That is so cool.

I would have commented yesterday but I passed out when I saw this tool box and just woke up. What GREAT old school workmanship - not museum quality woodworking but made with skill and love and just perfect for its intended purpose. Wow. You are a lucky guy and I'm sure you'll honor your mentor by caring for this and using it.

thank for posting it.

Nice set up!

The custom-fitted wooden tool box speaks of a time when the home or even pro mechanic didn't so much have to be "subscribed" to the yearly additions from a variety of parts/tool vendors, when the pace of development was much slower.
When crafting a wooden box for the specific tools-of-the-day would have been more practical.
Today, even the shape of the same tool often changes for no apparent reason, other than usually to add distinguishing 3-D plastic handles or a new safety feature.

Most distributor catalogs were a whole lot thinner back then, barely needed to be revised annually, and shops didn't need to stock several different chain-connector links/pins or dozens of different cartridge bearings..

There was a practical application; Don taught mechanics at local community colleges. He would often need to lend a tool, and at the end of the class if he had an empty slot he knew someone had one of his tools.

This is beautifully awesome.

Ahem, I beg your pardon!

Second page and not one Campy toolbox. I'm a little surprised.

You weren't looking close enough. Isn't that one on the lower shelf of the workbench?

Yup. Guess I was distracted by the frame jig and OA/OX setup.

Far left "gray" tool box is special bicycle specific tools, left red one is metric, the red one on the right is SAE...

Is this a Jerky Boys thread?

Part 2 of my "toolbox" is the CCM parts boxes they gave to CCM distributors throughout the decades. Lots of dividers in the drawers. Smalll tools always find a spot in there too.

That is the coolest thing I've seen in a long time...

[QUOTE=oddjob2;16726032]Vintage Kennedy 520 Machinists Tool Box, a curb find which belonged to my old scoutmaster, holds bike specific tools. Kennedy boxes were made in Cleveland and are bomb proof. When I travel, the bike tools I think I need go into a canvas tool bag.


I also have a Kennedy 520, given to me by my grandmother who retired from there in 1985. Kennedy is actually located in Van Wert, Ohio, about 200 miles west of Cleveland. They have a scratch and dent room at the factory where you can occasionally find some real bargains, like a model 263 mechanic's chest for $40.

Most of my bike tools are kept on a pegboard in arm's reach of the work stand. Small items are in the drawers of the 520, or in the bin on top.

I thought this was going to be a thread about underwear. Relieved...

We have been displaced from Oregon to VA. Currently we are renting so setting something up has been focused on access more than organization and layout. I sometimes need to get a vehicle in there too!

There are tools on the rack above in their plastic boxes and there is another one on the other side. Behind colapsed boxes is another orgnaizer I picked up at a company that custom made the organizer. The tool box has generic tools with some automotive specific and wood working tools. The tools rarely used like cyclinder ridge reamer and ring compressor are in a box in a storage unit along with larger power tools. The bike stuff is on the shelf turned workbench above the storage bins, 3 of which have bike parts.
Most used bikes are stored here:

The Colnago is inside and 3 more are in the storage unit along with wheels and tires.
To the left of the last picture is a refrig and an air compressor along with a folding table. I take some pride in packing it in.

I don't know when I will be able to get a place that will allow me to set up properly. Every time I need to work on something, I have to move something else!

I have only been collecting bike specific tools for a short time, I started with a plastic Nashbar box which I outgrew quickly. I found a old Canadian Tire machinist box full of drafting tools at a thrift store cheap that now has all of my smaller bike tools in it. As for Everything else, two Craftsman rollaways & a few smaller boxes have my everyday tools in them, but everywhere you look in my garage there are tools.

Glenn

Glenn, that's nice.

All you guys (and gals) have some really sweet set-ups. My tools are laid out in one of my closets on shelving.

I looked for a few toolboxes, but at the small, budget end, few things get a good number of stars on internet reviews. My father has a few Craftsman boxes that I like, so I went with one of those (can't beat the warranty, either). They are on sale, and there's an internet coupon as well.




This is the bike corner in my apartment a few months ago when I was touching up the Raleigh. I think the new pic is still on my camera. Bike specific tools are on the table behind the head tube.



For budget 26" towers, some people seem to like the in store deal on this Stanley from Sprawl-Mart.

The first one on this page from McMaster-Carr also looks like a good deal, especially with all the drawers. I've also never heard a bad thing about McMaster's products, and that includes the tools and supplies I've ordered from them.

Enjoy, but given Sears woes, that warranty is shorter than you think.

People have said that a lot over the past 25 years, and Sears is still around. If it does go under, the Craftsman line will be spalled off to a capable buyer.

Here you go, then:





I picked it up for free when we decommissioned the Antenna Maintenance Shop at T-Site out on Whidbey Island when I worked at NCTAMS PAC Detachment Puget Sound. It holds most everything I need, but it's a little tight.

DD