---
title: 'How Tool Boxes are Made'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=7fQ2szZb02w'
video_id: '7fQ2szZb02w'
date: 2026-08-05
duration_sec: 1187
---

# How Tool Boxes are Made

> Source: [How Tool Boxes are Made](https://youtube.com/watch?v=7fQ2szZb02w)

## Summary

ChrisFix takes viewers inside the Craftsman factory in Sedalia, Missouri, to show the complete manufacturing process of a 52-inch rolling toolbox, from raw steel coils to final assembly. The video highlights the factory's scale, the precision of automated machinery, and the steps involved in creating a durable, American-made product.

### Key Points

- **Factory Overview** [01:13] — The Craftsman factory in Sedalia, Missouri, spans 475,000 sq-ft, started in 1978, and has produced over 30 million toolboxes. It uses American steel from Arkansas.
- **Slitting Process** [02:24] — Steel coils are cut into smaller widths using a slitter machine. The machine runs at 1200 ft/min, and each coil is about 7,000 ft long, taking just under 6 minutes to cut. Scrap metal is recycled.
- **Stamping Drawer Sheets** [04:48] — A press with over 200 tons of pressure stamps holes and cuts the metal into sheets. One coil yields about 1,500 sheets, each becoming a drawer. The process takes about an hour per coil.
- **Quality Control** [05:59] — A dimensional analysis machine uses a laser to verify the stamped sheet metal is within tolerances. The sample is placed on glass, weights hold it flat, and the machine checks size and cutout accuracy.
- **Drawer Front Forming** [06:41] — The drawer front is formed from a skinny coil, stamped, then roll-formed to create the handle edge. A cutter follows the metal using a laser to make accurate cuts without stopping the line.
- **Drawer Assembly and Welding** [08:00] — Sheets are bent into drawer sides using brakes, then front and rear pieces are attached. A spot welder applies 16 welds with over 5,000 amps, and the bottom is welded in 12 places.
- **Box Fabrication** [10:02] — The back piece gets ridges for strength using a robot arm. Sides are welded on, then the top is attached. A squaring welder clamps the box square and makes five spot welds per corner.
- **Riveting and Hardware** [12:24] — Drawer slider supports, lock rods, and caster wheel braces are riveted instead of welded for efficiency. The braces distribute weight onto the wheels.
- **Hang Line and Painting** [13:18] — Boxes and drawers are hung on a monorail (nearly 2 miles long) at specific angles for proper paint adhesion. They undergo a seven-stage cleaning process, then e-coating (electrophoresis) in red or black paint tanks.
- **Final Assembly** [16:08] — Workers add foam, locks, logo, sliders, and rivet them. Drawers are installed, handles trimmed, and a final inspection ensures quality. The toolbox is then packaged and shipped.

### Conclusion

The video provides a comprehensive look at how a Craftsman toolbox is manufactured, emphasizing the blend of automated precision and skilled labor. It showcases the factory's commitment to quality and American manufacturing.

## Transcript

Hey guys ChrisFix here and today I'm going to  take you to a toolbox Factory so I can show   you how toolboxes like these are made so as you  probably noticed I finally got my own house with   my own garage and now I could build out my dream  garage setup and the first thing I had to do is  
get these dirty concrete floors epoxy so it went  from this to this and this came out absolutely   incredible next I installed a two post lift and  don't worry I'm still going to be working with   a jack and jack stand in my driveway with hand  tools for the videos but it's going to be awesome  
to be able to use this lift for maintenance like  brake jobs and oil changes or any repairs that   I'll need to do off camera in order to keep my  cars in tiptop shape I can't wait because this   is something I've always dreamed of having so with  the lift and the floors done the last thing to do  
is get tool storage so workbenches toolboxes stuff  like that so I can keep all my tools in one place   and this right here is my first ever toolbox this  is what my parents got me when I was a kid it's  
very special to me and this is what started it all  and the cool thing is this is a Craftsman toolbox   and Craftsman is the company that's letting  us film in their Factory that way I can show   you how toolboxes are made so thank you very much  Craftsman for supporting the video and with that  
said let's head out to the factory so while many  of today's toolboxes are made in China or Taiwan   I'm grabbing a flight from my new home in Florida  and I'm heading to Sedalia, Missouri and this   right here is the massive 475,000 sq-ft Craftsman  Factory that started back in 1978 and since then  
it's built over 30 million toolboxes and what's  really cool is I'm able to say that these   toolboxes are made right here in the USA with  global components and I can't wait to show you the   process so let's get started so this right here is  the toolbox we'll be making it's a Craftsman 52in  
10 drawer rolling toolbox and I wanted to show  you this model specifically because this is one of   the bestselling models they have and the cost to  buy one of these is very competitive while still   being made here in the USA so let me show you from  start to finish how these toolboxes are made and  
we'll start by making the draw drawers now so you  have an idea here are the basic steps for making a   drawer first a coil of Steel gets cut and pressed  into this piece of sheet metal then the two sides   of the sheet metal are bent which forms the sides  of the drawer next the back of the drawer is made  
also made separately and fits right in here and  then this drawer is welded together to make one   solid piece finally the drawer goes to paint which  is a really cool process I can't wait to show you  
that and then the drawers are installed into the  toolbox so it looks like this so we're going to   start at the very beginning right here in the  slitter Bay where there's hundreds of Master   coils in storage waiting for their chance to  be turned into toolboxes now at the far end of  
the bay is where the tractor trailers come in  to deliver the steel coils and this is one of   15 coil deliveries that this Factory receives  every day and each delivery has two coils now   these two coils right here are made from American  Steel coming from Arkansas which is the largest  
steel producing state in America and to get these  steel coils off the truck a worker uses a wireless   remote to control a mass of 20 ton crane and  this crane has to be so massive because each   of these coils weighs 24,000lb and to put that  into perspective one coil weighs the same as six  
passenger cars so with the coil removed from the  truck next it's moved down to the other end of the   bay where it's unwrapped and put on the slitting  machine the worker cuts the metal strap and then   unwraps the coil and feeds it into the slitter  and the slitter gets its name because it slits  
the metal down into smaller coils needed to make  the individual parts of the toolbox and before   the entire coil is cut a worker goes in with  giant calipers and measures each of the cuts   to make sure they're accurate and in this case the  cut is spot on so we're good to go now these cut  
ends could be fed through the other side of the  machine where it gets wrapped around a drum and   once it's wrapped the slitter machine is ready  to be run at full speed and cut the entire coil   now this steel is moving quickly it's traveling  at about 1200 ft per minute which is about 20 ft  
per second and not only is it getting cut down the  middle but it's also getting cut on the edges that   way they're straight and true and you can see the  scrap metal being cut from the edges is coming off   and rolled up onto a separate drum on the side  that way it could be recycled because no metal  
is wasted in this Factory now one coil is about  7,000 ft long and the slitter machine takes just   under 6 minutes to cut the whole thing after it's  cut the rolls are banded and taped so they don't  
unravel and then they're loaded onto a trolley and  that trolley brings the coils to the was station   there it's rolled down to the scale and a forklift  is used to place the coil on the scale and the   the whole purpose of weighing this coil is that  the weight tells the workers how much scrap was  
removed from the original coil that way they know  how much is being recycled and just so you have an   idea roughly 7.2 million lbs of Steel is recycled  every year at this Factory so keeping count of   that is pretty important after weighing the coil  the forklift driver brings the coil over to the  
press to start the process of making a drawer at  the press a coil is loaded up onto the drum and   then the worker feeds the end of the coil into a  series of rollers which flattens out the metal to   remove any bends or waves that might in the metal  and then he pulls it all the way to the end where  
it's fed into the opening of the press and then  once it's in place he can start the Press so now   the Press is running and the coils being fed into  it and every time that press pushes down on the   metal it puts over 200 tons of pressure to Stamp  Out the holes and cut the metal into sheets which  
are collected at the end of the assembly line one  coil will be stamped into about 1,500 sheets of   metal in each sheet of metal will turn into one  drawer so you can make a lot of drawers from just   one coil of metal and it'll take about an hour  to to run the entire coil through the press and  
we're only at 15 minutes when the press needs to  be stopped because the collector Hopper is full   so the hopper lifted off the stack of freshly  stamped sheets of metal and then the sheets are   moved to the side and the hopper is placed back  down on a new pallet so the next batch could get  
that are stamped into the metal as well as the  cutouts made on the perimeter which plays an   important role later on so with the first batch of  metal press next we're going to take one sheet of   metal over to Quality Control to make sure it's  within spec so this is the dimensional analysis  
machine for quality control all you do is take the  sample in this case the sheet metal we're going to   use to make the drawer and place it on the glass  then weights are placed on the metal to hold it   down and the worker make sure it's completely flat  now this machine uses a laser to make sure that  
the stamp sheet of metal is the correct size and  all the cutouts done by the Press are accurate and   within the correct tolerances and as you can see  here everything is green which means we're spot   on and good to go this passes quality control once  the tolerances are within spec the entire stack of  
Metal Sheets are approved to be used so the work  can wrap them up for transport to the next station   the drawers are made so let's go make those front  pieces now okay so the front of the drawer starts  
out as a skinny coil of metal which goes through  a set of rollers that flattens and removes any   bends or waves in the coiled metal and then after  it goes through those rollers it gets stamped in   this mini press right here this mini press stamps  the edges of the coil on both sides and that's the  
only stamping for this entire process next the  stamp coil moves through the roll for forming   machine and the roll former uses a series of  rollers that bends the edge of the drawer and   this becomes the handle you use to open and close  the drawer if you look closely you can see the  
edge slowly getting bent more and more into the  shape of a handle and then after the front of the   drawer is shaped it moves to the last step which  cuts the metal to the correct size the cutter   machine's unique because it follows the metal  as it cuts that way the assembly line doesn't  
have to stop this makes the whole process a lot  quicker so drawer fronts could be made quickly   and if you take a look you can see the red laser  identifies the cutout that was stamped into the   Ed edge of the metal then the cutting machine  locks into that cutout that way it could match  
the speed of the metal and make an accurate cut  every time finally once the Metal's cut it moves   down to the conveyor belt to the worker and the  worker carefully collects it by hand and places   it into the hopper to make sure it doesn't get  damaged all right so here's our finished product  
the front of the drawer you can see it has the  bent edges for the handle up here and the bottom   has a nice finished curve to it as well so now  these are ready to be welded together okay so you   remember that first coil of metal that we stamped  into sheets well it's right here and ready to be  
turned into a drawer first the machine uses a  vacuum to lift up the stamp sheet of metal and   place it onto the conveyor belt then the conveyor  belt moves the sheet to the brake which bends the   edges of the sheet so the brake first holds the  sheet of metal in place that way it doesn't move  
and then the side of the brake bends the edges  upward here's a closer look you can see the sheet   metal moves to the brake and then it's lowered in  and then the brake holds down the middle of the   sheet that way it can't move and now the clamping  bar pushes down along the edge of the sheet and  
then the bending Leaf swings upwards to bend the  edge of the sheet metal now you can see the small   90° lip on the edge of that sheet now the conveyor  brings the sheet metal to the next brake and this   brake is going to bend it to make the sides of the  drawer so with the sheet metal in place there are  
two clamping bars that move into place to make  sure the metal doesn't move at all and then the   two bending leaves fold the sides of the drawers  upwards and now you can really see the drawer is   starting to take shape with those two sides so  now it follows along the conveyor belt and gets  
moved to The Next Step at the next Next Step a  worker takes the drawer and mounts the rear piece   of the drawer and the front piece of the drawer  and now it's ready to move to welding here the  
welding machine grabs onto the drawer and holds  it in place then eight welding arms are lowered   over the drawer and a total of 16 spot welds are  made to hold the front and rear to the main part   of the drawer this spot welder is pumping out  over 5,000 amps of electricity into each weld  
that way you know it's a solid weld after the  sides are welded now the bottom is welded in 12   different places six on the front piece of the  drawer and six on the back piece and with that   now the drawer is completely welded together and  technically now we could call an actual drawer  
for the last step here a worker visually inspects  all the welds to make sure that they're complete   she also bends the front and rear of the drawer  to make sure the welds are solid and there's   no play in the drawer once that drawer has been  inspected and it's good to go it's neatly stacked  
up and when that stack is full a worker takes the  drawers over to the next station to get ready for   paint all right so that's how drawers are made and  now we need to make the actual box that holds the   drawers so we're going to get started by making  the back piece of the Box first so this is the  
freshly cut and stamped sheet metal that just  came out of the press and it's completely flat   and for the next step we're going to create this  we're going to put ridges into it and these ridges   give the metal Extra Strength so this is a very  important step to create a sturdy and well-built  
toolbox and to put these ridges into the sheet  metal we're going to use the Factory's newest   edition an industrial robot arm so first the robot  moves over to a stack of sheet metal and grabs one   using a vacuum then it puts the sheet metal on  the Homing rack and gravity pushes the that sheet  
metal into the corner of the rack so now the  robot knows where it's holding the metal and   it's in the exact same place every time then the  arm picks up the sheet metal and moves it to the   Press so the robot places the metal in the Press  precisely where it needs to be and then this press  
pushes down and creates the first of four ridges  now they're using a robot for this specific job   because it's very precise and way more consistent  than a human could be and this robot replaces a   lower paying job and creates a higher paying job  because a technician's needed to run maintain and  
program the robot so this is the perfect place  for this robot in this Factory now once all the   ridges are pressed in the metal is stacked up  and we're ready to move on to the next step and   that step is to weld the sides onto the back of  the box so a worker places the back of the box  
the robot arm just pressed onto the platform and  then both the left and right side of the toolbox   are set in place that way they could be welded  to the back so this spot welding machine works   similar to the one that spot welded the drawers  together but this one is able to do 12 spot welds  
at one time and then once the welding is complete  the sides are permanently bonded to the back of   the box and now the machine flips this over and  you can finally start to see the toolbox taking   its shape next a worker moves the metal shell  down the assembly line over here a worker has  
the top part of the box and he positions it into  place that way it fits correctly between the sides   and the back once installed the worker moves the  box to the edge of the table and then he gets a   handheld spot welder and puts a single weld right  in the middle and that weld will hold the top in  
place that way it doesn't fall off for the next  step so after that's welded the worker moves the   Box along to the next step over here one worker  mounts the middle support brace and then another   toolbox and it's ready for the squaring welder so  the squaring welder does two things first when the  
box is loaded into the welder it clamps the box  together to make sure the sides top and bottom   are completely Square once it's Square it makes  five separate spot welds in each of the corners of   the box to hold the box together and once that's  complete this is now one solid box now after the  
box is done in the Square welder it's moved down  the assembly line where a couple parts need to be   riveted so first the workers install the supports  for the drawer sliders to mount to and the reason   why this is riveted instead of welded is because  the location of the drawer supports makes it very  
complex and time consuming to get a welder in  there so the solution is to use rivets which   works perfectly well for this part after those are  installed now the Box moves down to the next two   workers the first worker installs the lock rods  which locks the drawers into the toolbox when  
you turn the key and again these are riveted in  and then the other worker installs two long metal   braces at the bottom of the box where the caster  wheels mount these braces are designed to better   distribute the weight of the Box onto the wheels  and with the two braces riveted to the Bottom now  
the workers can move the box to the next part  of the assembly line called The Hang line. At   the Hang line the workers hang the toolbox up on  the monorail and that monorail takes the box to   the area that it gets painted and in this case  it's on the red hang line and right next to it  
is the black hang line and the drawers are being  hung there now it might look like the workers are   just randomly hanging the drawers up but they're  actually hung at a specific angle and orientation   that way when they're submerged in the paint  the air could escape and the paint could adhere  
properly to the metal and you're going to see  that in a couple seconds so with the box and the   drawers hung now they're being transported to the  paint section of the factory and get this there's   just shy of 2 mi worth of monorail in this entire  Factory and it's important cuz the monorail is  
how all this tool storage is painted so once the  toolbox and drawers arrive to the paint section   the most important part of painting anything is  the prep so the first step here is cleaning the   boxes and drawers and they undergo a seven-stage  cleaning process that takes about 15 minutes  
what you're looking at is basically like a giant  dishwasher but for tool storage so the boxes and   drawers get blasted by high pressure warm water  then they get covered in high strength cleaners   that remove anything that might contaminate the  paint job like dust dirt oil even fingerprints  
then after everything's cleaned it has one final  rinse before it leaves the washing machine and   this rinse is done with an extremely pure reverse  osmosis deionized water that way when the water   dries it doesn't leave any residue or water spots  and speaking of drying that's the next step so now  
the boxes and drawers head to the convection Drive  this dryer is at 325° F and that will evaporate   all the water in a matter of minutes and now once  this exits the dryer everything is prepped and   ready for paint so the boxes head over to the red  paint tank and the drawers head over to the black  
paint tank so first we're going to paint the Box  this process is called electrophoresis coating or   E coating for short and here's how it works so  the entire metal box gets submerged in the tank   of red paint now all the paint particles in the  tank are positively charged and the metal box is  
negatively charged so the positively charged  particles attract to the negatively charged   metal and it Bonds on a microscopic level and  if you look closely you could actually see how   the monorail spark sometimes when the Box travels  through the tank and that's from the electricity  
flowing through it finally once the Box makes its  way through the 27,000 G bat of paint it comes out   and gets rinsed off by filtered water to remove  any excess paint that way there's no drips or runs   on the painted surface now it heads to the roof  of the factory to cure where it goes through an  
oven set the 400° F next the drawers undergo the  same e-coating process but with black paint now   real quick some of the benefits of e-coating is  that it's significantly more efficient than powder   coating or spray painting because any paint that  isn't bonded to the metal stays in the tank and it  
can be applied on the next part that goes through  it the next benefit is it's easy to make sure that   the entire part is coated since it's completely  submerged into paint with powder coating or spray   toolbox or the drawers and finally the e-coating  paint makes a very strong bond to the metal and  
it's chemical and Chip resistant so it lasts a  long time so now with the drawers painted and   rinsed they're on their way to the oven on the  roof which unfortunately we don't have access   to but it's similar to the drying oven we just  saw after the cleaning step all right and just  
15 minutes later the paint is fully cured and the  box and drawers are arriving to the last step the   final assembly line so here the Box makes its way  down and two workers add foam to the bottom and   then carefully remove the box from the monorail  next one of the workers adds two locks to the box  
then the Craftsman logo is placed on the box and  then the box is ready to move on to the next step   now one of the workers wants me to put a logo  on the box that I'm taking home so here comes   the box and there's two pegs on the back of the  logo so we need to get one in good and then the  
other one should align like that good and they  also want me to put a safety sticker on here as   well now the Box moves on to the next step adding  the sliders for the drawers the different drawers   have different depths and they're so good that  they get accurately eyeball the spacing after  
the sliders are installed the Box moves to the  next step and that's to rivet them into the box   each slider gets one rivet to make sure it doesn't  come out when you use the drawers and when that's   done the maiden USA with global material sticker  goes on and with that sticker in place now the  
Box can move to the next step and that is adding  the drawers so a worker grabs the drawers from   the monorail as it passes by and stacks them up  then he slides on the aluminum handle trim and   then uses an air hammer to hammer it into place  then the last of the drawers are brought over and  
the last of the trim is added to the handles to  complete the look and now they're ready for the   next step and that's to add the drawers to the  box so this worker starts from the top and works   his way down and he only installs the drawers on  the left side of the box once he's done installing  
the drawers on one side he moves the box down  to the next worker and this worker installs   the drawers on the other side and I don't know  how many of you have ever install drawers into a   toolbox but these guys make it look easy next up  the drawers are riveted to the end of the slider  
that way they won't pop off and then once all  the drawers are riveted the bottom drawer gets   all the drawer mats a box of caster wheels a  handle and a mat for the top of the toolbox   all of which you install at home and then finally  a worker looks over the box for any defects he  
makes sure all the locks and drawers work and any  handles that aren't perfectly aligned he knocks   into alignment and just overall looks over the box  and makes sure it's perfect so this one's good to   go and the guys on the assembly line told me I  should sign it so we know this is the one that  
I helped make now the Box can go over and get its  cardboard box and then the final packaging foam is   added to the top that way it helps prevent  damage during shipping and then with that   the box is sent through the automatic cardboard  sealer and that folds and glues the cardboard  
on the bottom and the top very quickly and just  like that we have our completely finished toolbox   packaged and ready to go so for the last thing to  do the forklift driver grabs the box and loads it   into the back of the tractor trailer that way it  could be sent out for delivery all right now a few  
days later the toolbox has been delivered so let's  check it out and check it out this is so cool the   actual toolbox we made from start to finish from  coils of metal all the way to paint and packaging  
this is it right here how cool is that and we  aren't done yet that box wasn't the only thing   being made at that factory check this out and  now I have the perfect setup in my garage look   at it even the original toolbox fits in perfectly  like it's meant to be so there you go now you guys  
know how toolboxes are made I do want to thank  Craftsman and all their employees at the factory   because they made this possible and they helped  out tremendously if you guys need a good toolbox   definitely consider this because it's made here  in America supports American families and now you  
know how it's made I hope you guys enjoyed the  video if you did remember to give it a thumbs   up if you're not a subscriber consider hitting  that subscribe button and if you guys are curious   how other products are made definitely comment  them below and I'll see if I can make it happen!