What to do with tool cases

[Jason Morgan]

I find myself with more and more of the plastic cases that my power tools come in. I dont use them for storage as I would rather have the tools out and ready for use. Being a one man dedicated shop, I dont need to transport them much either. Should I recycle them? Sell them? Turn them into some sort of decorative planter?

What do you guys do with them?

[Dan Barr]

I let it sit there until i cant stand it anymore and then i throw them away.

v/r

dan

[Lee Schierer]

I keep my tools and the various accessories related to the tool in them. Keeps all the parts handy and available when needed. I haven't done it yet (retirement project) but plan on building a cabinet where the tool cases will slide into slots so they can be stacked up and take up less room. :rolleyes:

[Anthony Anderson]

Same as Dan. In fact I now have a bunch that I need to get rid of.


I let it sit there until i cant stand it anymore and then i throw them away. dan

[Ed Breen]

I built a large shelf up near the eave of my shop and stack them up there out of the way. Won't ever use them - maybe I'll have my ashes distributed in them and sent to my far away family members.
:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

[Gary Curtis]

there is a large trade in tool cases on eBay. I have both bought and sold cases as I need them. It minimizes storage needs and serves a useful purpose. It is a shame to dump good cases in a landfill.

Gary Curtis

[David G Baker]

Anyone have a case for a Skil heavy duty worm drive circular saw? I will gladly take it off your hands if you want to get rid of it for the price of shipping. This will slow the land fill problem by a few square inches.

[Mark Rios]

I"m looking for a case for the Makita LXT202 kit.

Anyone got one that they would like to send me? How much? :D

[Bill White]

I can see a new forum emerging.....
Bill

[Pat Germain]

I was wondering the same thing just last week. I finally through out the plastic case for the Craftsman cordless drill I received for Christmas many years ago. (I think the drill will soon be right behind the case.)

I have plastic cases for a Porter Cable Framing Saw and Biscuit Jointer. I have a steel case for a Porter Cable 690 router. I have more plastic cases for a DeWalt reciprocating saw, Skil portable jigsaw, Milwaukee cordless drill and Milwaukee screw gun. Collectively, that's a lot of cubic inches of wasted space in my shop, but I really don't want to send it all to the landfill. :confused:

I think I'm going to check out the E-Bay solution.

[Greg Heppeard]

SAVE EM!!! OK I'm a pack rat. You never know when you might need them....I have the boxes for a couple of tools that have bit the dust and have been discarded. I do get rid of the cardboard boxes tho :D

[Stan Welborn]

I have a boat load of the things. Don't know why I keep them. I even have a couple from the past where the tool is worn out and discarded, but the case is still here. I may do the shelf up at the ceiling thing just to have them all in one place. For what, I have no idea.

Should be useful for something. Maybe cut out all the dividers and molds in the inside and use them to store all this other stuff I've packed away that I'll never use. Then I could have a useless shelf, of useless containers, containing useless stuff. Put stupid notes in each, "Parts for light saber" etc, just to make whoever opens them when I'm gone wonder what kind of drugs I was on.

[Wes Bischel]

I don't need to take my tools on to jobsites, so I don't need the cases. The small ones go to the Little Man for his "needs". Others go to our local Habitat Restore. They sell them - most go quickly.

FWIW,
Wes

[Chuck Jones]

I keep my tools and the various accessories related to the tool in them. Keeps all the parts handy and available when needed. I haven't done it yet (retirement project) but plan on building a cabinet where the tool cases will slide into slots so they can be stacked up and take up less room. :rolleyes:


I agree with Lee. That's exactly what I did. Built a large open cabinet with four shelves. Stand them suckers up side to side. Now I have to find some way to mark them because looking at unmarked ends it's hard to remember which one is which. I work with a volunteer group an need to have the cases when we deploy to some far away project.

[Stan Smith]

I keep my tools and the various accessories related to the tool in them. Keeps all the parts handy and available when needed. I haven't done it yet (retirement project) but plan on building a cabinet where the tool cases will slide into slots so they can be stacked up and take up less room. :rolleyes:

Good idea Lee. At my last shop, I kept the tools in cubby holes. We moved and now the tools are back in the cases that, luckily, I kept. I bought some of those heavy duty wire shelves at Costco. You can adjust the shelf heights to fit those cases. I was able to get all my hand power tools on one set of shelves and all of my hardware on the other set. They are up against each other back to back. I don't have cases for my routers though.

[Declan James]

I toss them all out asap.

[William Nimmo]

When in doubt...throw them out.
You must get rid of the junk so you have room for the good stuff.

[Mickey Finn]

I keep 'em, I keep the tools in 'em, and like others have said, I like to keep all the accessories in there as well. (even the manual!)

Never much thought about it 'til now... but even if I kept my tools on the bench, I'd still hang onto the case, if not for anything more than the possibility that I'll sell the tool someday to contribute to a trade-up to a better one. I think seeing the tool in the case with all its accessories neatly stowed might make it easier for some folks to decide to buy.

[Derek Tuchscherer]

I had heard somewhere about an individual who would put small sand bags in each one and store them on a nice, easily accessible shelf in his shop. The actual tools and accessories got stored in locked cabinets. The reasoning for this was if anyone broke into his shop they would grab all of the cases, thinking they were making off with a haul of portable power tools, while the actual tools were locked away safe and sound

Derek

[Paul Greathouse]

I had heard somewhere about an individual who would put small sand bags in each one and store them on a nice, easily accessible shelf in his shop. The actual tools and accessories got stored in locked cabinets. The reasoning for this was if anyone broke into his shop they would grab all of the cases, thinking they were making off with a haul of portable power tools, while the actual tools were locked away safe and sound

Derek


That reminds me of the large cheap plastic tool box that someone stole out of the bed of my truck. I used to do alot of small remodeling jobs when I was younger and had to keep an assortment of nails and screws to deal with different tasks. Well, guess what the thief got.....HaHa it wasn't tools, they were safely locked in my aluminum truck box.

[Paul Greathouse]

Dan, Anthony, Declan, William

Got any Systainers you want to toss out, I'll pay the shipping to take them off your hands.:D

[Chris Padilla]

I don't know what Sustainers are but I'll take the Festool Systainers! ;)

[Gary Muto]

I find myself with more and more of the plastic cases that my power tools come in. I dont use them for storage as I would rather have the tools out and ready for use. Being a one man dedicated shop, I dont need to transport them much either. Should I recycle them? Sell them? Turn them into some sort of decorative planter?

What do you guys do with them?
I keep my tools in the cases and think it could add to resale if I ever decide to sell them. I don't have a case for a Dewalt 1/2" drill and a P-C 690 router. I use the boxes and they are getting beat up. I was thinking of using old tool boxes so I could contain these tools. I'm surprised tht they are considered useless.

[Paul Johnstone]

I can see a new forum emerging.....
Bill

LOL.. It seems we get this question every week.

I never understood why people stress out so much over this. If you don't like the cases, toss them in the trash or give them to someone that wants them (like the "free" section of Craigslist).

[FRITZ STOOP]

I save the ones that have lots of small things that associate with functional use of tool or even the manual (which usually remains unread) and keep the tools in them with sharpie ID on the outside.
The others are recyclable, so into bin.
About 50/50.

[Paul Greathouse]

I don't know what Sustainers are but I'll take the Festool Systainers! ;)


Sustainer, Systainer, Oh well. This Louisiana redneck don't know the difference, I just wanted to resell'em to some high falootin city boy that would pay alot of money for a plastic box that you put stuff in.:D

I edited the spelling on my previous post so nobody from one of them more edjumacated states would get confused.;)

[Tom Kelley]

Jason,
I'm glad you asked. I've got the same problem. Think they will all get tossed.
Tom

[William Nimmo]

PAUL...
I throw out the cases to make room for the systainers. Nice try

[Jeff Norri]

there is a large trade in tool cases on eBay. I have both bought and sold cases as I need them. It minimizes storage needs and serves a useful purpose. It is a shame to dump good cases in a landfill.

Gary Curtis


Yes and an interesting trade to boot. I saw one "tool case" sell for $90 and another go for $80. My gues people didn't read the description very carefully - as they did say case only. I have only noticed this as I almost dropped a bid on them myself.

[frank shic]

ebay them!