Apprentice toolbox

[student_Machinist]

Hey guys
Ive just started an apprenticeship as a fitter and turner and have started to get some separate work tools but now need some thing to put them in. Im not too keen on the mechanics style tool boxes and would ultimately like and old Kennedy or something similar but the are few and far between in NZ and shipping from the US is often more than the box its self. I will be using my dads horribly cheap mechanics one for the mean time but would really like something better in the long run. Does any one have any suggestions?

Cheers
Jono

 

[rake60]

I don't know what your tool box budget is but if you are looking for something in the
Kennedy range of quality, your local Supercheap Auto stores have a nice offering.

They are not cheap, but ball bearing drawer slides, double wall construction and powder coat finishes
like the Kennedy's, doesn't come cheap.

My best tool boxes are nothing like that.
The are Craftsman boxes bought at the local Sears store for 1/3 the cost of a Kennedy.
Metal rails on two unground rollers in each drawer. It was rough when it was new.
30 years later, it's still working fine.

Rick

 

[Tin Falcon]

You could build one

http://www.lindsaybks.com/dgjp/djgbk/sheetmetal/index.html
http://users.lmi.net/~ryoung/Sonerai/Toolbox/Toolbox_Warmup_Project.htm

Tin

 

[Tin Falcon]

Here are a couple kenedys on sale!!

8 drawer 26 inch journeymans chest for $299
http://www.toolboxes4less.com/kennedy-8-drawer-journeyman-chest-26-inch-526.html
Apprentice chest 20 inch $199
http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRIT?PMAKA=811-3320&PMPXNO=952191&PARTPG=INLMK32
seem like even the small used beat up little ones are close to $100 used.
Tin

 

[John Rudd]

You could build one

http://www.lindsaybks.com/dgjp/djgbk/sheetmetal/index.html

Tin

....and thats what I did when I served my apprenticeship....

We made a tool box....amongst other things..

 

[Mosey]

I'd like to share my experience with tool boxes. Hope it isn't boring.
When I started machining in earnest about 15 years ago, I found a local newspaper ad for "machinist tools", so I jumped into my car and sped over to a retirement community nearby. I met the older, very pleasant gentlemen, who stated that he was retiring from moldmaking after 50 years because of ill health. He was selling out his life's collection of tools and equipment. I spied a beautiful Gerstner box, who's only difference from new was the aged darker color of the finish. It was without a blemish. How much, I asked? The price was about 1/2 of new. SOLD! He instructed me how to open it, etc., and he literally had tears in his eyes when I put it carefully into my car. Every time I use it, which is every day, I think of it's history and how much it meant to him, so out of respect, I care for it as if it was still his. It is still like new.
My point is, no matter what you end up buying, your toolbox is an important part of you. Choose well, and take care of it and yourself.

 

[rake60]

HERE'S ONE for the guy who needs EVERYTHING!

Click the "Features" tab in that ad then browse through the "Tool Chest Features".

A tool box shouldn't use more power than the machines being operated or worked on.

Rick

 

[Tin Falcon]

add a microwave oven and you would have a motor home LOL
Tin

 

[student_Machinist]

You could build one

http://www.lindsaybks.com/dgjp/djgbk/sheetmetal/index.html
http://users.lmi.net/~ryoung/Sonerai/Toolbox/Toolbox_Warmup_Project.htm

Tin

Thats not a bad idea now you've got me thinking, does anyone have any pics of a homemade toolbox with pullout draws? (have checked google but theres not too much on there) If i were to make one it would probably be from sheet metal of which i have almost no experience ;D could be a nice project tho, would appreciate any design suggestions if you have any

 

[Lockstocknbarrel]

Feisty,
Did you get my email....................
Regards Beagles

 

[b.lindsey]

Looks like for $1900 they could have thrown in a satelite dish on the back and an LCD screen inside the top. Probably wouldn't get much machining done then though :big:

 

[Mainer]

I bought a Gerstner W52 about 35 years ago. A few years later I introduced a friend to the machining hobby. He went to an independent discount supply store near his house and bought an excellent 10-drawer (12-drawer? A lot) heavy steel mechanic's tool box with ball bearing drawer slides, etc. that had at least 2 or 3 times the capacity of my Gerstner W52 and it cost about a third as much. I think the brand was REM or REM-line.

My conclusion: if you want Craftsmanship and a beautiful object d'art, get a Gerstner. If you want the most cost-effective tool storage, see if you can find a quality off-brand multi-drawer steel mechanic's toolbox.

 

[RonGinger]

......He instructed me how to open it, etc., and he literally had tears in his eyes when I put it carefully into my car. Every time I use it, which is every day, I think of it's history and how much it meant to him, so out of respect, I care for it as if it was still his. It is still like new......

Mosey, I have had a similar experience, not with a box, but tools. I have a few items bought from a toolmaker friend of my fathers. He had carefully made them, and stamped his name on each item. I still remember him when I handle the tool.

I always encourage guys to put their name somewhere on every item they make. How often do you find a nice tool or model, with no sign of who made it?

 

[shred]

I've found a few Kennedy boxes for sale on Craigslist. Each time I've come away with a trove of experience and shop-made tooling from the old hands that were finally letting go of their boxes and were happy to see them go to somebody that would use them as they were intended. It's enlightening for a tyro like me to ask to see some of their lathe bits. Amazing grinds and stories ("yrah, I ground that one working for NASA. I think the part is on the moon now") and ("Uranium? Turns about like 4140 but chips more")

 

[student_Machinist]

I've found a few Kennedy boxes for sale on Craigslist. Each time I've come away with a trove of experience and shop-made tooling from the old hands that were finally letting go of their boxes and were happy to see them go to somebody that would use them as they were intended. It's enlightening for a tyro like me to ask to see some of their lathe bits. Amazing grinds and stories ("yrah, I ground that one working for NASA. I think the part is on the moon now") and ("Uranium? Turns about like 4140 but chips more")

I would honestly give my left leg to be in that position : I would love to buy an old toolbox full of machinist tools but for some reason I cant find any here, you guys in the US have all the luck

Btw turning uranium isnt something id like to try any time soon ;D

 

[Tin Falcon]

I have several tool boxes each one with a story some were purchased new and some used. my favorite I was studying Machining welding at Aberdeen proving ground MD.summer of ' 97 No extra money at the time. One day at lunch time I heard a radio add for a machinist tool box with tools I wrote down the phone number . well my good wife talked my mom into lending me the money . A friend in the area scoped out the box . when the seller found out I was in the air force studying machining he knocked about 30% off the price.I drove to Lancaster and bought the box.
the guy worked in an engine plant, IIRC Pratt and Whitney during WWII most of the tools are stamped with his name and the date of purchase. and a couple tools he made. like a planer Gage and a micrometer lapp.
The box is an oak union brand. It is a piece of american history as much as my 1937 south bend lathe. later my brother-in-law gave me a 1941 brown and sharp catalog with the emergency war insert. it has the tools listed that are in that old tool box.
Tin

 

[chuck foster]

i have had the luxury of getting some tools that were made by the guy that got me started in this great world of model engineering.
one of the tools is a compound sine plate with a magnetic chuck on it. john made it for a job he was doing for general motors, the part had some thing to do with the rear view mirror in the chevy pick up trucks. so every time i look in my rear view mirror i think of john, a true, dearly missed friend.

as far as tool boxes i would suggest buying the best and biggest you can afford. you will be amazed how much you use the tool box and it will never be big enough to hold all your tools. take it from me as i have upgraded my tool box at work 3 times over the last 20 years and the last one is this beast

chuck

 

[Lockstocknbarrel]

Feisty
Give me a phone call 021489-168
Kindest Regards
Beagles

 

[Swifty]

As a first year apprentice I could not afford to buy a toolbox, so I made one along the lines of a Gerstner, lots of small drawers and a lift up lid. Used ply for most parts with sheet metal "shelves" that the drawers run on. It served me well for the last 40+ years, although I now have another shop bought one.

 

[modelman1838]

When I was an apprentice with the de-Havilland aircraft company in the early fifties we all had to do a little woodworking, and a toolbox was one of the training projects. it was based on the Moore and Wright design but with only five drawers instead of seven, we made them entirely from Parana Pine, and made most of the fittings, one person making a radius turning attachment to produce the drawer knobs. Mine is still in use every day and I have tools in it that I made when at school and these have never gone rusty. They are commonly known as the world famous D.H. tool box and it is said a few years ago when we were still working that if you went to any aircraft company in the world somewere you would see a D.H. toolbox.

Hugh.