My POTD, new storage and work bench for machine tools

[Analias]

I finally got fed up with not having easy access to my toolbox, cutters, work holding, and other accessories. I also needed a place for my new surface plate and height gauge. I picked up a Craftman's tool cabinet that's (WxDxH) 41 x 18 x 37.5-in in size from Lowes ($389 minus my daughter's employee discount). There were cheaper, but this one has more shallow drawers and the top is 37.5 in. high.

My shop has a two full size closets in it. I almost removed the closets to make more room in the shop when I converted the space. The problem is the closets are not very useful storage space. I ended up putting a large steel shelf on one side and other side stored my metal band saw, and gathered junk. The tool cabinet fits nicely inside and the closet light is right over the cabinet. It's also physically close to the CNC mill and CNC router, and the 9x20 metal lathe.

-Freeman

 

[DavidR8]

Space: the final frontier. These are the travails of the home shop machinist. Their never-ending mission: to explore strange new crannies. To seek out new corners and new cubbyholes. To boldly store where no man has stored before!




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[hman]

LOVE IT!!!!

 

[Larry$]

I bought the same one when Sears was clearing out the local store. Got the chest on top also. I like them. More recently I bought a US General from H. Frt. about the same size but more shallow drawers & 2" deeper. Have a low, 26" wide by the end of the lathe for tooling. No matter how many drawers I get, my junk collection always expands to exceed it.

 

[C-Bag]

I found one of the older Craftsman benches that has 6 drawers and a big storage for my 9x20. They made them in different configs. I wish mine was all drawers but can’t complain. i tend toward old military storage cabs but they are so deep that can be a problem. I keep running onto specialized cabs I wish I would have known about before I reached my max storage density.

Flat files are very interesting but usually too deep. But then I ran into these. These are nice and wide w/shallow drawers and only 12” deep. Then this map cabinet looks useful but I think it’s in an antique store so they want $400, way too much. Then I found this punch card cabinet and it looked interesting until it flopped down. What a disaster that would be. Then the flat card file. This looks useful maybe. But you’d have to chuck all the paper.

 

[ThinWoodsman]

Last year I picked up a husky 27" "rolling cabinet with flip-up pegboard" for something like a hundred bucks. I originally intended it to live under the bench, but the wheels went the wrong way and the built-in surge protector was on the wrong side and the handle was intended only for use on the wrong side. It generally wasn't very satisfactory.

Anyways in a frenzy of shop-reorg last spring I realized the recessed top was a good match for my (9x12) surface plate. I put the surface plate on top between wood spacers, built a wood cover for the surface plate with a felt top, added a couple bright lamps and one of those LCD microscopes, and stuck all of my non-daily-use squares, indicators, micrometers, etc in the drawers and cabinet. Presto! Instant rolling inspection station.

I guess I'm saying I'm a big fan of rolling storage cabinets that you can do work on top of

 

[C-Bag]

Yup, work stations is how I make my over crowded shop work. I also love to be able to roll my stations into the sun with the garage door open when it’s cold. Being able to move the tools to the job is what I learned as a mech. I also have had those things where I thought something wasn’t going to work for what I got it for and found out it was perfect for something else.