Finally got a decent toolchest...

[5chn3ll]

I've been waiting to get a rolling toolbox for years - I hate spending as much as a decent one costs, and I really didn't want to buy a clapped-out, sagging toolbox secondhand.

Mrs. Schnell called me from a garage sale on Friday - but on Friday, the price was $400. By Saturday afternoon, with a motivated seller facing the prospect of putting all his shit away for the night, we settled on $220, including the chest, topper, and a second topper...all three of which were level full with random tools and hardware. The VAST majority of the tools were junk, but I found a decent 1-2" micrometer, a nice set of milling bits, a bunch of bearing/pulley pullers, ratchets, swivels, extensions, etc.

The keepers are probably worth at least as much as I paid for the toolboxes. One of the casters on the chest is blown out, and there are a couple of scratches, but this one is currently in the "win" column as far as I'm concerned.

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[5chn3ll]

I still can't believe that I'm gonna be able to wheel the tools over to where I'm working on the car instead of leaving a trail of tools between those two points. It's gonna be AWESOME!

[5chn3ll]

Rough inventory of someone else's crap:

100 screwdrivers
30 ratchets (1/4 - 1/2)
A shitload of other ratchet/socket accessories
4-5 full sets of box-end and combination wrenches (SAE and metric)
Approx. 1,000 sockets (SAE and metric)
Pulley/gear pullers, assorted sizes
15ish razor knives/boxcutters/suicide implements
3 sets tin snips
Random milling/machining tools
Random tap/die bits (mostly junk)
10 tubing cutters, all but one of which are broken.
Lifetime supply of wire strippers and spark plug gap gauges
1 used-but-repackaged German spark plug, ancient but very evenly worn
1 set homemade Beetle(?) ignition wires, dodgy-looking
1 sandwich bag of mid-century European vehicle fuses (AKA "Sack of Frustration")
200 pounds of useless, entirely disposable hoard

1 choke knob (MG?)
1 accelerator pedal linkage (Volkswagen?)
1 windshield wiper arm (VW/Mercedes?)
1 shitload of British/European car fuel system fittings
1 cheesy plastic clutch alignment tool, provenance unknown

Looking forward to getting my own tools moved in!

[Dr_Strangelove]

Wow, nice work Mrs. Schnell!

Man some of those tools look old enough to have been made in the USA. Clean a little rust off and you may have a few more keepers than you think.

[5chn3ll]

There are some really nice pieces. And crap. Like crazy person crap. Example: socket organizers loaded with random unrelated sizes and shapes. “Organization” that defied logic.

I suspect meth and/or dementia. In Big Bear, it’s 50/50...

[Kalashnikov]

That's a nice pickup for a price! I bought me the big rolling Kobalt set two years ago during Black Friday sale. Ran me almost $1,000. I thought it was too big, but I quickly filled it up with all of the tools I had.

[DTMiller]

Super jelly. I need to start scouring craigslist for that kind of thing; my garage is a disaster but having multiple sets of tires and a broken engine taking up space with 3 cars in a garage built for 2.5 cars kind of does that. I know exactly where everything is but it often requires me to step over that on the way to that small area of clear space so I can reach up to that shelf where that thing is.

[5chn3ll]

Yeah, that sounds a lot like my setup. If I had fewer slob tendencies, I'd probably be fine without - but during every project, I start out with a clean workbench and then I bury my tools with other tools and the parts from whatever project I'm working on - and after a couple of hours, most of my time is spent looking for a goddamn 10mm socket.

[5chn3ll]

Nice setup! Feel free to leave 'em on the patio next to my future grill...

That's a nice pickup for a price! I bought me the big rolling Kobalt set two years ago during Black Friday sale. Ran me almost $1,000. I thought it was too big, but I quickly filled it up with all of the tools I had.

[FRUNKenstein]

That Kobalt must be electric.
And the US General is PCCB.
Nice!