This one came from Duan Packard in Kerrville, Texas – and it’s a good one. Thanks, Duan!
When you buy a tool, you know how it comes in one of those fancy blow-molded plastic cases, right? It gives the tool manufacturer someplace to slap their logo, the product’s specs and the standard warnings about tool safety.
Inside, you’ll find each of the accessories for the tools placed into its own little custom-formed recess, almost like a modern version of a Studley Tool Chest.
After you unpack the tool and – ahem – read the directions, what do you do with the fancy blow-molded plastic case?
[poll id=”47″]
THIS is one part of my workshop that is always neat!!! Every tool that came in a plastic tool box is stored in its own toolbox.
Well, except the Dremel….it has a flexible shaft permanently attached and it won’t fit back into it’s plastic case!!!!
Verna
Most of the plastic cases are simi worthless but better than nothing, they are way to bulkey and fragle for halling around in a service truck tore up several of them.
I would gladly pay extra for a good metal one.
Mine get recycled 100%. Most of them are HDPE plastic and accepted readily by recyclers. If they go to a landfill they are there forever and will not rot.
You need to add another sub catagory. If tools have come in them that I use every day, I usually throw them away. For stuff that I don’t use every day, I store the tools in the cases.
I’d probably keep some of them in the boxes they came in if trying to put them back in the box was not a puzzle. They should mold the shape of the tool (like a picture) into the box in the place and position of the tool and for accessories that go there. And there’s never a place to store the owners manual so it doesn’t get trashed. My grumpy 2 cents worth. 😉
John – that’s an excellent point. When I bought my three base DeWalt router, I would spend some serious time trying to figure out how the heck to put the silly thing back in the case. It never went back exactly how it was supposed to.
I solved the problem by buying a soft-sided tool bag to store the router and all of the accessories that come along with it. Much easier now…
I’m with Larry on this one. Tools that I don’t use often go back into the cases. Ones that I use or are too much of a puzzle to get back in live in the cabinet without a case. Empty cases are piled into a corner or closet in the event they are ever needed.