Heavy duty bags to keep tools individually

[alex4564]

As I'm increasing the number of toys I'm buying (often from Lidl), the number of caseless/bagless tools is also growing making it a bit difficult to keep my small storage in order. I've started purchasing more tools that come with case/bag and that has been a really good choice, I can pile things up, not damage blades and other things. For the orphaned tools, I was as trying to look on ebay/amazon for bags but it seems a bit difficult to find anything to accommodate the bigger tools I have like a plunge saw for example. Har cases are quite pricey, making me regret the choices I made so I could invest purchasing the tool with the hard case already, but ow well, I've been married twice and you cannot get all the fun without trying first (wrong analogy anyway!)

Any thoughts?

 

[johna.clements]

If they are in bags how will you tell what is inside.

Many things can be stored inside the cardboard box they come in.
You could also make some boxes if you do not want to buy them.
See what people leave outside or in skips. You could make a few boxes out of that kitchen in the skip.

 

[alex4564]

I would be written outside. cardboard boxes will eventually get ruined, nylon bags or hardcases would be the best way to go for me. Making boxes out of wood would be a bit too far on weight I guess but it could be a viable alternative in the end

 

[johna.clements]

Yes you could right on the out sdie of a plastic bag, but then you have to make sure you place that side up.
You can not stack plastic bags.

The cardboard boxes will get destroyed eventually. But if you are careful and maybe you tape up the ripped corner they may last ten or tewnty years. (My jet wash is still stored in the original box from twenty plus years ago, the handles in the boxes are no more but it is still of apart from that.)

You can buy lighter plastic boxes or make free (apart from clue/ screws/ electricity) boxes out of unwanted wood that is heavier.

It depends where you want to use your tools and how many you have.

 

[alex4564]

By bag, I mean something like this:

 

[johna.clements]

That is ok for small tools. But what about your track saw etc.

 

[BucksDad]

Look at the Really Useful Storage Boxes. Stackable, lockable lids and not that expensive compared to systainers.

 

[Sideways]

Systainers, dewalt tough boxes, bosch L-boxes are all sold on ebay individually. A lot are sold by firms who buy powertool kits and break them down, selling the parts for more than the cost of the kit. Some of these boxes are pretty good and prices can be good when they go on sale. Also, you may fit more than one tool in a box.
Fein branded cases are nice quality and I 've bought a few of those over the years to store completely unrelated tools when the price has been right. They stack well but don't latch, otherwise I rate them better than the bosch and tanos offerings.

Bags don't stack.

 

[TRITON]

Bosch sortimo L-Boxx. A good price, cheaper than festool for the exact same box.
Not sure if these ones clip together, I dont see the side clamps. But seeing as you cant clip bags together I don't see that as being a problem for you.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/314113538604?hash=item4922a03a2c:g:rvEAAOSwyXhjOorq

 

[TheUnicorn]

I have a few really useful boxes, and they are excellent, really sturdy, stackable (I use the non-nestable ones, I imagine the nestable ones are slightly less sturdy) Just check the lids are the same size to know that they will stack.

A lot of my bits are in the dewalt tstaks, some that came with kit, and a few that I've salvaged and gutted the insides. They are good solid boxes, but I think the real benefit in all these modular systems (packout, systainers etc) is if you are stacking and locking them together for transport. if you are not moving your kit around a lot, and it is staying in a workshop, arguably you are paying for features you don't need. I notice at the moment the deep tstak box is on offer at screwfix.

If you are interested in a modular system I'd have a look at the erbauer connecx boxes in screwfix and b and q, they are better built, bigger stronger boxes than the tstak for similar money, the only drawback being a fairly limited range.

I wouldn't keep tools in bags, not enough protection, and not stackable

 

[ajs]

Har cases are quite pricey, making me regret the choices I made so I could invest purchasing the tool with the hard case already, but ow well, I've been married twice and you cannot get all the fun without trying first (wrong analogy anyway!)

Any thoughts?

I've made a number of boxes from hardboard simply sewn together, see the pic. Look up how sewn hinges are made on model aircraft if the joints are not immediately obvious. The one pictured there is styled after an archive box, fractionally larger, get five of those from an 8x4. Those are my most common size but I have built smaller ones for individual or collections of related tools. Some with lids, either completely separate (essentially a second very shallow box), or jointed to the box along one side to form a hinge. I don't have any of those immediately to hand to photo. Although I've never needed to I suppose you could fit catches, handles etc if needed.

Those boxes are surprisingly robust, the stringing gives a certain amount of natural flex and they can take quite a bit of abuse.

 

[TheUnicorn]

if you do decide to built you own, I suggest this design, I've built several (without the dowel handle, and with lids) as variations on this design and they are quick, easy and strong, it really comes down to whether you have a lot of board offcuts available to you, otherwise the costs make any box building a waste of time and money

 

[Thingybob]

This is a job for pallet man make boxes from thin mdf or ply framed with pallet wood and finished all the same would look personalised and profesional not to mention stackable

 

[Droogs]

If you can't be bothered making any then have a look here

 

[alex4564]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys, I ended up getting a couple of second hand tool boxes on ebay and started to get some tstak boxes from dewalt, pretty cool stackable modular options for other tools, I got a pretty good deal at tool station for the drawer options and a couple of medium size boxes, pretty neat!

 

[TheUnicorn]

just to note with the tstak boxes you can also use the stanley fatmax pro stack boxes, which lock and stack with the tstak, sometimes they come out a little cheaper