Tool Bucket

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jmellc

Senior Member
Location
Durham, NC
Occupation
Facility Maintenance Tech. Licensed Electrician
I am thinking of making my own tool bucket from a std 5 gallon bucket. I once had a good slipover carrier that I loved; used it for about 5 years. It had just the right pockets all around. I have seen are either flimsy or wrong pockets; can't find the same one again.

I want to glue PVC tubes around the inside, long enough for each screwdriver & nutdriver handle to come about an inch from the top, leaving room for a lid. Larger PVC's for set of combo wrenches, allen wrench sets, etc. Smaller bucket glued down in middle to hold hammers, etc. Will PVC glue hold long term to a bucket or should I use something like Liquid Nails? Has anyone tried this sort of thing? Maybe I will fiddle around with some scraps this afternoon.


I have worked the last several years with a Craftsman tub style box with 2 trays at top. A good box, but it too is now obsolete. Mine is tearing up more by the day and will totally fall apart soon. Plus, as I get older, the box full of stuff seems to get heavier.:D
 

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
I am thinking of making my own tool bucket from a std 5 gallon bucket. I once had a good slipover carrier that I loved; used it for about 5 years. It had just the right pockets all around. I have seen are either flimsy or wrong pockets; can't find the same one again.

I want to glue PVC tubes around the inside, long enough for each screwdriver & nutdriver handle to come about an inch from the top, leaving room for a lid. Larger PVC's for set of combo wrenches, allen wrench sets, etc. Smaller bucket glued down in middle to hold hammers, etc. Will PVC glue hold long term to a bucket or should I use something like Liquid Nails? Has anyone tried this sort of thing? Maybe I will fiddle around with some scraps this afternoon.


I have worked the last several years with a Craftsman tub style box with 2 trays at top. A good box, but it too is now obsolete. Mine is tearing up more by the day and will totally fall apart soon. Plus, as I get older, the box full of stuff seems to get heavier.:D
PVC cement is not "glue", it actually breaks down the two surfaces and they are more less chemically welded together. The concept would still work if the bucket is made of the right material, but the contact surface isn't enough to result in a very strong bond.
 

K8MHZ

Senior Member
Location
Michigan. It's a beautiful peninsula, I've looked
Occupation
Electrician
Is this what you are looking for?

shopping
 

Saturn_Europa

Senior Member
Location
Fishing Industry
Occupation
Electrician Limited License NC
If you do use fasteners. Drill a hole through the PVC pipe for your screw, then across from that hole drill a larger hole to stick your nut driver/screwdriver in. I would put the heads on the outside and use #10 machine screws.

Its a good project for today. Its pouring rain in my part of NC.
 

JFletcher

Senior Member
Location
Williamsburg, VA
I am thinking of making my own tool bucket from a std 5 gallon bucket. I once had a good slipover carrier that I loved; used it for about 5 years. It had just the right pockets all around. I have seen are either flimsy or wrong pockets; can't find the same one again.

I want to glue PVC tubes around the inside, long enough for each screwdriver & nutdriver handle to come about an inch from the top, leaving room for a lid. Larger PVC's for set of combo wrenches, allen wrench sets, etc. Smaller bucket glued down in middle to hold hammers, etc. Will PVC glue hold long term to a bucket or should I use something like Liquid Nails? Has anyone tried this sort of thing? Maybe I will fiddle around with some scraps this afternoon.


I have worked the last several years with a Craftsman tub style box with 2 trays at top. A good box, but it too is now obsolete. Mine is tearing up more by the day and will totally fall apart soon. Plus, as I get older, the box full of stuff seems to get heavier.:D

I used scraps of #14 thru holes in the side of the bucket to secure the pvc tubes. Also worked on a milk crate that held a 5 gallon bucket with lid and small dc pump on top for changing oil in generators; the pvc tubes held a strap wrench for the filter, a 3/8" drive ratchet and socket for the plugs, and a funnel.
 

jmellc

Senior Member
Location
Durham, NC
Occupation
Facility Maintenance Tech. Licensed Electrician
Is this what you are looking for?

shopping

Yes, but I have not found a good one like I had. Went to the same store but they no longer sell them at all. Looked on websites and in stores. Lots of places have some version but not what I like. Mine had just the right pockets for my stuff. Ones I see around now just aren't right, plus many are cheap flimsy material.
 

Fulthrotl

~Autocorrect is My Worst Enema.~
I am thinking of making my own tool bucket from a std 5 gallon bucket. I once had a good slipover carrier that I loved; used it for about 5 years. It had just the right pockets all around. I have seen are either flimsy or wrong pockets; can't find the same one again.

I want to glue PVC tubes around the inside, long enough for each screwdriver & nutdriver handle to come about an inch from the top, leaving room for a lid. Larger PVC's for set of combo wrenches, allen wrench sets, etc. Smaller bucket glued down in middle to hold hammers, etc. Will PVC glue hold long term to a bucket or should I use something like Liquid Nails? Has anyone tried this sort of thing? Maybe I will fiddle around with some scraps this afternoon.


I have worked the last several years with a Craftsman tub style box with 2 trays at top. A good box, but it too is now obsolete. Mine is tearing up more by the day and will totally fall apart soon. Plus, as I get older, the box full of stuff seems to get heavier.:D

weight is the issue.

last time i made a buckie, i used a six gallon one, and used a 4' strap of belt leather, with small SS washers and pop rivets. lay out
the tools you want, and make loops the correct size to hold them. a couple cadweld boxes in the bottom for small bits and pieces,
and it's tall enough to hold most everything. six gallon will let most stuff fit below the lip.

they make a good quality one, with a screw cover that might be a good solution:

http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=104335&catid=752

it's a 7 gallon one... might be a bit too tall, but you could put two courses of tools
around the inside, common stuff on upper, less frequently used on lower course.

here's the waterproof spill proof thing i was thinking of.....

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Leaktite-5-gal-Screw-Top-Lid-5GAMMA6/203205720
 

Fulthrotl

~Autocorrect is My Worst Enema.~
PVC cement is not "glue", it actually breaks down the two surfaces and they are more less chemically welded together. The concept would still work if the bucket is made of the right material, but the contact surface isn't enough to result in a very strong bond.

well, most buckies are polyethelyene, not PVC or ABS, so solvent welding
with those products is a crapshoot.... i'd google here:

polyethylene solvent welding
 

jmellc

Senior Member
Location
Durham, NC
Occupation
Facility Maintenance Tech. Licensed Electrician
weight is the issue.

last time i made a buckie, i used a six gallon one, and used a 4' strap of belt leather, with small SS washers and pop rivets. lay out
the tools you want, and make loops the correct size to hold them. a couple cadweld boxes in the bottom for small bits and pieces,
and it's tall enough to hold most everything. six gallon will let most stuff fit below the lip.

they make a good quality one, with a screw cover that might be a good solution:

http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=104335&catid=752

it's a 7 gallon one... might be a bit too tall, but you could put two courses of tools
around the inside, common stuff on upper, less frequently used on lower course.

here's the waterproof spill proof thing i was thinking of.....



http://www.homedepot.com/p/Leaktite-5-gal-Screw-Top-Lid-5GAMMA6/203205720

Yes, these look good. I like the rivet idea. I never used them much but rivets are lightweight & compact. Could also caulk them with silicone against weather.
 

GerryB

Senior Member
I don't have an issue usually with bringing tools in to a job, more so with the right size pouch for hand tools, usually to big or to small where I wear two. Any preferences out there?
 

JFletcher

Senior Member
Location
Williamsburg, VA
I don't have an issue usually with bringing tools in to a job, more so with the right size pouch for hand tools, usually to big or to small where I wear two. Any preferences out there?

Ive had better luck with a Husky pouch designed for maintenance than anything else. I'd like to find a pouch that works in crawlspaces. Since none do, I've come to the conclusion they are an afterthought more than a practical way of doing anything.
 

GerryB

Senior Member
Ive had better luck with a Husky pouch designed for maintenance than anything else. I'd like to find a pouch that works in crawlspaces. Since none do, I've come to the conclusion they are an afterthought more than a practical way of doing anything.
The Husky pouch is ok but it wears out fast. Something about that size in a soft leather with a heavy duty belt clip would be perfect. (Don't you love crawling back in the crawl space when one of you're tools is missing?):)
 

Strathead

Senior Member
Location
Ocala, Florida, USA
Occupation
Electrician/Estimator/Project Manager/Superintendent
I am thinking of making my own tool bucket from a std 5 gallon bucket. I once had a good slipover carrier that I loved; used it for about 5 years. It had just the right pockets all around. I have seen are either flimsy or wrong pockets; can't find the same one again.

I want to glue PVC tubes around the inside, long enough for each screwdriver & nutdriver handle to come about an inch from the top, leaving room for a lid. Larger PVC's for set of combo wrenches, allen wrench sets, etc. Smaller bucket glued down in middle to hold hammers, etc. Will PVC glue hold long term to a bucket or should I use something like Liquid Nails? Has anyone tried this sort of thing? Maybe I will fiddle around with some scraps this afternoon.


I have worked the last several years with a Craftsman tub style box with 2 trays at top. A good box, but it too is now obsolete. Mine is tearing up more by the day and will totally fall apart soon. Plus, as I get older, the box full of stuff seems to get heavier.:D

Just my two cents, as I am getting very old and don't have to work with tools any more. Near the end of my working with tools, they started coming out with tool "bags/boxes" with wheels and handles. It was the last item I used, and I have buckets with trays, pouches, etc. Type tool bags with wheels in to Google and some really cool things come up. I can tell just with a quick look that many of them would be far more functional than the old five gallon bucket. Especially with the penchant for battery tools etc. today. It is hard to believe that you couldn't find one that meets your needs, and rolling is so much easier than carrying.
 

John120/240

Senior Member
Location
Olathe, Kansas
Is this what you are looking for?

shopping

I used one for three years and it performed admirably. Sit on the bucket for lunch & fixture assembly. The downfall is that the big opening is a catchall for all sorts of CRAP. Extra screws, connectors, receptacles, switches, etc etc. To find what you wanted from the bucket the easiest way was to dump the bucket out then put it all back.

Now just a Klein #5165 & a nail pouch for wire nuts
 

Fulthrotl

~Autocorrect is My Worst Enema.~
Just my two cents, as I am getting very old and don't have to work with tools any more. Near the end of my working with tools, they started coming out with tool "bags/boxes" with wheels and handles. It was the last item I used, and I have buckets with trays, pouches, etc. Type tool bags with wheels in to Google and some really cool things come up. I can tell just with a quick look that many of them would be far more functional than the old five gallon bucket. Especially with the penchant for battery tools etc. today. It is hard to believe that you couldn't find one that meets your needs, and rolling is so much easier than carrying.

https://www.tanos.de/007/En/HOME/PRODUCT_AREAS/TANOSmobil.html

this is a slippery slope.... where does the buckie end, and obsession begin?
 
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