Starting around 1pm on July 16th we will be working on improving the auto area, any assistance would be appreciated. I will provide free pizza for anyone who helps (donated with non DMS funds)
We will be taking down and replacing shelving, organizing new shelving, disposing of concrete table, improving space utilization, fixing some tape lines, taking inventory of tools to fix the tools wiki page, etc. Will have the following delivered to DMS that week:
Do you have a “plan o gram” of how the new shelves will be utilized?
I’m all for helping after 4pm - but would like to know how the $800 in new shelving is going to be used vs the current $0 cost ones?
I’d rather see the a better high quality rolling tool box with room to expand and store the automotive specialty tools within - instead of having the bearing race driver, ball joint tool etc on the open shelves. Not a horror freight nor a cheesy Husky one ( the largest drawer on the Husky is starting to show sign of having trouble closing).
I’m waiting for HomeDepot to get back to me about the availability of replacement drawer slides, they don’t make it easy to get replacement parts. The slide connects to the drawer with a couple rivets and built in clips, so a generic slide wouldn’t be a direct replacement.
It’s not the best toolbox but it was the cheapest for the size (it was $600), similar cubic inch capacity in a profesional level box would be ~1,700 to ~2,000. Maybe we should do some advertising and see if we can get 35 more members trained on the lift, which would pay for a new toolbox.
If I’m in town, I will be there. 
I’m no expert on toolboxes, but it sounds like @TLAR is. Do you have any suggestions? I seem to remember you recommending a specific brand or model a while back. I think a good toolbox would be one of the best investments, since half your time spent in Auto is wasted just looking for or retrieving parts.
Also, maybe it would make sense to have two separate toolboxes, since often times there are two cars being worked on at the same time. It would make people feel better about moving the cart closer to their vehicle. We could have one that’s got everything, and another for basic repairs (i.e. smaller, less tools, and cheaper).
Another thing we might do is use the large-format printer to create paper tray liners for the drawers with outlines of where the tool should go. We shouldn’t expect our members to always put the parts back in the correct position (fat chance! haha), but at least they’d know precisely where a tool should they go if they were so inclined.
What about some cooperation with a vendor? They can sponsor the tool box in exchange for some community goodwill and advertising.
instead of a new husky bucket of shite - go with a true commercial tool box from:
http://www.strictlytoolboxes.com/
that way you get Snap On quality at close to Horror freight prices …I’d vote for Blue or Orange
Damn Tom, those boxes are awesome. I may have to get one for myself. My current 42" 20 drawer box is over flowing.
The only way to fix “too many tools”…
Buy more tools.
They are awesome boxes at a fraction a Snap On and you can get professional depth of about 30" - not a home owner depth like the Husky the Space currently has.
Very heavy duty.
Thanks to lots of help from @ESmith and @lukeiamyourfather we were able to get the new shelves installed. The goal being to free up more floorspace, improve organization, improve appearance, and make the area safer.
Before:
During:
After:
Also fixed the large drawer in the toolbox, unbeknownst to me home depot changed how they built the toolbox in the past year, so the repair part I requested turned out to not be the same slide, it didn’t have the stamped in tabs and only had normal rivet holes. Was able to dremel in a tab and drill some new rivet holes to make it fit.
I’m thinking of printing this picture and putting it in the drawer to show what it should look like when you put a socket set back
