Organization!

My watchmaking hobby is great, but over time I have accumulated quite a few parts, tools, and supplies, and had no where to store them. I don't have a proper bench so I use the kitchen table, and use a small tray to raise the work height. But all the various parts and supplies had no home, and basically I stored them in the boxes they were shipped in - not very efficient when looking for something.

So on the weekend we made a trip to Costco (I was dreading it this time of year but it wasn't too busy) and picked up a very nice maple tool chest set. It's like a roll away cabinet that you store your automotive tools in, but it's all made of maple. I had seen this as Costco last year, but it was very expensive (I think over $500 from what I recall) and thought it was "overkill" for the parts I had on hand. But by the time this year rolled around, I had more stuff, and the price had come down.

When we arrived we got a trolley to pick up the tool chest and arrived at the aisle to find 2 of them left, and another guy showed up at the exact time we did looking for one. So, we got the last 2 they had, and they were only $300.

Got it home, unpackaged, and sitting in the sun room near the table where I work, so quite handy. Here it is:



Lots of storage space for all the goodies:



Some pics of the drawers with various things - this one shows consumable supplies:



Various parts for watches, such as hands, dials, spare mainsprings, spare balances, etc.:



Oilers and other tools:



Spare straps:



I have a lot of drawers full of other stuff not shown, and also a lot of space left to fill. Unlike the typical steel cabinets these have lined drawers so are good for small parts and things don't slide around too much. Hopefully this will help me get things done quicker by not having to search everywhere for all the tools and parts!

Nice score Al. Looks great! Going to oil or stain the wood at all? Or leave it the way it is?

As a master bicycle mechanic, I can tell you it's a thing of beauty when you not only have all the tools/parts you need, but also the proper place to store them. Good job!

Originally Posted by Atomic

Nice score Al. Looks great! Going to oil or stain the wood at all? Or leave it the way it is?

As a master bicycle mechanic, I can tell you it's a thing of beauty when you not only have all the tools/parts you need, but also the proper place to store them. Good job!

No need to do anything with the finish as it has several coats of satin poly on it already. I'm glad because I don't really have the time to finish the whole thing!

[padi56]

Must say Al for that sort of money a excellent buy,huge amount of storage space, and a good looking bit of furniture too.

[C.J.]

Looking good, Al. That should make things quite a bit easier, I hope

Reminds me of the toy restorer's case in the animated movie Toy Story 2.

[astcell]

That's a great case!