded new wheels on my casters and it rolls like nothing. I have about 438lbs of tools in mine, with the total weight being about 670lbs. If he might want to upgrade his wheels, here's my video showing the ones I've used. Take care, G. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-40RsUx5cJ-Q.html
hi ! Really a nice improvement with that angel iron - but ... I have bad experiences with changing the rollers to some with a softer rubber - they get "flat" staying still for some time in fact did leave some flat spots on my "tires" - I changed them back again - just an info worth giving some thinking !
Thanks Keld! Thanks for the input and I agree with the flat spots on softer wheels. The ones I will be using are 55D. The Shore D scale durometer is much much harder than than the A scale and shouldn't develop flat spots. Thanks again for the concern/heads up! G.
this is kind of why i bought a Matco box when i had a chance to get it on sale. If i wanted to get another box for my home use. i would probably go this route tho. But just a heads up, i have well over 400 LBs of tools in my work tool chest. which is why i went with matco. Im not one to boast over any one brand , but If a guy can afford to spend some extra cash on a box its worth it. but i recommend it after the fact that a guy already has a good amount of tools to fill a box. I see so may younger people buying a 7000$ tool box and then they only have a few ratchets, sockets and wrenches to put in them. i worked out of a tool cart for a few years before i invested in a good box. Really cool video i might do this to a single bay craftsman box to keep it alive longer.
+gageoninja Nothing wrong with springing for Matco. Personally, I have a Snap-on cab from when my tools made me money ions ago. Mac makes good boxes as well. This box would serve a home shop well. Mine's used for machining tools and I think I have it loaded to about 670lbs in tools only. Man, you hit that nail right on the head. I too saw others wheeling in a nice roll cab and only had a few tools in them- probably mostly scavenged from family members. I started kind of like you did and worked from a small box while I was accumulating tools and then outgrew it. Then I moved up to the Snap-on box. I'd see them week after week handing over most of their paychecks to the trucks. I got some great deals at pawn shops buying up what some had to pawn to make rent, etc.- and I'm sure they were pawing tools they still owed on. These were the pre-web days so the shops really didn't know what Snap-on, Mac, or Matco cost- they just knew the names. There really should be an education program for the young guns so their tools work for them- not the other way around...lol. Anyway, the mod works great and if your Craftsman could use a little stiffening- I highly recommend the mod. Take care, G.
I have four of their Series 1 44" boxes (which are actually 42" wide), three of them have the top chest, one has an end cabinet on each end and one has one end cabinet. I used angle iron as you did only mine is wide enough to cover all 4 nutserts. 4 boxes gave me enough swivel casters for two of the four which I used on the two with the lightest loads. For the other two I bought the heaviest duty 5" polyurethane swivel casters Harbor Freight sold which were 600 pounds each (I think) but they no longer sell. The end add on cabinets do not come with casters so I added them. The end boxes are a little shorter than the main box so spacers were needed for the casters to touch the floor. The one cabinet with no top chest has 3/4" plywood bolted to the top. At one end I fabricated 3 shelves for saws etc. and at the other a rack for two small oxygen/acetylene tanks. Another benefit to 4 cabinets, 3 top chests and 3 side cabinets is the ability to swap drawers to get the set up I needed for each. I needed all shorter height drawers for the machinist cabinet while taller is better for the mobile work table. Two of the four have a lot more than 438 pounds worth of tools in them and with the angle iron mod they can have most of their drawers fully open and they're still rock solid with no wobble and no hint of tipping forward. These boxes are definitely the best bargain for roll around cabinets and with the angle iron mod they can't be beat IMHO. I hope anyone thinking of getting one of these cabinets does so and does the angle iron mod first. I know they won't be disappointed. Thanks for spreading the word on this worthwhile mod, great video.
Thanks Man. It sounds like you've also gone trough some mods to make your V1 boxes even better. I've looked at the V2 boxes and they seem to have addressed some of the V1 shortcomings but my observations were only in store. I do like they're a couple of inches deeper and I think they have full extension drawer slides. I had, and still believe they are the best bang for the buck hands down as you've stated. Better built and cheaper to boot. Take care, G.
I was disappointed to discover my new 56” doesn’t have 1:2 ratio drawers, they are 3:5 and so can’t swap around like the v1 44” can. I originally swapped so the top box was all shallow drawers and put the deeps on the bottom. So I ordered a new short drawer for the 56” and I’ll modify the 5” drawer to fit above it. The design phase wasn’t forward thinking.
Nice job stiffening up that base. I don't have the metal working tools or skills that you do. While I do have a chop saw, I don't have a band saw. Do you have any suggestions as to how I could rip the width of the one side of the angle iron with every day tools? Reciprocating saw with a metal blade?
Thanks Vicos! I can only think of a couple of options, one of which you've mentioned. A reciprocating saw with a metal blade would work just fine if you have one. It might take awhile and go though a few blades- but it would work. Other than that, I would suggest finding a local fabrication shop that can run them through a saw for you- for a few bucks. Another option would be to have someone use a torch to cut them, but a saw would do a cleaner job. This is just the way I did mine, but you might even consider using wood as an option. Look at aclan3's post below on how he did his box. It might be work trying out first. Good luck with it, G.
I just bought the US General Series 2 26" lower cabinet and I thought about this video when I was putting the wheels on. US General has reinforced the bottom with a secondary plate that covers the whole bottom of the unit. After putting the wheels on, I did your little flex test and could not get the kind of movement you demonstrated before adding your modification. In the store, they have the full 26" combo on display and I tested the sturdiness by trying to sway the unit from the front and the side and even though it's not loaded up, I could feel there was no give underneath. I'd like to think that videos like yours got US General's attention and they beefed up their products accordingly.
Definitely looks much stronger! With the 438 lb (about) weight, will it be more difficult to roll around and cause flat spots sitting in one spot if you go with softer wheels? Thanks for sharing.
Seems like it's going to work just fine Mac! I will be getting really hard polyurethane wheels (Something in the Shore D scale) so they shouldn't develop flat spots and it should be easy to roll around. I'll post a clip once I get them. Thanks, G.
Tool box Viagra, stiffened that rascal up good. That should do the trick the sheet metal on the bottom is just too thin and flimsy but that angle iron ain't going anywhere. And a decent set of wheels will make it a roll-around that actually does that well. Like you said for the price and a little addition and modification you get a worthwhile item at a good price if you are willing to be bothered upgrading it. Good Job on that one.
No doubt John! It is thin on the bottom for sure. It's sure stiff as a board now. The wheels on this box was my only original complaint- the flexing complaint came on later. Their other boxes have pretty nice casters on them- but not this model. I'll be taking care of the wheels soon and will post a clip. Agreed, with the price and now with a little mod- it's a fine box for sure. Thanks and take care, G.
Sears and Harbor freight all make home duty and a mechanics grade tool boxes you get what you pay for, the old aircraft box I have was made when there was one basic size for a roll away chest. So that what you had to do. Now there are more option. Some folk bolt two roll aways together and build a workbench. I'm 72" tall and I can just see in to my the top of my old box. I've seen 7' box that need a step ladder. And even one with a system of power outlets with a microwave and refrigerator. Hell I just use a power strip.
+Frederick Kaludis That's true. I have an old Snap-on taco cart. They were primarily sold to folks in aviation. It even has a tow bar so it can be hooked to a golf cart, etc. LOL, yeah- I've seen some of those boxes as well. They are pretty impressive, but so is the price tag! G.
+Will Rogers Thanks Will. Man, I REALLY want/wanted the 56 but just don't have the floorspace for it. I looked under the display model once (if I remember correctly) and I think they have a tubular support frame on it. If so, you might not have to do any mods. Once you get it, let me know what you find. Good luck with it! G.
+ghostses Picked it up yesterday. Yes the casters are reinforced fyi. Got the top box (opened box with small blemish) for $300. So both for about a grand. I gotta say this thing quality wise is every bit of that of my American made Waterloo I bought from NAPA ~20 years ago.
+Will Rogers That's cool! I agree, their boxes are built really well. The one I have could use some change in design, but overall it was the best one I could find in the price range. Thanks for the followup! G.
Vast improvement. I ended up riveting another sheet of metal to the bottom of mine to stiffen it up. I also but much bigger wheels on it as well. Much nicer.
Very much so! That was a good option you did to yours. I upgraded the wheels on mine, but not bigger than what was there. It made a world of difference. Good luck, G.
Seems like it would be better to put thick plate accross the bottom. So all the weight of the box could set on it. I think it would help keep the bottom from sagging if it was really loaded up.
Awesome mod...perhaps its just me though but why wouldn't you wire wheel and paint the angle iron while you have it out...if not for appearances then at least for rust protection
Thanks Spencer! I did clean and paint the angle outside of the video. I was shooting two mods on this box at the same time- so the casters and the angle came back off for the other video. I painted them then. I upgraded the wheels and show the angle again in the other video. It's another worthwhile upgrade. Take a peek if you like. Good luck, G. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-40RsUx5cJ-Q.html
That 1.5" cut-down web of 1/4" thick steel is doing most of the work of stiffening the box... That said, the flat web is .250" thick, while the sheet steel is about 20 ga. = 0.0375". So, you added 6.67x the thickness to the floor of the box, not counting the beam effect of the vertical part of the member. For folks who might want to do this who don't have free off-cuts, steel's relatively cheap... but, kind of heavy... Also, HF is upgrading most of their offerings... the 67831 is rated for 1,060 lbs, while the cheaper offering - 67421 - is only rated for 353 lbs. Home Depot offers an even cheaper Stanley roll-around in the same size range - 325 lb. capy. - also an import. If you are operating on limited funds, you can upgrade your roll-around base to accommodate a heavier load - within limits. If you need seriously heavier duty capacity, Craigslist and yard sales can render up some better grade boxes, albeit in a used condition. Scratch & Dent sales at the stores can sometime land you a bargain... I just had to get a roll-around set for work, and found a Craftsman set marked way down, since Orchard Supply Hardware is no longer affiliated with Sears... About 12 years ago, I bought a Rem-Line set on sale from OSH when Sears bought them... Shop around, and you can usually find some combination that will work within your budget Oh, and Craftsman chests (made by Waterloo) come in several different grades - as with most manufacturers offerings... The cheapest units often aren't much good, no matter who's name is on the plate. The next tier up can offer some good deals, and the third tier up from the bottom of the line is usually where the entry level is for the pros.
Good post Chem! Everyone has different needs and different budgets like you've said. I appreciate you adding to the comments to give folks alternative views. Thanks and take care, G.
I returned it since I had the option too and bought a different brand 5 drawer roller cabinet. Similar construction and materials. Doesn’t flex just seems like it could be a simpler solution for some people
Joseph, there are bends of sheet metal that stick down on the bottom of the box I have- so I went to the inside. I guess the braces could be notched to fit over them. There may also be a problem with the swivel casters hitting the brace as they spin around. I didn't consider that option, but there might be a way to do it from underneath. Thanks for the idea, it might help others think of other ways to stiffen theirs up. G.
Thanks. Now I understand. I thought that the 90 degree piece could be put away from the swivels but I can understand that the folds of the sheet metal would create a lot more work.
I just Purchased a dented 56 inch box for the price of a 44 inch box minus $100. One thing I thought I would tell you is that the 56 inch box comes with urethane wheels.
+The motorsports project That's really the box I wanted but don't have the space. You got a great deal on it! Thanks for the info on the wheels. Take care, G.
Hey ghostses I have the same toolbox the pain has kinda gotten messed up trying to repaint hoping you could comment back or email of how you were able to get the drawers out having a he'll of a time with it
Brandon, pull a drawer all the way out till it stops then push it back in just a little. There are black plastic levers in the sides of the track. Hold the left one up, and push the right one down. You have to squeeze pretty hard, but the drawer should pull out. Hope this helps, G.
I've had to re-enforce just about every roll-away even craftsman....same as you are showing...either angle or if the bottom is flat...a piece of 10 gauge...
+Doug Ankrum It shouldn't have be that way Doug- but in many cases it is. For this box, if they would stiffen the bottom, and perhaps use better casters- it would be hard for any other brand in the price range to touch it. Take care, G.
+ghostses ..Well.....I have a lot of tools....mechanics and welding/machinist...one drawer can end up with #150-200's of stuff...so far...the craftsman boxes are holding up OK on the base/casters..but they are 20 year old boxes/roll-aways...no roller slides and the slides are coming apart at the spot welds inside cabinets....I'll never buy a box again without roller bearing slides....
+Doug Ankrum Sounds like my story with tools Doug- minus welding. I remember those older Craftsman boxes well. Many in the shop had them. My old Snap-On box doesn't have rollers either. Roller is the only way to go! G.
Just bought a used box like this one, and a couple of the drawer slides are messed up. I need new. I found the part #28648 on the net, and some people have had luck ordering from HF directly, but I'm wondering if you or anyone else know a more direct route to getting these drawer slides? fyi, I'm working on my own version of shoring up this box.... so I'll share that eventually.
Matthew, I don't know of a more direct route to get them, but someone else might chime in. I have ordered parts from them twice and had a good experience both times. Their customer service was great for my needs. Post your mod for sure. It will give others ideas if they wish to do theirs. Take care, G.
Matthew Olson Yeah, 10 weeks seems way out of line. What I've learned about HF is some parts are kept on-hand here in the states while others have to be shipped from overseas- if they're available at all. Even in that event, it shouldn't take that long from anywhere in the world. If you got a sweet deal, I guess the pain might be worth the wait. I checked out your video. You've come up with a pretty good stiffening modification using wood. I like that you've posted it because not everyone has access to the tools I have and my method may be out of reach for some. Options are always a great thing! Thanks for posting you take and good luck, G.
***** Thanks for the kind words. I'll keep everyone posted as to what happens w/ the drawer slides. Plus, I'm working on that upper center drawer that is out of line. as always, more to come :)
I know it has been 9 months since you posted your comment about the drawer slides. If you still need them, check with Rockler woodworking. They are a woodworking store but they do sell drawer slides of all different kinds and might have some that match your toolbox.
bigdave46148 Thanks for the suggestion. My story on drawer slides is so far quite dramatic. Ordered in May/june, needed a pair, ordered a 2nd set too just in case. Paid around $38 for what I was assured was 2 pair of slides (they come as left and right...they are NOT identical) ... I got got ONE PAIR in August. Spoke w/ customer service, wanted to make darn sure this wouldn't happen again. I was assured I was good. In December, HF sent me a package... it contained ONE drawer slide. a left one. I don't know how they decided to send me a single slide. I then spend an hour or so talking to different people on the phone, including a supervisor that said that they come singly, and that i would charged another $23 or so (or whatever it was) for the remaining single drawer slide (that I was missing). I told them in no uncertain terms that I ordered in MAY, 2 pair slides....and that the guy on the other end of the phone said 2 PAIR and if they didn't send me the balance, it was breach of contract. Got a phone call a few days later from the same person...they DO come as pairs... and they're sending out "2" .... they also said...who knows what I'm going to get, so keep the extra if I get extra. We'll see what happens.
+David Plass That's cool David. Nothing wrong at all with curiosity. The easiest solution would be to get longer metric fasteners so there would be no need for tapping. But, for some reason they seem to think metric fasteners are like gold at the hardware store....lol. But to answer your question directly, since the threads are a different pitch, you might strip the bolt while you're threading it in so the nut might not thread on properly. That's why I did it this way. Hope this clears up my thought process a bit. Good luck and take care, G.
+Benny Russell That is an option Benny. I went this direction for 2 reasons. 1- I could do it without the need of any welding. And 2- to give others an idea how to do it if they don't have, or access to, a welder. Take care, G.
That's a good question Hank! I use this as a machinist tool box so it's filled with lots of cast iron and steel lathe and milling machining attachments- as well as all other things related to machining. The tooling/tools plus the box weight combined makes it weigh in at about 670lbs total. My comment was mostly based on folks using this type of box would use it for hand tools, sockets, etc. so they probably wouldn't have the amount of weight in it that I do. Hope this clears it up a bit. Thanks for the question, G.
JoeCnNd Here's a video of my initial review of the box. There's much more in it now, but it should give you an idea of the things I have in it. After modding the bottom and changing out the wheels, I'm really satisfied with it. Good luck, G. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-wEi5gZtSFPY.html This one shows the wheel upgrade: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-40RsUx5cJ-Q.html
I agree Jeff. They do seem to take the load fine though. I installed new wheels in the casters to make it roll nicer. It was worth the effort. Good luck, G.
No Seth, I only ran 8 holes and it took about 5min. It was 8 bucks just for 16 metric bolts, then tack on the nuts and washers for whatever that cost would have been. So lets say 10 bucks round about. I got tons of fasteners in bulk for 4 bucks and only used a small portion. I'm not cheap, but I do stretch my dollars where I can. Smart I would say. Take care, G.
+Christian Sawoszczyk I know, and I would love complete sets of gun, spiral flutes, bottoming, etc. but money is my issue...lol. Also a tapping head for my drill press. But, I have to work with what I have. Good luck, G.
oh okay I was going to say I work in the diesel field and I'm not 100% sure how much weight I have in tools. All know is I have a lot of money in tools.
Jason Eads That's cool. Since you're working in diesel I can imagine you've got a fair amount of weight in tools. I used a scale when I was unloading my box to upgrade it so I was able to weigh everything as it came out- then total it up. I was surprised how much I had in it. G.
