David:Originally Posted by David Eisenhauer
The damned thing is very heavy empty, too heavy and too bulky for one man to move around. Loaded with tools, it weighs more than Aunt Fanny's ebony piano. Ergo the dedicated rolling platform torsion box with industrial casters you can see a bit of in the pictures.
When shipping, I fill it with lightweight stuff, and pack the heavier tools in other boxes. I leave nothing inside the lid.
I have moved a lot, and learned the hard way to assume any flat surface will have 2 tons of other stuff stacked on top during transit. I had a beloved steel Kennedy toolbox that was destroyed this way. So I made a plywood and 2x4 cap to cover the toolchest's lid. With this in place, and some sheet foam plastic underneath to protect the lid from abrasion, I wrap the sides in cardboard, and strap the rolling platform, toolchest, and cap together with a couple of wide nylon ratchet straps through the heavy duty rings bolted to the sides. The rings have been used to lift the entire thing, with cap, rolling base, and full of tools, by crane when I stored it temporarily at a highrise jobsite in Thailand. The movers have yet to damage it, knock on wood, and the wheels make it easy to move.
When not in use, the cap stores out of the way between the chest and the wall, where there is a gap to account for the thickness of the opened lid.
In my current house in Tokyo, I had to get the thing up some narrow stairs with a 180 degree turn. I had to remove the lid to negotiate the turn, and enlist a helper. Of course, the toolchest was empty and the rolling base was removed.
I'm pretty sure customs has never bothered to open it. That would take real work.
Stan
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