Product Princess Auto tool box quality

[DavidR8]

Does any one have one of these toolboxes?
Wondering about sturdiness factor as a base for my yet-to-arrive mill. I'd put it on a mobile base so the casters are not a factor.

https://www.princessauto.com/en/26-in-5-drawer-rolling-tool-cabinet/product/PA0009002965

 

[Larry_C9]

In my opinion it would not be rigid enough. On my mill I made reinforcing plates to go inside the cabinet that Busy Bee provided to stiffen the top of the cabinet up. Then drill the concrete floor for drop in anchors, made more reinforcing plates to beef up the mounting area. Once I got the base level, I made a dam and put expanding mortar between the base and the floor to give it a perfect solid base to sit on. Well worth the effort.

 

[Tom Kitta]

Maybe for mini mill with a bit reinforced top. But its sheet metal ... so your mill will ... float. Maybe mini mill will be OK, but not much bigger.

Better idea is to get one of these industrial tables and put one of these cabinets under it for parts. With table top of say 1/2" steel you should be able to place most table top mills without any issues.

 

[YotaBota]

If you compare the cost of that to enough 1.5" sq steel tube to build a frame, add the steel top, steel casters and a couple of slide out shelves where do you end up?
You'd have a lot better unit than having to add bracing and a top to the PA unit and it could be the exact size you want/need.

You still have time,,,, get the welder out. lol

And to answer your initial question, no, I don't have one but I doubt they are any better than any of the big box store units.

 

[SomeGuy]

If you compare the cost of that to enough 1.5" sq steel tube to build a frame, add the steel top, steel casters and a couple of slide out shelves where do you end up?
You'd have a lot better unit than having to add bracing and a top to the PA unit and it could be the exact size you want/need.

You still have time,,,, get the welder out. lol

And to answer your initial question, no, I don't have one but I doubt they are any better than any of the big box store units.

Yes, steel tube was the way I went, though I used 2" x 0.125" wall

 

[DavidR8]

Yes, steel tube was the way I went, though I used 2" x 0.125" wall

2" 125 wall was what I was thinking about.
I guess I have eons of time as my mill hasn't left the dock yet.

 

[DavidR8]

Thanks @Larry_C9, @Tom Kitta, @YotaBota !
I'll have to go steel shopping...

 

[Steve185]

Princess auto and quality are not often used in the same sentence.

 

[Dabbler]

Does any one have one of these toolboxes?
Wondering about sturdiness factor as a base for my yet-to-arrive mill. I'd put it on a mobile base so the casters are not a factor.
https://www.princessauto.com/en/26-in-5-drawer-rolling-tool-cabinet/product/PA0009002965

I guess I should counter with this: The discussion about the design begins at 7:37 (that's the interesting part for me)

Lots of people said it wouldn't work. But it has served him well. My recall is that the surface plate is north of 1300 lbs, and he found that the cheap tool boxes handles it just fine... Now the PA box may well be far inferior, but it bears thinking about...

 

[DavidR8]

Rough estimates for a stand is about 18-20 ft 2x2 x125 wall steel. Sadly I don't have any lying around.

 

[Dabbler]

One way to assess these roller stands is their shipping weight. If they are flimsy, they will be very light. Reinforcing them is a big project. A rule of thumb is to only load it to half of its stated max weight, and you will be not too far off its capability...

 

[phaxtris]

Rough estimates for a stand is about 18-20 ft 2x2 x125 wall steel. Sadly I don't have any lying around.

If you don't think it's up to the task you could easily re-enforce the cabinet with 1.5" angle riveted vertically up the corners/across the front and back, and welded together once riveted on, maybe a flat bar diagonal on each side and one across the back even, riveted to the sides and welded to the angle

It would take a few hours, but you would get the functionality of the drawers without having to build them, and the whole thing would be on casters

1/8 angle and flat bar is cheap


but...the cabinet has to be cheap enough for this all to make any sense

 

[DavidR8]

If you don't think it's up to the task you could easily re-enforce the cabinet with 1.5" angle riveted vertically up the corners/across the front and back, and welded together once riveted on, maybe a flat bar diagonal on each side and one across the back even, riveted to the sides and welded to the angle

It would take a few hours, but you would get the functionality of the drawers without having to build them, and the whole thing would be on casters

1/8 angle and flat bar is cheap


but...the cabinet has to be cheap enough for this all to make any sense

The one I’m looking at is $346 I think.
Since my mill hasn’t left the dock yet I have loads of time.

 

[DavidR8]

One way to assess these roller stands is their shipping weight. If they are flimsy, they will be very light. Reinforcing them is a big project. A rule of thumb is to only load it to half of its stated max weight, and you will be not too far off its capability...

The CX601 mill which is the same as mine weighs about 530 lbs so not light.
I’ll best off building my own stand I think.

 

[phaxtris]

The one I’m looking at is $346 I think.
Since my mill hasn’t left the dock yet I have loads of time.

lotsa time! if your through Calgary between now and then and decide on the 2x2 route instead i have a pile of 7ft-ers re-claimed from a job, you could take what you like, or if someone is heading that way from here

 

[DavidR8]

lotsa time! if your through Calgary between now and then and decide on the 2x2 route instead i have a pile of 7ft-ers re-claimed from a job, you could take what you like, or if someone is heading that way from here

If only!
I shudder to think what two 10 ft sticks of 2x2x125 will cost me. With any luck it's less than $300.

 

[Doggggboy]

Fwiw a four foot piece at Princess Auto is 67 bucks

 

[phaxtris]

you dont need .125, you could go .100, even 1.5x1.5x100 would do it so long as you didnt plan to put it in the middle of a 10ft long horizontal without any bracing

the stand i built for my pdm30 is 1.5x1.5x100 square, it is plenty stout

but if between now and then if anyone is heading that way, or your coming this way you can take what you want, i can even hack it up to size to fit in a car for you

 

[SomeGuy]

If only!
I shudder to think what two 10 ft sticks of 2x2x125 will cost me. With any luck it's less than $300.

I bought mine from Kitchener Steel Services, they delivered 24' sticks directly to my curb (with no delivery charge), was $145/stick in Nov 2021. This was most of the steel I used for my lathe stand, new shelving, and mill stand....I had a bit of on hand before I started and I have a bit left over still - including 3 sticks of the 1.5" cut down to 16 feet, but the 1.5" tube is what I use most often for building simple structures, so I had ordered extra.

 

[phaxtris]

Thats a pretty good price a few years ago for a non account, a medium sized account today would expect somewhere near that price....but a non account today, probably 1.5x that price

HSS took a pretty big jump through the pandemic