Tool chests are a staple of the tool industry. Youโll see them in almost every shop from auto mechanics to woodworkers and everywhere in between. Itโs a rite of passage. Itโs an upgrade to your man card. Get the right one, and youโll be the envy of your friends. Get a piece of junk, and youโll be the subject of their jokes. So where in all that does the Milwaukee 46โณ Tool Chest fit in?
I figure the best place to start will be to get the negatives out of the way. When I think of the things that I really donโt like on the Milwaukee 46โณ Tool Chest it starts withโฆ
Okay, so itโs a non-existent list. I couldnโt find a single aspect of this tool storage system that I didnโt like. I guess that means I get to spend the rest of this review telling you how much I love this thing!
Milwaukee 46โณ Tool Chest and Cabinet Appearance
The Milwaukee 46โณ Tool Chest pairs with Milwaukeeโs 46โณ Cabinet to make the classic tool storage system.ย Obviously, the Milwaukee 46โณ Tool Chest isโฆ 46โณ wide. Many of the tool chests and cabinets that we come across have a glossy finish. While that certainly would have been acceptable, Milwaukee went with a matte powder coated finish. It looksย reallyย good! Over the lifespan, this should help to subdue the appearance of scratches. At the same time itโs nice not to have a reflective glare. It also seems to clean up easily, and it doesnโt hold fingerprints like stainless steel.
Milwaukee 46โณ Tool Chest and Cabinet Innovative Features
Whatever appears normal at first glance begins to quickly dissipate as you look around and open drawers. Built into both the tool chest and cabinet is a 6 outlet power strip, and I can barely begin to tell you how excited I am about those! I like to keep battery chargers in my top chest. That requires me to run an extension cord through a knockout in the back and provide a power strip that may or may not lay conveniently inside. With these already built in, I donโt have to think about it, I just have to plug it in.
The tool cabinetโs power strip is on the outside and leaves open other possibilities. You can mount chargers, run some corded tools, charge your phone, or stream music from your Milwaukee M18 Charging Radio.
Youโll also notice a metal peg wall against the back of the top chest. Itโs a great place for storing screwdriver sets, nut drivers, or other hand tools so they stay organized. The pneumatic lid closes to offer 10.5โณ of head clearance which is good enough for many cordless tools like Milwaukeeโs M18 Brushless Drill and Impact Driverย to be left standing up.
Milwaukee 46โณ Tool Chest and Cabinet Drawer Design and Features
The eight drawers themselves are traditionally organized and sized on the top cabinet. The bottom left drawer also features a pull out work surface. I use the flat, metal top to holdย my notebook, camera, and laptop while Iโm working or reviewing tools. Itโs also an outstanding (see what I did there?) feature to give you some temporary work space to supplement the top surface. The lid lifts to provide storage space below, so youโre not losing any storage capacity.
Rather than having long drawers in the bottom tool cabinet, Milwaukee gave us one wideย shallow drawer on top and split the rest. The left side containsย shallow, medium, and deep drawers about 2/3 the length. The right third of the chest boastsย three shallow drawers and one deep one. The bottom right hand drawer features a power tool organizer that holds tools and batteries in place much the same way the Milwaukee 26โณ Work Box does.
Each of the 8 drawers on the top chest have 100 pound capacities thanks to the drawer slides. 6 drawers on the tool cabinet have 100 pound capacities while the two larger ones can support up to 200 pounds. This gives the Milwaukee 46โณ Tool Chest and Cabinet a combined 1800 pound capacity. You get 5โณ industrial casters and reinforced angles on the iron frame to further improve durability.
Where the sheep and the goats are further separated can also be found in the drawer slides. We already looked at weight capacity, so Iโm not talking about that. Iโm talking about the soft close feature of the drawers. The Milwaukee 46โณ Tool Chest and Cabinet close so smoothly, youโd think Fred Astaire designed them. Each drawer slides as well as youโd hope. When a drawer is nearly shut, the soft close feature takes over. It gently pulls the drawer shut without any help from you and eliminates the slamming that often sends tools moving about. This works great for most tools, but I still havenโt found a solution to keep my sockets from falling over. Still, this is the smoothest, softest drawer closing Iโve ever experienced.
Parting Shots
Going back to less capableย tool storage chests after using the Milwaukee 46โณ Tool Chest and Cabinet would be like downgrading from a Porsche to Geo Metro. I realize there are still the occasional Bugatti Veyron level tool chests on the market, but the value of the Milwaukee cabinet is what sets it apart. To impress me, someone is going to have to do awfully well because Milwaukee just set a new standard for what I can expect in tool storage solutions under $1000. Iโm absolutely thrilled with the quality and design of this unit.
The Home Depot has these as the full Milwaukee 46โณ Tool Chest and Cabinet System for $798. You can also pick up just the topย tool cabinet for $349 or the bottomย tool chest alone for $449. Theyโre out of stock online at the moment, but check your local store and snag one if there are any left!
The bottom line?
The Milwaukee 46โณ Tool Chest and Cabinet as a system offers excellent tool storage capacity, outstanding durability, thoughtful design, and innovative features that are geared toward users who employ a combination of hand, power, and cordless tools. This is the tool storage system that everyone else is going to have to try and match in quality and features.
