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This is a collec­tion of arti­cles about the greatest tool box I’ve ever owned, the Stanley Work­force Tool Box/Organizer.

If you’ve been following along over the past year, then you’re familiar with my quest for the best DIY toolbox. And during this journey, the best tool box was found, lost, replaced, re-replaced with a different box, replaced again, and then finally returned home to once again to take it’s place as the best tool box.

To make it easier for you to find the exact infor­ma­tion you’re looking for, I’ve laid out the story of the Stanley tool boxes in four sections. You can choose to either read this in its entirety or simply click on the specific article title listed in the Table of Contents below.

• The orig­inal article: “Quest for the Best” is about the orig­inal Stanley’s Work­force tool box organizer.
• The second: “Quest for the Best Part II” is about Stanley’s changes to the box, it being discon­tinued, and then it being replaced with some­thing totally different.
• The third: “Sighted and Captured” is about the three replace­ments boxes I offered as a substi­tute for the discon­tinued orig­inal Stanley tool boxes.
• The Bottom Line is the latest news on the re-release of the orig­inal Stanley Work­force Tool Box/Organizer.

 

Once gain thanks for your input and patience throughout.

And a big thanks to Stanley for contin­uing to provide us with great DIY tools.

 

Tool Boxes, Quest for the Best.

Here’s the problem. We all have a tool box or two around the house, right? But no matter which cool tool box we buy, it only ends up as a pile of tools in a box. You know, totally disor­ga­nized, heavy, taking up too much space and you can’t see what’s at the bottom of the pile. Well, a card­board box could do just as well.

You may even own one of these popular tool box styles.

Even if you have a multi-drawer tool box that’s well orga­nized, it’s too big and heavy to lug around. Anyway, the fact remains that for the majority of do it your­self projects you only need the essen­tial tools, not every tool you own.

I’ll bet, like me, you hardly ever take your tool box to your project, you just try taking the tools you think you’ll need. Inevitably, you end up running back and forth. What a waste of time!

Here’s the simple solu­tion that will make it easier to; carry your tools to your project, find your tools, and save space and money. I know, sounds like a pie-in-the-sky dream right?

It’s not. And I’m going to reveal to you an amazing tool box you’ll love forever.

So here we go.

One day I was strolling through my local home center looking for a divided box to store my fasteners when I spotted a multi-section plastic organizer.

It was different from others I’d seen before. It was made of heavy duty plastic, had adjustable sections, a locking clear lid, a good strong handle and the lid closed tight against the dividers so nothing can not jump from one section to another — even if dropped.

This tool box is only 18″ W x 12.5″ D x 3″ H, which makes it’s easy to store just about anywhere.

Sensing I found buried trea­sure, I imme­di­ately grabbed the case and started playing with it right then and there on the floor. You may laugh, but hey, I’m a tool guy! So, I bought it and headed home.

When I got home I started thinking, “Hey, I wonder if my hand tools will fit in this case?”

So I got the hand tools I use most often (the same ones in the (Essen­tial Hand Tools PDF) plus a few others, and began arranging them in the case.

I was totally amazed, every­thing fit (even the extra tools I carry)!

This tool box makes it so easy to actu­ally carry your tools to your project and quickly find the tools you need.

And get this, they’re even stack­able! I can’t begin to tell you how much space you’ll save.

But the big bonus is the incred­ibly low price. This tool box costs only $10 bucks! What an amazing deal.

I can’t imagine how much I would have saved if I’d only found this tool box earlier. I’ll bet I’ve spent hundreds of dollars on tool boxes over the years and none of them have been as good as this one.

Take my advise, the next time you’re at Home Depot, go to the tool orga­nizing isle (gener­ally located next to the power tool section) and buy the Stanley Work­force compart­ment orga­nizer. You won’t be disappointed.

By the way, I went back and bought two more of these incred­ibly useful tool boxes, one for my fasteners and a second for my elec­trical gear.

It’s amazing how much less space these three new tool boxes take up versus just one of my old tool boxes.

Just one more do-it-yourself solu­tion to help you succeed with speed!

Impor­tant Update.
The Work Force 26 has been replaced with the Stanley 25 Compart­ment Orga­nizer. It’s the same exact box, only now branded with the Stanley name. See below photo.

Product Infor­ma­tion:
Descrip­tion from Home Depot: Work­force 25 Adjustable Deep Compart­ment Small Parts Orga­nizer. Built-In Handle With 2 Locking Tabs And Lid Lock So Parts Stay In Place. Ideal Tool And Small Parts Storage And Orga­nizer For Carpen­ters, Mechanics, Handyman, Toys And Hobbies.

• Stanley 25 Adjustable Deep Compart­ment Storage Orga­nizer 199-Gray/Yellow
• 25 Deep Adjustable Compartments
• 3 Locking Mech­a­nisms To Prevent Spills
• Remov­able dividers allow customization
• Extra wide, built-in handle designed for gloved hands
• Dimen­sions: 18–1/8 x 13–3/16 x 3–7/8 inches
• MFG Brand Name : Stanley
• MFG Model # : 14005
• MFG Part # : 14005
• SKU: 542047
• UPC: 076174932737
• Price: $9.98 (+ shipping)
• Avail­able from Home Depot.

I recom­mend calling ahead to make sure they have this in stock (they sell very quickly). If not, you can have them order it for you.

 

Update: 03/10/09

Stanley has discon­tinued this tool box and it is no longer avail­able at Home Depot.

Home Depot has assigned the SKU# from this old box to a new Stanley box. IT IS NOT THE SAME AS THE OLD BOX, so beware.

I’m currently inves­ti­gating a new, avail­able, tool box and will post my finding soon.

Thank you for your under­standing and patience.

 

Update: 03/26/09

Good news! After weeks of searching, I believe I have found a replace­ment tool/parts box. In fact, I found a set of three different size boxes (small, medium and large). I have ordered the boxes and will be testing them shortly.

 

Update: 04/04/09

I have finally received, and am currently testing three new tool boxes, similar to the Stanley. They look and work great so far.

Quest for the Best Part II

The quest for the best tool box continues. But with a happy ending.

If you’ve visited the site before, you may have read my article “Tool Boxes, Quest for the Best” about a great DIY tool box and it’s untimely demise.

If not, here’s the scoop.

I had been using this great Work­force 26 tool box for a long time,
and started recom­mending it to friends and family as well as all my readers and clients. Then, out of nowhere, I began receiving emails that no one could find or buy these tool boxes anywhere.

Sure enough, I went to Home Depot’s website and attempted to order the Stanley tool box. When I got to the checkout portion of the process, a pop-up message said, “this Stanley tool box is no longer avail­able”.

I contacted Stanley directly and was told,

“Unfor­tu­nately, this item has been discon­tinued and is no longer available.”

I wrote Stanley back and asked if the tool box was going to be replaced with a new item and their response was,

“There are compa­rable items on our website, please look under organizers.”

As I had already reviewed their website for avail­able prod­ucts and found none, this was of no help.

So I went to Home Depot (the only vendor that sold the Work­force 26 and attempted to locate the tool box. And sure enough, the plastic Work­force 26 orga­nizers were no longer available—and there was no replacement.

The Search Continues

Over the next few weeks, I kept searching for a replace­ment box online and when­ever I was at Home Depot. Then one lucky day, a new tool box showed up on the shelves.

As it turns out, this new tool box, from Stanley, was the same design as the Work­force 26 tool box. The only real differ­ence was the black color and a slight change in size (the new box was larger).

Compared Dimen­sions:

Orig­inal Work­force 26: 18″ W x 12.5″ D x 3″ H

New Stanley: 18–1/8″ W x 13–3/16″ D x 3–7/8″ H

The other (and much bigger) problem was that even though this “new” box wasn’t exactly the same, Home Depot gave it the same SKU (product ID number) as the old tool box. So, even if you wanted to track down any of the remaining older boxes, you couldn’t because they both have the same SKU number. Genius!

OK, stay with me on this because what happened next was unbe­liev­able. Stanley discon­tinued the new box even before they stocked the shelves!

So the “quest for the best continued once again.”

Not The Same Tool Box

So once again I returned to Home Depot. I wanted to see if I could find any of the old Stanley tool boxes they might have left in stock. When I inquired at the counter I was told they had plenty. Plenty?

Well they did have lots of boxes, but it wasn’t the same tool box!

This new orga­nizer has fixed center compart­ments, making it unsuit­able as a tool box or as a truly customiz­able parts organizer.

Dead end.

So, the mission for the last six weeks or so has been to find a suit­able replace­ment for the orig­inal Work­force 26 tool box/organizer, and great news, I’ve succeeded! You can find my full recom­men­da­tion and a direct link to order your DIY tool box or orga­nizers here at DIY Best Tool Boxes

If you have a minute, please let me know what ques­tions, prob­lems or sugges­tions you might have, as well as your DIY successes.

Contin­uing to help you succeed with speed.

 

New DIY Tool Box Sighted and Captured

After months of searching, the hunt is for the best tool box is over.

After an exhaus­tive search and thor­ough testing here are the tool box orga­nizers I’ve found to replace the Stanley Work­force tool boxes.
These new toolbox/organizers come in three sizes to accom­mo­date all your storage needs.

They’re made of heavy duty plastic, have adjustable sections for easy customizing, a clear lid to see all your tools or parts, a good strong, wide handle, and the lid closes tight against the dividers so nothing can not jump from one section to another–even if dropped.

And, they’re stack­able, so you save tons of space.

Large Tool Box / Organizer

This large tool box will easily hold all the hand tools you use most often, plus a few others. Now it’ll be easy to carry your tools to your project and quickly find the tools you need.

20″ W x 12–5/8″ D x 2–5/8″ H // Cost: $22.99 each Order Here

Here are the same tools from The Absolute Essen­tial Tools Every Do-It-Yourselfer Must Own PDF laid out here, plus a few more.

Check out the PDF for a full list of the essen­tial tools every DIY’er should own.

Now, here’s all those tools neatly stored and ready for easy transport.

It’s just amazing how many tools can be stored and easily accessed from one tool box.

You can stack three of these boxes in the same space as one regular tool box. Defi­nitely one of the best do-it-yourself tool box/organizers you’ll find, buy, and happily use.

Medium Tool Box / Parts Organizer

The medium orga­nizer is great for holding fasteners, elec­trical gear, tech­ni­cian tools, or what­ever you need to keep sorted and trans­port securely. Great size!

Note: All the yellow dividers are removable.

15–1/2″ W x 11–5/8″ D x 2–1/2″ H // Cost: $17.99 each Order Here

Small Tool Box / Parts Organizer

I use this smaller orga­nizer to hold my stain­less fasteners, and other specialty items. Perfect fit!
Note: 9 total compartments-1 full, 2 lg, 2 md, 4 sm.
12–7/8″ W x 9–3/8″ D x 2″ H // Cost: $9.99 each Order Here

You can order your DIY tool box orga­nizers through this Direct Link

And Yes, I did talk to the manu­fac­turer and they reas­sured me that these boxes will not be discon­tinued anytime soon. So get orga­nized and you too will succeed with speed.

 

Update: 05/05/09

The new DIY Best Tool Box and Orga­nizers have been tested and are ready for your approval and purchase at DIY Best Tool Boxes. Thank you once again for your patience.

 

Update: 09/20/09

Stanley has been in contact in the last couple of months and told me that the Work­force toolbox/organizer with be re-released in October of this year. I’ll let you all know when and where just a soon as Stanley let me know. Hang in there, and thanks for your patience.

 

THE BOTTOM LINE 10/21/09

Great news! I have just been advised, by the Stanley product manager, that the orig­inal Work­force tool box/organizers (14006) have been re-released and will be avail­able at Target stores to start. Stanley promised to advise me of other loca­tions that the box will be avail­able at ASAP.

Update 5/20/10

I have been informed by many of my readers that they have been unable to find these boxes at Target, except at a couple of Super Targets. I have searched the cities around where I live and haven’t found any either. I contacted Stanley and Target again and they are of little help. So, I guess we’re out of luck again. Maybe if Stanley gets enough request for this box they might “really” bring it back, but don’t hold your breath.

Note that the boxes you see on Lowes and Home Depots site are not the orig­inal boxes. They are the new ones with the fixed center section.

Update 4/13/11

Here’s an update from Denny, one of my readers, on where to buy the Stanley tool box orga­nizers. Thanks Denny for your persis­tance! Larry

Hello Larry– After a lot of trying, I was able to find a source for the orig­inal Stanley 26 compart­ment box. I have about 25 of the ORIGINAL orig­inal Workforce26 and ZAG 26 boxes, so being able to find addi­tional ones that stack nicely on top of my existing boxes was nice. In the past, I have tried other copies (from EBay, Summit Racing, etc) that look similar, but are far infe­rior (JUNK!!) and don’t even stack upon one another!
I must disagree with you, however, about the Stanley boxes being “exactly” like the Workforce26. They aren’t made quite as nicely as the orig­i­nals were and the plastic seems to be a little more brittle…
That being said, I am still happy to have a source of genuine Stanley boxes. I bought 10 of them from Allied Elec­tronics right here in Cali­fornia. Appar­ently, they’re still easily avail­able in Canada (Home Depot) and Europe.

They were easily ordered from Allied, and didn’t take long to receive. It seems like you were as disap­pointed as I was to learn that the good ol’ Workforce26 was no longer avail­able, so I hope this makes you and your readers happy!

 

Update 9/17/11

Stanley has re-released the orig­inal tool box/organizer!

It really is the old orig­inal, and you can find it here at Lowes.
Take care and enjoy.

If you have ques­tions about your DIY projects, just ask your personal DIY consul­tant. I’m here to help you succeed with speed.

Store: Great Deals on Replace­ment Saw Blades

DIY Help Category Tools
Related Topics: DIY, Hand Tools, Stanley, Tool Boxes

Further Reading:

• Tool Boxes Quest for the Best Part II
• Review: Stanley’s New DIY Collection Tool Box/Organizer
• New DIY Tool Box Sighted and Captured
• Tool Boxes, Quest for the Best.
• Socket and Wrench Sets, What’s the Best Buy?