One solution to a storage problem

[Malcolm Parker-LisbergParticipant @malcolmparker-lisberg38138]

As the tool count is ever increasing and plastic boxes are not an ideal solution I was looking for some steel drawer cabinets like the Bisley office A4 draw type, Even second hand prices were arround the £100 after Freecycle failed to deliver.
A look at the Ikea catalogue (not normal reading,) I found the Helmer 6 draw steel cabinet for £25.
<http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/60296126/#/80296125>
Two were purchased and they are eminently suitable tool storage. The only critisism is the top needs a tab at the back to stop it sliding off when you roll it out on its castors.
No family or shares in Ikea.
I have put a photo in my album “Malcolm”, but I don’t seem to get the camera icon to add it on this thread with Explorer

Malcolm

[Malcolm Parker-LisbergParticipant @malcolmparker-lisberg38138]

[Peter KroghParticipant @peterkrogh76576]

How thick is the metal? You're using it for tools so it must be OK. I am constantly looking for cabinets along those lines but most seem to be made of very light material.

Thanks,

Pete

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Bought some a while ago but the runners are just a Z section pressed tin that won't take the weight of anything reasonable other than a stack of paper in the drawers. In all fairness they were bought originally as office drawers, they migrated to the workshop.

Result is they all crash down on one another and then nothing opens.

You can't make new Z runners as the design won't allow any thicker section without leaving a draw out.

I got round mine by building a 18mm plywood shelf / frame assembly were every drawer sits on a plywood shelf and the weight is carried on the bottom.

At least it recycled 24 usable drawers. Mine are now in a 6 wide, 4 hight format.

The old frames went in the metal scrap

[Peter KroghParticipant @peterkrogh76576]

That's the information I needed. Thanks John. Storage is a constant issue.

Pete

[John HaineParticipant @johnhaine32865]

I've got 4 of these carrying a variety of stuff including some quite heavy tools, no problem so far over more than 5 years. Recommended.

[Malcolm Parker-LisbergParticipant @malcolmparker-lisberg38138]

They are made from 0.8mm steel, the same as filing cabinets, but don’t have ball beaaring slides. I have one draw full of milling clamps, T nuts, threaded rod and spacers. Very heavy to carry. A little white lithium grease on the runners ensures friction and wear is kept to a minimum.

I would class them as light industrial, like the mini-lathe. They would not stand being used as a ladder.

Malcolm

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Possible they have altered the design ? Pity I don't still have the frames I could have taken a picture but mine 1/2 full of bolts would collapse.

Any pictures of your runners ?

[Martin KyteParticipant @martinkyte99762]

I have several of that style (old fashioned BISLEY type) one drawer contains my stock of silver steel which much weigh in at around 40 – 50 lbs. They work very well as as they came free from the lab I cannot complain.

Martin

[Ketan SwaliParticipant @ketanswali79440]

These are the drawers we had from IKEA about 11 years ago. They have the Z runners which JS mentions.

We used to use/abuse them to take products to shows, over a period of five to six years. They did the job, even though there were problems with slides due to heavy use. Welded certain drawers and certain z runners when needed, scrapped a few and used the usable drawers after some welding. We did curse at times due to poor performance when you needed to get to the bits inside the drawer quickly during the shows and the drawers sometimes did not open because of the way we had filled them, but they worked, until we changed over to bisley (totally different animal and price), which have served us well.

We put candle wax on the z runners, which did help with the sliding of the drawers…to a point. We made a frame for the base fitted with heavy duty wheels, because of the heavy usage.

Ketan at ARC.

[Malcolm Parker-LisbergParticipant @malcolmparker-lisberg38138]

It seems there has been a design improvement which should improve the load carrying capacity.
Photos in my album, but I still can't add them to the message.

Edited By Malcolm Parker-Lisberg on 15/01/2016 14:04:59

[Russell EberhardtParticipant @russelleberhardt48058]

The Bisley ones may be a bit more expensive but they are much better made. The ten or fifteen drawer ones are ideal for things like colletts, reamers, milling cutters etc.

Russell

[Ketan SwaliParticipant @ketanswali79440]

Malcolm,

The design improvement does look a lot better.

Russell,

After the experience with the old IKEA design, we did move over to Bisley while we did a few more shows. Pictures below. You are right about them being better than the old IKEA design, and they carried higher load. I wonder how they compare with the new IKEA design.. I am guessing that the new IKEA design may still be good value for money.

Ketan at ARC.

[Malcolm Parker-LisbergParticipant @malcolmparker-lisberg38138]

Ketan

Good value, certainly. The Bisley H296NL-aa3 6 drawer unit is £123,60 inc VAT. Delivery extra. I can buy a lot of tooling for the £98,69 saving per drawer unit.

Malcolm

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