What have you in your box??

[SammyQ]

Professionals? Doug71, Doctor Bob, anybody else who earns their bread by carrying a toolbox through a different door each day:

What range of screws, fittings and the like do you pack in your site box? And, why?

I am just about to restock and I am swithering over some choices; convince me yea or nay. Pretty please.

Sam

Edit, https://www.instagram.com/p/BbHhAxfABmE ... s0bukrl3oz
This is Doug's, I pinched the image from his Instagram feed - what and how many?

 

[Noel]

I'm neither Bob or Doug, a professional nor do I walk through too many doors but an interesting topic:

Main w/screw box:

What was originally in it (Reisser):

And for all the other (well most) stuff I have two cupboards worth of these (I'm managed to label the washer box so far...)

Will be interesting to see others.

 

[Doug71]

That is a different Doug but same as what I use!

I am quite heavily invested in the whole Festool thing so everything goes in systainers, keeps it all neat, tidy and organised.

One for screws, one for nails/pins, one for plastic plugs/fixings, one for tubes of adhesive/silicone etc, the list goes on.

People always comment how much stuff I carry about but I like to be prepared for anything.

I am more workshop based than jobbing around so I have two of most things, one in the van and one in the workshop.

Festool actually have some new style systainers coming out, I was going to start a new thread about it but will just pop it in here instead.

https://systainer3.com/en/systainer_3.asp

They have integrated draw slides and front handles which is great but they are changing the heights of them #-o

Anyone who has a stack of systainers knows how useful they are but not if they are now different heights

 

[doctor Bob]

I employ fitters.
Use to do it 15 years ago when we set up, but started paying fitters within 6months otherwise we were paying for an unused workshop for half the time.
My fitters seem to have everything in their vans.

 

[Noel]

That is a different Doug but same as what I use!

I am quite heavily invested in the whole Festool thing so everything goes in systainers, keeps it all neat, tidy and organised.

One for screws, one for nails/pins, one for plastic plugs/fixings, one for tubes of adhesive/silicone etc, the list goes on.

People always comment how much stuff I carry about but I like to be prepared for anything.

I am more workshop based than jobbing around so I have two of most things, one in the van and one in the workshop.

Festool actually have some new style systainers coming out, I was going to start a new thread about it but will just pop it in here instead.

https://systainer3.com/en/systainer_3.asp

They have integrated draw slides and front handles which is great but they are changing the heights of them #-o

Anyone who has a stack of systainers knows how useful they are but not if they are now different heights

Are the Systainers as robust as they look? Ok to take the odd drop and knock?

 

[SammyQ]

Thanks so far gents. I am not concerned by what the hardware is carried in, more on the range of screws and fittings carried and why. I have my own ideas, but I am curious to see where others preferences lie.

Apologies Doug, mind fart...it comes with age....

Sam

 

[Wend]

(I'm managed to label the washer box so far...)

On a tangentially related note, I've found a silver sharpie invaluable for writing the contents of black plastic boxes on all sides of those boxes, so I can see what's where no matter how they're stacked up:

 

[TFrench]

I have a screwfix goldscrew screw box that I just keep the standard selection it came with stocked. Covers me for pretty much everything - think it goes from 25-100mm. I have a seperate fatmax clear top box for fixings. I particularly like the fischer plastic rawlpugs - they dont have a flange on the top so you can drill through something and just push them all the way through. Handy for battens.

 

[SammyQ]

Yerr...I used to think that Screwfix et al were simply packing out boxes with all those itsy bitsy small screws. At the time I was doing a lot of heavy duty renovation and 50mm/75mm dominated my horizons. That and the old red and green 'sticks' of rawplug, that you just cut a bit off, stuck it on the point of a screw, then pushed though a batten into a hole drilled in masonry.
I've used a lot more of the smaller sizes recently, with two more superficial renovations, where fewer stud walls etc were needed, but nosings and trim in general were key.
That said, there were still requirements for 50mm and heavier, so I wondered how a jobbing chippie ir ' installer' packed his site box to face most jobs , rather than having to buy in omissions with stock at the start of rach job?
I'm also a retiree with no pension for three more years, so i'm trying to avoid superfluous cost. I have a reasonable numbervof smaller jobs still, renovation no4 needs three new kitchen cabinets, all new doors, a new set of worktops, two floors need levelled....yada, yada.
Hope that makes my original query clearer.

Sam

 

[Doug71]

Sam, it's a hard one to answer really.

I buy screws from a few different places, sometimes I will use Screwfix quicksilver ones sometimes more expensive, it all depends what I am doing.

I like the Fischer duopower wall plugs because they work in everything so always handy to have in a few sizes.

I use the Fix all/ Stix all type polymer based stuff in tubes, it's expensive but again it is multi use so can use for sticking, sealing or caulking, saves carrying lots of different tubes around

Corner brackets etc I just buy a load in different sizes from Screwfix when I'm getting low.

One thing I can recommend is buying decent panel pins, the ones by Challenge that come in yellow cardboard boxes are a million times better than the ones you get from screwfix etc in little plastic bags.

Like I say tough one to answer but do ask if you want to know anything more specific.

Doug

 

[Doug71]

Are the Systainers as robust as they look? Ok to take the odd drop and knock?

They are plenty tough enough for me, they will take the knocks but certainly not indestructible.

Builders etc seem to like the Dewalt Tough System boxes as they seem bullet proof but joiners/kitchen fitters who are not quite as rough with them and tend to work in a cleaner enviroment seem to like systainers.

 

[SammyQ]

Thanks TFrench and Doug; I did suspect this would be a 'piece of string' query and that framers would be different from general handymen and specialists like kitchen fitters might be different again.
There is such a wide band of possibilities for even a weekend warrior that I suspect this is an unanswerable question, but I was curious to see if any patterns of items/sizes had been noticed by those buying more regularly than me. Looks like another generic boxsa then!

Sam

 

[SammyQ]

Sorry Noel, thanks to you too for the Sharpie tip. I have used Dymo printed labels in the past, but they do not stand up to rubbing against other boxes in a car boot or general hurly-burly of a cramped workshop!
The choice of silver is a shrewd one, I've been reduced to puce-faced, frenzied cussing when oily or boggone* hands smeared out conventional Sharpie marks.

Sam

* for those outside NI, "filthy".