Imagineer's Toolbox

[Project Manager]

edit:

Okay, I screwed this up - 2 or 3 times - I meant for it to go in the Projects Index in the first place but it wound up in the General Information forum instead. This was a pia to try to post anyhow because of the three different file types & most of them exceeded the filesize limits to begin with & I really still don't know if the links are going to work for you.

So I am moving it to the Fabrication forum like it shoulda been in the first place so you guys can comment on it & imagineer can add to it. And then I can link to it from the Index as usual.

Thanks to imagineer for his work on the files.

cutter

Toolbox by imagineer

This is a departure from the norm because it does not link to an original thread, and because it includes the cad drawings provided by imagineer. They are in 3 forms so you can view them as .dwg, .dxf or .jpg files, depending on the software you have available.
The photos of the tool boxes are were originally attached to this thread by rocketier:

Stainless tool box

The pictures of the toolbox:

Picture #1.
Picture #2.
Picture #3.

And the .jpg drawings are attached below in the first 2 photos and the .dwg follow them.
They were done in AutoCAD 2004.

Finally, the .dxf files were far too large to post as attachments so imagineer zipped them but they were still too big so finally I uploaded them to my domain so I could at least link them here. I hope you can download and view them - if you have the software.

1. toolCHEST_LOCK_IN_LID

2. toolchest2

3. toolchestlift3

[cutter]

Bump.

[Broccoli1]

Cutter,

the Toolbox is AL


"The entire thing is aluminum."

[cutter]

I am aware of that, Ed. But he originally posted his pictures in Rocketier's thread about building a stainless toolbox. That is where the "stainless toolbox" link goes.

[Snowman]

Awesome box.......Really nice. I like the lift top.......one wouldn't have to remove all the junk that gets pilled on top of it to access the bin

GOOD JOB.

[imagineer]

Originally Posted by Snowman

Awesome box.......Really nice. I like the lift top.......one wouldn't have to remove all the junk that gets pilled on top of it to access the bin

GOOD JOB.

Exactly! When I was designing the tool chest, my decision to use 2”x2” square tubing for the frame, yielded a 50” x 18” x 2” deep area at the top that was going unused. It's a perfect space to store long items that won't fit in the drawers.

15 years ago (in my bachelor days) I designed and built a coffee table that the surface of which would manually lift on 4 parallel arms so I could eat and watch TV more easily.

I incorporated the same basic idea in the tool chest, but with a twist. If you look at pictures #1 & #2, you’ll see a small foot lever extended out at the bottom center of the tool chest. There’s a hidden button under the top horizontal frame, just left of the center post, that when pushed up, releases the foot lever.

When I step on the foot lever, 4 pivoting arms with roller bearings, rotate and push up on the 4 drilled struts, thus lifting the lid of the tool chest while keeping it level. The pivoting arms only lift the lid about 4”, but that’s enough for the gas shock to take over and lift it up the rest of the way.

The lid weighs about 30# so finding and positioning the gas correct gas shocks for the application was tricky.

There’s also a single key lock built into the lid that locks the lid down at both the front and rear as well as simultaneously locking all 17 drawers. Since the cams that lock the lid and drawers are built into the lid, the lid has to be down to be able to lock the drawers, but does not have to be lifted to have the drawers unlocked.

Thanks for the compliments.
Mike