My tool box is falling apart on me, and I need to make it stronger. Especially since I'm going to be adding a few more hundred pounds to it almost as we speak.

It's a smaller craftsman roller box, with the poorly designed metal slides. They keep bending on me, and then the drawer just flops around. I know the better boxes come with ball bearing rollers that can support about 150 pounds per slide, but I haven't been able to locate where I can buy them at.

I was thinking that those, along with welding in a full cage on the inside of the box, and reinforcing the drawers should be able to get me by for a few more years with this box.

Anybody know whereabouts I can get my hands on those ball bearing slides?

 

McMaster-Carr carries drawer slides. Just go to their website (www.mcmaster.com) and search for "drawer slides". It'll pull up about four pages of items for you.

Also, Kennedy sells replacement drawer slides for their line of tool boxes.
http://www.kennedymfg.com/drawslid.htm

Of course, I have no idea how well any of these would fit your box, but it doesn't seem like it could be all that bad to make it happen...

 

$24 isn't to bad for the pair of em at the last place. Thanks for the links

I also found http:\\www.unitygeneral.com has ball bearing slides for $5 each, and handle 200 lbs for the pair, but they are meant for larger wooden drawers and stuff like that, so I think they are gonna be to thick. I'll have to send out an email to them and see if I can get the demensions for them.

 

think i'd just buy another box

 

i love making stuff, but i think im with ede on this one.

 

me too, but i love getting new tool boxes more

 

I'll have to see how this pans out first. I'm definately getting a new "work" box, but it would be nice to keep this one at home and use it for tool storage still. Maybe I should take advantage of my 60% off from matco and snapon and buy 2 boxes

I swear, this tool stuff is my new addiction...

 

if you can get 60% off from snap on buy all you can and sell the surplus on ebay for a proffit

 

my teachers new snapon box cost him 4500 with 55% off so yea 60% would be 4000 which is still alot for just a box but do wat u want its ur money

 

I'm probably gonna start with something like the matco double bay mb4725bb, and then when I need the room I'll get the matching top to go with it. With my discount I can get it for $1700. Sounds like alot, but it beats the hell out of buying a new box every year. A box like this should live longer than I do

 

Talk to the MAC man and get a Macimizer. Got to see one at a implement we dropped some tractors off at, good lord. drawers were big enough to turn into coffins.

It was funny cuse when the kid that owned it opened the few drawers I was able to see....hardly any tools in there,LOL!! go figure

 

Huge boxes are great. Any idea how much that box costs? I saw Matco has a 4 bay box, something like 86" long. Can you say $12,000 with my 60% off??? And that's just for the bottom box!

 

costco has an ALL stainless extra wide top and botton with griplatch and rollerbearing slides for 700 bucks, that will be my next tool box.

 

for roller slides snap on sells them for around 40 dollars a pair.

for tool boxes i keep buying more instead of trading because it seems the money wise way to go, and i'm at home and don't move them around. right now i have 2 snap on 26" bottom boxes and a side box under my work bench. next to is is a 56" top and bottom box with side locker from snap on and next to it is a 40" wide snap on bottom with an aluminum work bench top i made. next to that on the east wall is a snap o cart with my valve grinder. in the new part of my garage is a top and bottom craftsman set for drill, taps, and machinist tools.

 

That is quite a setup you have, ede

Are you a jobber, or is it all "fun" tools?

 

just hobbiest work from home. i might put together an engine or two each year but mostly it's just for me. got started buying stuff in high school and it's liek crack. after you start you can't stop.