De-wonking your rolling toolbox

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5chn3ll
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De-wonking your rolling toolbox

Post by 5chn3ll » Fri Sep 13, 2019 9:08 am

If you've ever bought a rolling toolchest for less than $500, you're probably familiar with the following scenario: the thing is square and perfect when you get it home, but the more you load it up, the wobblier it gets and the harder it becomes to push the damn thing around.

This is all caused by cheap-ass manufacturers using an unreinforced sheet metal bottom. As the chest gets heavier and heaver, the sheet metal starts to deform around the base of the four casters holding the chest off the ground. The metal around the front casters always show more of this wear since part of the load cantilevers forward every time a drawer is opened.

This is the bottom, where one of the rear casters would normally be installed, of my lightly used Craftsman tool chest. Larger dents and bends have already been corrected as best I could without creasing anything. You can see that the metal is actually drawn around the caster base like an incomplete stamping.

T1.jpg

To distribute the load more evenly and to ensure the casters function as designed, go get yourself a nice piece of 5/8" plywood and cut it to fit the bottom of the chest. Mark the locations for the casters. Yours may be predrilled for multiple caster sizes...mine was, so I was able to switch to a larger caster without needing to put any new holes in the toolbox.

Here's the inside (bottom) of the toolchest. The stock casters used the smaller set of pre-drilled holes; since the chest was pre-drilled for both sizes, I selected a larger caster with a much greater load rating than the crappy originals.

T2.jpg

Old compared to new. In addition to tearing up the bottom of the toolbox, you can also see that the caster housing has been deformed due to the unanticipated loading caused by the uneven toolbox floor.

T3.jpg

I need to make one more Home Depot run at lunch for stainless bolts and nylock nuts to get it all back together properly.

The original configuration included two fixed locking casters and two swivel casters. I replaced these with two swiveling and two swiveling+locking casters to make it easier to negotiate my wee garage.

In addition to keeping the bottom square and helping ensure that the wheels roll, the plywood will also prevent the chest from buckling along the longer edges so I can avoid ever buying another one. :D

T4.jpg

Understeer: You will hit the wall with the front end.
Oversteer: You will hit the wall with the rear end.
Horsepower: How hard you will hit the wall.
Torque: How far you will move the wall.

Gone hunting with Alec Baldwin and Dick Cheney. Back soon.

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32wildbilly
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Re: De-wonking your rolling toolbox

Post by 32wildbilly » Fri Sep 13, 2019 9:30 am

5chn3ll wrote: Fri Sep 13, 2019 9:08 am If you've ever bought a rolling toolchest for less than $500, you're probably familiar with the following scenario: the thing is square and perfect when you get it home, but the more you load it up, the wobblier it gets and the harder it becomes to push the damn thing around.

This is all caused by cheap-ass manufacturers using an unreinforced sheet metal bottom. As the chest gets heavier and heaver, the sheet metal starts to deform around the base of the four casters holding the chest off the ground. The metal around the front casters always show more of this wear since part of the load cantilevers forward every time a drawer is opened.

This is the bottom, where one of the rear casters would normally be installed, of my lightly used Craftsman tool chest. Larger dents and bends have already been corrected as best I could without creasing anything. You can see that the metal is actually drawn around the caster base like an incomplete stamping.

To distribute the load more evenly and to ensure the casters function as designed, go get yourself a nice piece of 5/8" plywood and cut it to fit the bottom of the chest. Mark the locations for the casters. Yours may be predrilled for multiple caster sizes...mine was, so I was able to switch to a larger caster without needing to put any new holes in the toolbox.

Here's the inside (bottom) of the toolchest. The stock casters used the smaller set of pre-drilled holes; since the chest was pre-drilled for both sizes, I selected a larger caster with a much greater load rating than the crappy originals.

Old compared to new. In addition to tearing up the bottom of the toolbox, you can also see that the caster housing has been deformed due to the unanticipated loading caused by the uneven toolbox floor.

I need to make one more Home Depot run at lunch for stainless bolts and nylock nuts to get it all back together properly.

The original configuration included two fixed locking casters and two swivel casters. I replaced these with two swiveling and two swiveling+locking casters to make it easier to negotiate my wee garage.

In addition to keeping the bottom square and helping ensure that the wheels roll, the plywood will also prevent the chest from buckling along the longer edges so I can avoid ever buying another one. :D
Nice and smartly thought out. Are you going to add synchronous motors to each wheel with a non-exploding LiPo battery pack so you don't have to drag it around? :lol:
Never gonna make you cry...

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5chn3ll
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Re: De-wonking your rolling toolbox

Post by 5chn3ll » Fri Sep 13, 2019 9:56 am

Not specifically. I've kicked around the idea of a self-balancing toolchest - like a Segway for wrenches - but the amount of noise and work involved if it falls over...

There are tons of "balance bots," but it would need to be scaled up massively - and I can imagine it rolling right through a wall after a load shift... :lol:

Image

Understeer: You will hit the wall with the front end.
Oversteer: You will hit the wall with the rear end.
Horsepower: How hard you will hit the wall.
Torque: How far you will move the wall.

Gone hunting with Alec Baldwin and Dick Cheney. Back soon.

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Dr_Strangelove
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Re: De-wonking your rolling toolbox

Post by Dr_Strangelove » Fri Sep 13, 2019 10:01 am

5chn3ll wrote: Fri Sep 13, 2019 9:56 am Not specifically. I've kicked around the idea of a self-balancing toolchest - like a Segway for wrenches - but the amount of noise and work involved if it falls over...

If you kickstart this I will certainly throw some money your way just to see the first abrupt stop!

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FRUNKenstein
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Re: De-wonking your rolling toolbox

Post by FRUNKenstein » Fri Sep 13, 2019 9:31 pm

You have way more free time than me.
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Einsteiger
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Re: De-wonking your rolling toolbox

Post by Einsteiger » Sat Sep 14, 2019 11:38 am

I've got an older Craftsman roll chest that I use for some tools and as a base for a bench grinder and small drill press, Duly noted about the weak bottom. This is a worthwhile modification, but it may take a year to muster the energy to take it all down, fix it, and load it back up again.

I have an old heavy wooden microwave cart that was banished from the kitchen years ago and until now just held detailing supplies....and my Snap-On box on top. :shock: Since the wood was oak and 3/4" thick at the smallest panels, I used large metal angle brackets to reinforce the top, sides and bottom and did the heavy-duty caster replacement. Now it'll hold that loaded Snap-On box and then some. Rolls easy, too.....imagine. :P
Kevin
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Eastern Kansas

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5chn3ll
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Re: De-wonking your rolling toolbox

Post by 5chn3ll » Mon Sep 16, 2019 2:58 pm

Can't argue...
FRUNKenstein wrote: Fri Sep 13, 2019 9:31 pm You have fewer temperamental Italian sports cars that require endless amounts of time and money than me.

Understeer: You will hit the wall with the front end.
Oversteer: You will hit the wall with the rear end.
Horsepower: How hard you will hit the wall.
Torque: How far you will move the wall.

Gone hunting with Alec Baldwin and Dick Cheney. Back soon.

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