Retiring an old tool

[JMG]

It is always a sad day when an item in your tool collection outlives it's usefulness. With the changing methods and new designs for tool storage, this old tool box has one last use in store for it... Collecting small steel scrap pieces until it is full, and then on its way to the recycler.

 

 

The box is probably older than I am and started out life as a silver and red lettered Milwaukee Sawzall container. When it was gifted to me as a useless old beat up box, I refinished it and turned it into my small plumbing tool box, and it worked as that for close to two decades, when it was relegated to storing old brass fittings.

 

 

As I move to more modular storage solutions, this item no longer has a place, and so it goes. When I ran across it, it was about to be tossed into a trash can, as the tool it had housed had long since died, and they were just as happy to hand it off to me as to throw it out. Over the years, it has been a benchmark of how steel tool cases have declined in quality of construction. I was attracted to it simply because it was a quality steel box, even if the internal brackets got in the way on occasion. It has served well.

 

Having had this box for around three decades, it seems a sad way to finally release it, but no one in my current close circle had any use for it either. So, one last job for it and off it goes to be turned into something new.

[DR99]

I wonder how much it weights just buy itself. I dunno how the old guys did it carrying them heavy ole took boxes around.

[JMG]

I don't have a scale handy, but I would estimate it weighs around four to five pounds.

[Framer joe]

[fm2176]

While I'll agree that it's sad to see an old standby outlive its usefulness, it is a testament to evolution that such a sturdy old box should no longer be ideal for the modern worker.  I still have my first tool box, one of the ubiquitous steel 20" Craftsman types that are still sold today.  It is heavy, prone to rusting, lacks any sort of IP rating, and the size is just large enough to lose smaller tools while not being able to fit larger tools including some hammers.

 

While the quality of older tools and tool boxes is rarely matched today, the convenience and ease of use is often much better in even the cheapest of tools.  My old Mac upright stack I used professionally is solid (and beat up) as all get out, but I can pay half as much nowadays for a much larger brand new box with stuff like ball bearing slides than I paid for the used Mac.

[phffter]

if you were closer, i'd grab it

[JMG]

On 9/14/2017 at 9:34 PM, phffter said:

if you were closer, i'd grab it

You want it? PM me your shipping address and I will see if I can't find a box for it.

[Grumpy MSG]

12 hours ago, JMG said:

You want it? PM me your shipping address and I will see if I can't find a box for it.

Why box it? pad and tape up the latches, zip tie the hasp shut and tape it up, tape a label on it and ship it. When I came back from Iraq, my DeWALT 4 piece tool kit in plastic box was taped, zip tied and labeled and shipped to a family member's house.

[JMG]

Turns out it weighs closer to eight pounds.

[phffter]

item received, thank you.

very sturdy steel case, i'm sure i'll find something to put in it.

you have an inbound, btw.