For those of you who have — or lust after (e.g., like Sean, see TM 1/29/07) — a Gerstner tool chest, you might be interested in the Gerstner PORTA-DRAWER™. It’s a flip-up handle that installs in the bottom drawer of most current and older-model Gerstner chests, and it turns the drawer into a portable tray for carrying your tools or other items.

The install-it-yourself accessory (which comes with mounting screws, a drilling template, and full instructions) stores permanently inside the drawer when in its down position, and then can hinge up to become a handle, making the drawer a tool tray. When it’s in the up position, small slots in the side brackets help to center the handle and keep the drawer level. And it’s only $29.95, which, considering the price of Gerstner chests, is a real bargain.

PORTA-DRAWER™ [Manufacturer's Site]

The Black & Decker Mastercart (model 17330605) is a slightly redesigned version of the Keter Mastercart that I bought several years ago at either Kmart or Walmart (mostly different colored trim: mine is gray, and the B&D’s is orange). Mine has held up well, although I have not abused it much: it mainly holds the tools, cords, wires, and so on that I use when working on computers or electronics around the house. The B&D is 18″ × 10.6″ × 24.4″ with a fold-down handle. The upper tool box, which detaches from the lower tool box, has a removable organizer on its front and two lidded compartments on its top. Both the upper and lower boxes have removable trays.

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Anybody with kids or grandkids has gone through the childproofing stage. You find yourself crawling around on all fours, permanently damaging your nice cabinets (and maybe your knees) by installing safety latches to keep the wee ones out of unfriendly places like cleaning cupboards. Then after a few weeks you find yourself walking halfway across the house to throw something away in your bedroom rather than fuss with opening the latch to the kitchen garbage.

Kidco’s magnetic child locks could solve some of the potential pitfalls of installing child safety latches.  First they attach with adhesives, possibly saving your cabinets from damage. Second they open simply with the touch of a magnetic key in the proper location. They claim the key will release the latch through over one inch of solid wood.

The best pricing we could find was $20 shipped for a pack of three locks with one key and key holder. Now if it only had a targeting laser…

Magnetic Child Locks [Kidco]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

Anyone who has seen his work will tell you that Toolmonger reader Txinkman has some great toolbox restorations. It seems this little cube is no exception. Again we turn green as Txinkman describes in his typical humble way his latest project.

Mostly a clean up job. Glued down loose letherette, polished metal, refinished the drawers, and cleaned paint and residue from the cover. Then redyed it and gave it a couple of hits of black shoe polish.

Sure, sure, just a little nip and tuck, a bit of spit and polish and voilá — a perfect, new-looking toolbox. Don’t let him fool you; normally more than a few hours go into a project like this, and the great ones always make it look easy. In any case, it turned out great, as we might expect.

Toolmonger Photo Pool [Flickr]

With a few Hitch Masters and some rope you have a compact and versatile system for pulling, lifting, or keeping stuff tied down — at least that’s what Anderson Products claims. Weave a rope the right way through the several hooks and you have something like a block and tackle to multiply your pulling force without the pulleys. Weave the rope in another way and it serves as a tie-down.

You can pick up a pair of small Hitch Masters for $25, a large pair for $35, or a kit with a pair of large and small Hitch Masters, 30′ of rope, a U-pulley, and carrying case for $60.

Hitch Master [AK Cool Tools]

The Stanley® FatMax™ Portable Truck Box (part number 036800R) is a 42-gallon capacity storage system that’s 22-1/4″ H × 44″ L × 19″ W. It has a water-resistant seal, a security system with alarm and code panel, heavy-duty 8.5″ wheels, and locks into a docking station that can be bolted to any truck bed. Pricing and availability information is a bit sparse: the only price estimate I’ve been able to find is $290, which is in the same ballpark as crossbed boxes, and apparently only Lowe’s carries it.

Does its roll-around portability make it more useful than a crossbed or other truck bed box? What do you think?

Stanley FatMax Portable Truck Box [Manufacturer's Site]

Update: The people at Stanley gave us a quick ring with a little more information. First, this will sell for right at $200. Second, this is actually a security box. It locks to a docking station in the back of your truck and is unlocked with an electronic keypad. Basically, the idea behind this product is to keep people from ripping off your stuff while you’re parked at Home Depot, Lowe’s, or a quick stop at the jobsite. You’ll hear more about this product soon — we’ve got one in for test.

Do you hear the theme from Raiders of the Lost Ark when trying to navigate your workbench, shelves, or cabinets? Whether it’s the garage or shop, chances are you’re running out of storage space. An under-shelf organizer like this one from Grayline Housewares might be one way to reclaim some unused space in your otherwise-packed storage areas.

While the picture shows the basket holding towels in a closet, we envision using it to hold sheets of sandpaper, boxes of nails, or other stuff that usually clutters the top of workbenches.

This model measures 12″ long by 10″ wide by 6-1/4″ high and is made from wire coated with white vinyl. There are a ton of different sizes available from different manufacturers, both online and in brick and mortar stores starting at $6. Just watch out for the giant rolling ball when you do the installation.

Under Shelf Storage Basket [Grayline Housewares]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

There are probably 10,000 ways to control cables, but let’s look at one more: the Wrap-n-Strap.  Made by Star Tech, the Wrap-n-Strap is just a rubber strap with a bunch of holes and a plastic fastener.

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Got a pile of bungee cords that are the wrong size or the hook at the end just doesn’t quite fit the application? The Joubert Smart Bungee System lets you connect bungee cords together, swap ends, create a three ended bungee, or create complex combinations you may’ve never imagined.

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This rig is the Tool Pr0n of storage. Designed to provide techs with bad-ass organization, the new 5s ISS storage system by Matco is one of the top-of-the-line items that will find itself shoved to the top of wish lists.

Matco says the 5s ISS has been designed to allow flexibility in configuration and layout. What that really means is that any number of pros can use it from maintenance to manufacturing. Top and bottom stations are available in 48″ and 60″ widths that can be used stand-alone or in combo with toolboxes. You can have any finish you want as long as it’s powder coated, but it will come in a bunch of colors.

No word on price yet but lustworthy commercial grade gear and “cheap” normally don’t reside in the same sentence, so expect to pay more than a card table and a set of milk crates.

5s ISS Storage System [Matco]

These suckers have been around for north of a hundred years. Some have come out in heavy synthetic fabrics, but leather and canvas are still the materials of choice. Duluth Trading makes versions from their excellent fire hose fabric, which are fine products. I may be a proponent of speed-density fuel injection systems and digital micrometers, but I’ve fallen completely for this old-school method of carting tools around. I get a kick out of tossing someone a harmless-looking fabric wrap that just happens to have thirty pounds of wrenches wrapped up in it.

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Maybe the milkman doesn’t arrive with glass bottles in a neat little wire rack anymore, but milk bottles still come in crates, and they’re bloody useful. I found they make perfect motorcycle engine stands, and they’re sturdy enough for storing heavy metal parts later. Those long, fragile crank case studs need to be protected, since they clamp the cylinder block and head together. With copper washers costing $2.50 apiece from the dealership, you don’t want to have to find out how much new studs cost.

You’ll almost never find milk crates on store shelves, but sources like the aptly-named UsedMilkCrates.com sell both new and used versions. Toolmongers who are going to beat the snot out of these things don’t need to bother buying shiny new ones, so there are a few dollars to be saved buying used ones.

Milk Crates [Used Milk Crates]

While TM has noted attic decking before, Infinite Attic is another contender in the race to make use of all that space you have in the attic. The structural aluminum Infinite Attic Saddles fit over 2×4 attic roof trusses; 2×2 rails (customer-supplied) fit in the saddles, and sections of 19/32″ plywood or OSB (customer-supplied) are attached to the rails using 6D nails or 1¼” long #8 screws. The $30 18-saddle kit will cover 32 square feet (lumber not included).

Unless your house is WAY bigger than mine, Infinite Attic is either hyperbole or a misnomer. I told them a billion times not to exaggerate.

Do you need more storage space in your attic? Or do you just need a way to prevent putting your foot through the ceiling?

Infinite Attic [Manufacturer's Site]
Street Pricing [Google Products]

The ancient question of a fastidiously-organized tool chest or spreading wrenches and pliers willy-nilly has been done to death, so there’s no point in starting that one up again.

*coughorganizecough*

The question this time is: what little tricks do you use to keep your tools in good condition? Those of us in the Rust Belt have a rough time keeping everything in good shape. Moisture creeps through even the tiniest gaps, turning carbon steel into an orange-flecked wreck. Every one of my chest’s drawers has an oil-soaked sheet beneath a foam liner, and a silica gel packet to keep moisture at bay. Each tool gets an occasional spritz of lightweight. The catch is, this doesn’t work. How do you keep rust and corrosion at bay when even those measures aren’t enough?

(Thanks to Flickr user Swanee 3 for the great photo)

This may be the most impressive woodworking feat I’ve ever seen. The photo above was made in the mid-1800s by a Mason named Henry O. Studley, a piano maker and carpenter. Materials include mahogany, rosewood, walnut, ebony, and mother-of-pearl, so finely crafted that each tool clicks snugly into place and remains when the wall-mounted box is vertical, even though there are no built-in locks. Two layers on one side and three on the other are enough to store around three hundred tools in 39″ x 20″ x 9″.

It takes a Toolmonger with a heart of stone to avoid falling in love with this remarkable chest. An expert craftsman with a lifetime’s experience in a demanding trade made this practical and fantastically beautiful box from scraps, and was probably the kind to use it every day. If this were your work, imagine the little twinge of satisfaction every time you reached for a tool. Mr. Studley’s work is a practical, gorgeous display of his incredible skill, and he’d undoubtedly be proud to see his work on display at its current home in the Smithsonian.

The H.O. Studley tool chest [Fine Woodworking]
Henry O. Studley [Wikipedia]

Saving the original covers for your brushes is a good idea; they help to keep the brushes’ shape when you store them. If you threw out the covers, you can still make yourself new ones from paper — or you could buy these cool magnetic covers from Whitney Innovations.

The breathable, waterproof cover allows the brushes to dry while holding their shape during storage. The adjustable cover uses a Velcro catch to fit both straight and angled 3-1/2″ brushes. The coolest part is that the cover has an integrated magnet for hanging the brush on metal surfaces.

The copy on the site is written like a Babelfish translated it from English to some other language and back again, so we can’t tell exactly if you get one or two covers for $10, not including shipping. This seems rather expensive for a brush cover. If they could price them at $2 a piece — and actually sell them someplace you’d actually shop — they might really have something.

Magna Catch Brush Cover [Whitney Innovations]

Once I saw this monster I quickly realized the race for the largest rolling tool chest had been won years ago by Craftsman. Near as we can figure, that is a three-piece, twelve-foot, rolling mechanic’s chest.

This image was taken at the Sears headquarters in Hoffman Estates, IL. The chest itself was, of course, just an advertising prop, but we still tip our hats to them for coming up with the idea and wonder who managed to walk off with it when they were done with it.

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