New roll around tool cabinet

[Larry$]

Picked up a new US General 56" roll around today. Tried to yesterday but they needed to dig it out of storage and it was blocked by a semi at their dock.
Pretty heavy but we've got a forklift. Packaging was good, lots of it! No damage, looks good. BUT even though the keys work fine and I can feel and hear the lock bar move, neither drawer bank will open. I have 3 other tool cabinets with the same locking system. One is a very similar US General. I wiggled and giggled and fiddled but to no avail. Will stop and see the Harbor Frt. manager at the store tomorrow.

My new Jet 8" bench grinder was supposed to be here today. I checked tracking and now it is scheduled by August 9th.

I've got an 1 1/2" thick white oak top mostly glued up from rips from a job. It is going to be the top for the tool cabinet. Just 4" short of enough strips. Will find some and then run it through the widebelt. I like using wood for working surfaces. Rather a disappointing day.

 

[Nutfarmer]

Where did you order the oak top?

 

[matthewsx]

Sounds like he made the top.

 

[matthewsx]

There’s some YouTube videos that might help, here’s one.

 

[Larry$]

Where did you order the oak top?

I made it. I'm retired from my woodworking business but have my metal working corner there. The white oak was the rips left from making moldings from German oak the customer had flown in. Just the odd pieces left after the 8/4 stock was run through the straight-line rip saw but before the blanks had been run thought the resaw to make stock for 3/4" T&G on the molder. I just put the odd pieces back through the SL rip saw to get whatever I could out of them. Used the clamp rack to glue all the assorted size pieces into a slab. Put the slab though the planer to cleanup the faces. When I find a few more rips I'll glue them on and put the entire thing through the widebelt sander to prep for finishing.

We have a fairly well equipped wood shop. Can make molder knives on a profile grinder to match any thing a customer wants. Have an adjustable form to glue-up curved molding blanks then run then through an arched molding shaper. The rest of the shop is setup to make frameless casework. Mostly from melamine board. CNC router, panel saw and bore & insert machine fed from the office server. Large edgebander, case clamp and drawer clamp.

It is all commercial work, no kitchens! We do a lot of work for other wood shops or manufacturers. Currently have a deal with a manufacturer in another town to cut a semi load of MDF every 8 days. We stack cut on a semi-automatic CNC panel saw. +-.004". Customer came in and used electronic measuring to certify we could meet those standards. 25,000 Sq. Ft. shop. 2 loading docks.

 

[ahazi]

BUT even though the keys work fine and I can feel and hear the lock bar move, neither drawer bank will open. I have 3 other tool cabinets with the same locking system. One is a very similar US General. I wiggled and giggled and fiddled but to no avail.

Could it be the individual drawer locks on the right side below the pull bar/handle that is holding the drawers in place?

Ariel

 

[Larry$]

Could it be the individual drawer locks on the right side below the pull bar/handle that is holding the drawers in place?

I'll bet you just nailed it. My other US General doesn't have drawer locks. I looked on line this morning and saw the drawer locks comments. Some people liked them, some hated them. I'll wear my IDIOT sign today.

 

[Larry42]

Started loading it and found that both sides use the same key which is good for my use.
I also discovered I really don't like the drawer latches. I'm sure they are there as a safety thing but make it awkward to use. I took them off and put them in a plastic bag in the bottom drawer. Maybe the next guy will want to use them. The drawer guides have a little bit of hold in so as long as you aren't moving it around on slopes it is likely OK. If all the drawers slid open it would upset. Interesting how they are covering their ass in the instructions by telling you to unload the cabinet before moving it! Really? How about just locking the drawers?

For anyone considering this model here are the internal drawer sizes. 36 7/8 X 19 1/2 X 4.5 deep, 2.5, 2.5, 3.5, 5.6, 7.75 Both banks the same depth except the small side combines the bottom two spaces into a 13.8 deep one. The width of the small side is 11.8"
They did add one nice touch over my older one: Little plastic clips to keep the label paper and plastic from sliding out of the pulls.
The handles on each end have a deluxe feel & look. They fancied up the looks by adding polished aluminum on the front. Not something I care one way or the other about. Marketing! Empty eight is over 300#s The casters are big enough it rolls nicely.