Choosing a Stainless Steel Tool Box

Stainless Steel Tool Boxes

Tool boxes, also known as toolboxes, tool chests and workboxes are, as the name suggests, boxes for tools. They can be made from different materials, with plastic, of different qualities, being the most common for light use. For tool boxes that require more durability, due to the situations they are used in, metal, such as stainless steel, is the preferred material.

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Stainless steel tool boxes can come in different sizes and types. They can range from small and relatively lightweight portable tool boxes that can be carried by a handle to large rolling tool boxes and chests than can take dozens or hundreds of tools. Whilst these are mainly intended for commercial usage, such as in vehicle servicing and maintenance, they are also suitable for the workshop or garage of the most ardent tool user, whether amateur, professional or any stage in between. Stainless steel is tough and strong, resistant to corrosion and easy to wipe clean. Larger chests need not be limited to tools; they can be used for all kinds of storage.

There are different types of tool box, and it is a good idea to know what use one is going to be put to before purchasing it. They can be quite expensive, especially with the larger stainless steel types, so you don’t want to buy one that doesn’t do the actual job it was purchased for.

Portable Stainless Steel Tool Chest

This stainless steel tool box can be bought on Amazon

Portable stainless steel tool boxes and chests are designed to be carried around easily, and will therefore store less. If they are too large, they can take so many tools – which are often heavy – that they will no longer be portable, defeating the object. These types of tool boxes usually consist of a hinged lid with a handle and many have a removable inner tray with a storage area below. Tool chests usually have drawers built into them which slide out for storing tools. With a portable chest, the strength of the handle is also an important consideration; it needs to be easy able to carry the weight of both the chest, and the tools inside it. Whether or not the handle is comfortable to hold, especially if the chest is going to be carried around a lot, should also be considered.

Stainless Steel Tool Cabinet

This tool cabinet will take a range of different tools

Tool cabinets are typically large constructions designed to hold a lot of tools. They will normally have pull out drawers which are often comparatively shallow in depth, allowing tools to be laid out flat on the drawers rather than being stuck on top of each other. This means a tool can be quickly found without having to root through the cabinet. These are, of course, most suited for tools that can be laid flat; the cabinets may have different depths of drawers that allow larger tools to be placed in them. These types of tool cabinet are often seen in places doing vehicle maintenance and repair.

Stainless Steel Tool Chest

This tool chest is just about portable

Stainless steel tool chests are designed to hold tools in a series of slide out drawers. These are bigger than portable tool chests, and are not designed to be carried around by hand, although they tend to be smaller than tool cabinets, so can be considered to be an intermediate stage between the two. Some tool chests come with wheels to allow them to be moved around, whilst others are intended for wall or bench usage. The latter could also be permanently fixed to a vehicle, although the next type is more specifically suited for this use.

Stainless Steel Tool Box for Trucks

Take a look at this underbody chest

This type of stainless steel tool box is designed to be fitted to the under body of a truck. The box tends to have things such as a compression T-latch, a D-bulb door seal and a watertight and rustproof stainless steel hinge to keep the contents of the tool box safe, both from theft and from the weather. The door handle should include a lock; security is important in any tool box that is going to be in a vehicle, as a full box can easily contain a lot of money’s worth of tools, making them a prime target for thieves. Good quality locks are a must, and they need to also be firmly fixed to the truck – having a hard-to-defeat lock is pointless if the entire toolbox can simply be stolen.

Stainless Steel Tool Cabinet on Wheels

Buy this 6 drawer rolling tool cabinet

Stainless steel tool cabinets tend to be large and heavy, even before they are filled up with tools. By having wheels it makes it easier to move the cabinet around a workshop or garage. The wheels should have the ability to be locked so that once a chest is moved into place it stays there – having a large, heavy cabinet full of tools move around by itself when not needed is potentially dangerous. Of course, wheels are not really needed for the smaller boxes that are intended to be portable.

Why Buy a Stainless Steel Tool Box?

Tool boxes are an ideal way of organising, and protecting, your tools, making sure that you can always find the tool you want when you need it, and keeping them safe from accidental damage. Stainless steel tool boxes add greatly increased durability and strength to this storage item. Properly looked after, they can last for years, and may also increase the lifespan of tools stored in them. The longer tools last, the better value for money they are.