Thread: Tool box tried to kill me

Catchy title. Get a cupper and settle in for a ripping yarn.

Bought one of these tool chest many years ago. Great storage capacity - mine is full of tools and when combined with the weight of the unit it must weigh 150-200 kilograms. I went to Bunnings site to get the photo and found the price is was even cheaper than when I first purchased - maybe time for a 2nd unit!?

Setup. Do not position the drawers to face the 'downhill' side of any imperfections in your shed floor, no matter how slight the incline - always face the drawers 'up hill'. Do not tuck the drawer side front wheels under the unit simply because they are a nuisance to your feet - always keep them positioned forward, beyond the foot print of the unit.

Problem and danger. New drawers lock when pushed closed, but lose this over time, meaning the drawers have a tendency to rebound slightly open. And no, I did not slam any draw closed in annoyance, only just a little too quickly. This rebound is amplified if your unit is facing 'downhill' and the wheels are tucked under. The unit tilts slightly toward you resulting in a domino effect whereby all other drawers start to open, compounding the imbalance of the unit. Before you know it the unit has tilted right over, pinning you at the hip against an immovable heavy work bench table immediately behind you. You can't move sideways because all the drawers are open. You can't pull yourself upwards because you are pinned. Also concerned if the unit fell over any further the timber top would grind over your knee caps.

Extracting yourself on a rural block. The better half is 70 metres away, in the house, watching tv - yelling help is no good - the better half might (stress might) go looking for you when you've not turned up for dinner, but that's half a day away - it could even be next morning. Neighbors are 350 metres away.

Self reliance, the mark of a Land Rover owner. Hmmm!! I was not in any pain so I stood there pinned while I gave the situation some thought. I tried pushing the unit upright but all the open drawers loaded with tools made that impossible. Tried shutting the top most drawers but they always came open again once I shifted hand position to push. Did not want to create more work for myself by tossing all the tools, one drawer at a time. I decide to plunge my arms as far down as open drawers would allowed. I used my long bones and massive bulging biceps to push as many drawers to near closed position as possible and then heaved with my chest against the tool box and against the table behind me as hard as I could. I only just had the strength to get the thing upright.

Great plot for a novel...killed by his own incompetence or was he?

Anyone else 'been there done that'? Waste of a coffee reading all of this?

Originally Posted by Blknight.aus

IVe watched plenty of tool boxes fall over when being pushed across workshops and draws presumed to be locked closed werent.

Interesting to see that you are very cautious regarding moving tool boxes now that you have seen many go over. I guess most people assume they only go over when being moved. I still have the key and all the drawers can be locked for a move.

My story was more of a warning about the unexpected - it wasn't being moved anywhere - I was just looking for something quickly through the drawers. Mine was an example of the convergence of a number of factors - slope, wheel position, weight of the thing, rapid opening and closing, and wear and tear.

The most important factor was wear and tear on the drawer runners. Regular furniture drawer runners ride over a little bump on the track - the bump stops rebound. All drawers in this tool box had this bump feature when new, but now the feature has disappeared from most drawers over time - I'm just guessing that the bump gets somewhat squashed over time due to the weight in the drawers.

Like earth tremours before a volcanic eruption I did get some warning of the propensity for other drawers to drift open, but they never came right out - I just pushed them in and moved on.

Checked out a tool box last week that had a very positive hold on the drawers - felt like it might be magnets.