Reply To: Schwarz Tool Chest
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I also tend to have some back pain and was storing all my tools on wall shelves and hooks prior to the chest. If you raise the chest a few inches off the ground you will find that you are only slightly bending for the stuff on the floor of the chest. Your trays and rack (if you make one) are right there by your hand. The stuff you pick up most can be right at arms length.
I have seen some chests in pictures on a small, low bench in the shop, but that didn’t really appeal to me. I put some nice, medium size casters (with a foot operated switch for the brakes, toggles very easily and chest will not move with the brakes on. $7 per at home depot. Larger than the ones in Schwarz tutorial video) that raise the chest about 4″ or so.
If you are keeping saws in a till and planes on the floor of the chest the handles will be up off the floor a bit as well… meaning that you don’t have to bend too far. You keep them on the bench until you are done and the frequency of bending over is not that often.
Ultimately, my fears of an aerobic workout while I was in the shop turned out to be a bit over-blown. YMMV, but I hope this info helps.