Hits & Misses on the Milwaukee High Capacity 56″ 18-Drawer Tool Chest and Cabinet Combo

The Best Toolbox? – The Home Depot has a large selection of tool chests and cabinets that are all very similar and from different brands.  Milwaukee has changed the market slightly with the first introduction of the standard 46” toolbox, followed by a high capacity version of that same 46” that was quickly discontinued for no apparent reason.  Almost a year later, a new Milwaukee 56” high capacity hit the market looking exactly the same as the 46” high capacity.  Our first question is how long will the Milwaukee 56” High Capacity Tool Chest and Cabinet remain on the market.  Secondly, we have to wonder when there will be a significant sale as this box retails for $1,498.  Yes, it is just under the cost of two standard 46” Milwaukee toolboxes.
So with that in mind, we made the video above to share our experience with this toolbox and share some of the items we learned from the almost identical 46” high capacity toolbox.
Drawer Dimensions
Top chest left drawer bank: 1 drawer 30.7 in. W x 19.8 in. D x 2.9 in. H, 2 drawers 30.7 in. W x 19.8 in. D x 2 in. H, 1 drawer 30.7 in. W x 16.6 in. D x 2.1 in. H.
Top chest right drawer bank: 1 drawer 18.5 in. W x 19.8 in. D x 2.9 in. H, 2 drawers 18.5 in. W x 19.8 in. D x 2 in. H, 1 drawer 18.5 in. W x 19.8 in. D x 3.1 in. H
Bottom cabinet: top full-width drawer 51.7 in. W x 19.8 in. D x 1.8 in. H, 2nd full-width drawer 51.7 in. W x 19.8 in. D x 4.2 in. H
Bottom cabinet left drawer bank: 1 drawer 30.7 in. W x 19.8 in. D x 1.8 in. H, 1 drawer 30.7 in. W x 19.8 in. D x 3.1 in. H, 1 drawer 30.7 in. W x 19.8 in. D x 4.1 in H, 1 bottom drawer 30.7 in. W x 19.8 in. D x 9.5 in. H.Bottom cabinet right drawer bank: 1 drawer 18.5 in. W x 19.8 in. D x 1.8 in. H, 1 drawer 18.5 in. W x 19.8 in. D x 3.1 in. H, 1 drawer 18.5 in. W x 19.8 in. D x 4.1 in. H, 1 bottom drawer 18.5 in. W x 19.8 in. D x 9.5 in. H

The Purchase
If you are looking for the new box on The Home Depot’s website, note that they sell it in a combo with one SKU for both boxes and also sell it separately.  Currently, you will only find it available if you buy the top and bottom separately.  Note it is the same price if you buy them in the combo or separately.

When you go to the store to buy them, take something that can handle the two large boxes that will be 51” wide.  Many truck beds will not be able to fit both boxes.  Also note that if you have a trailer with a gate, the person on the forklift might not be overly accommodating to you, that was my experience anyway.
Assembly
The bottom chest is shipped with the casters already installed.  That is a great help in assembling this unit.  It is easiest to remove the lags holding the pallet together with a 13mm socket and let the bottom slide down to the floor.  That is much easier than trying to lift it out.  From there, all you have to assemble is the bumpers and any accessories you would like to add.
During assembly, we removed all the drawers and took a look at the inside and build quality.  Check out the video to see that along with our opinions.

The electronic locks can be set for your favorite 4 digit code.  They are able to store up to 15 personalized codes.  Unfortunately, the electronic lock on our lower cabinet does not function.  Even worse, the locks are not made to be used with the keys.  The keys are for emergency unlocking of the cabinet if the watch battery that runs them dies.  Depending on the position of the lock, it will not let the key be removed once the lock was changed from the original electronic locked position.  This forces you to use the electric locks and in our case, does not allow us to lock the bottom cabinet at all.

There is a TON more information in our video so please check it out and leave your comments!

Hey guys Brian from workshop editcom and We have the new Milwaukee 56 inch High-capacity tool box here this was a Tough purchase at fourteen hundred Ninety-eight dollars but a lot of you Guys wanted to see it so we’re gonna Replace this 46 inch high capacity over Here with the larger box use it for a While although there’s some very very Serious similarities between the two That 10 extra inches of space will help Us out a little bit is this box worth Fifteen hundred dollars the hand that’s A tough call I’m gonna I’m gonna go for Some of your comments below and see what You think I’m gonna say no it’s a $9.99 Box I haven’t seen these sales on it yet But let’s go through this guy we’re Gonna go through assembly we’re gonna go Through what’s on the inside we’re gonna Rip the drawers out we’re gonna look Behind it we’re gonna look at the bottom And say what does a reinforced frame Mean we’re going to tear apart some of The drawers modify some things that we Don’t like go through the electronic Locks and just give you an idea of what You’re getting for 15 bills It’s tough call I can tell you while I Was in the store waiting for them to Take this off the shelf I hesitated Multiple times and it’s here but I can Tell you I’m not overly thrilled so First if you’re looking at the store

They have three different SKUs for this One SKU for the top box in the bottom Box together you’re gonna be hard Pressed to find that SKU in the stores Don’t worry about it if you’re searching Under that SKU and you can’t find it Anywhere and it only comes in a delivery It’s because the stores sell it with two SKUs the bottom in the top separately You can find them at most stores they’ll Have them we have a very small home Depot in town they had two of these Boxes in stock they weren’t really Thrilled at getting it off the shelf Because they had it way up high but Either way you can get it that way same Cost if you buy the bottom separately With the top separate 1498 assembly of This or how Comes it comes bottom one was on a skid Top one was box only bottom skid was Broken and it was broken over by the Casters that swivel those casters were Sticking out and I hear that’s normal When you look at the way this is put Together they kind of staple some wood In there in if they slide it at all Those pieces come out and you’re left With the two wheels that are hanging Down low make sure you check those out That they’re not bent ours were not bent But both of the lower cabinets had that Skid broken on that side which is odd I’ve also read some reviews they were

Broken down there when you pull this Apart the easiest way to take this Cabinet out is to remove everything from The top the cardboard of the styrofoam And then disassemble your skin on the Bottom by using a 13 millimeter socket Pulling out all those legs you can kind Of just separate the wood and everything Will slowly come down to the ground if You’re careful that way you don’t have To lift this box out now when you’re Assembling it’s very simple you’re just Basically putting on some bumpers if you Want to put on your folding utility Shelves any little cord wraps it’s Simple stuff there’s not a whole lot to It we just went at it got together once The bottomless together we pulled out All of the drawers to look on the inside Basically it’s all sheet metal it’s 18 Gauge sheet metal that’s threw it out Everything was powder-coated assembly Quality is here and there some of the Welds are good in some places some of The welds are light in other places some Of the rivets still have sharp pieces on Them we found some rivets in the back it Doesn’t look horrible but there is no Place in here that has any tube steel It’s all bent sheet metal what you think Might be reinforced is just sheet metal That’s bent around into a u I don’t know Man I guess I expected a little bit more Underneath here but there isn’t when you

Flip it up on the side we want to see What that reinforced frame was on the And I expected to see some box deal Around here but it was all angle iron Which is identical in construction to The Husky that’s behind me in this 56 Inch Husky behind me is a thousand Ninety-eight at the store you probably Won’t find it in the store you probably To order that one online so I was a Little disappointed to see that the Construction of this wasn’t Significantly better than a lot cheaper Husky behind us either way it’s still Decent they say it’ll hold 3,000 pounds I can tell you from moving around our 46 Inch that is fairly loaded it’s not Going to roll great even though they Have industrial plastic casters on the Bottom with larger tire said it works it Rolls put a lot of weight in it not so Much so lifting the top cabinet on top Make sure you have two people you can Get it done with one we use an engine Hoist and a little bit of our lift I Wouldn’t suggest doing that I’m not Going to show you that do as I say don’t Do is I do here but it’s nice when you Put it together ten inches wider it’s Going to take the place of our 46 that’s Sitting here what I did in addition to Is something I hated about the 46 inch Model is you have a bottom drawer on the Top that is meant for a computer desk

It’s nice if you use a computer I guess We don’t we don’t use anything on here We have all kinds of places to work on Something else inset things and we don’t Need our toolbox to do it so I drilled Out the rivets pulled this out so we Have a full drawer that drawer was Always wasted on our 46 and I just Thought screw it we’re getting an extra Drawer here we need it anyway one of the Big things I see on this toolbox Compared to the 46 or compared to the Huskie is how they laid out the drawers Basically they just widened each side of The drawers compared to the 46 instead We’re just going to give you a little Bit larger toolbox and I think that’s Okay for a lot of people but for me In some mechanical tools I want to Separate my screwdrivers in different Areas I want to have specialty tools and Not have a bunch of groupings of them in These drawers so I don’t have any really Small drawers to separate out different Types of tools so when you open a drawer Here let’s say this is screwdrivers we Have a large area for a ton of Screwdrivers but we might have to have Something else beside them so I’m gonna Have multiple things and drawers I’m not A fan of that I would rather see more of A snap-on style small thin drawers Multiple drawers all over the place I Think it would help it hold more tools

And give you better organization after Organization we have some of our safety Features here which would be the locks This is interesting compared to a normal Lock because it’s digital It does take a watch battery and you can Get at it with these two tiny Phillips Screws underneath that cover now how it Works it’s just like any other one it’s Locked it’s unlocked so if you put it in The locked mode if you want to check This out in the stores the code is one Two three four and you hit OK it will Lock itself there You can’t unlock it until you put in one Two three four and hit OK again it’ll Allow you to unlock this now that’s the User code you also have a master code There can be 15 people that can get into This or 15 different codes but here’s What I dislike you go down to the bottom If we lock it one two three four okay It didn’t work I can’t get this bottom One to lock so basically I have a unit Down here that is faulty and doesn’t Work that’s kind of what I’m fearful of Long term here is what about when this Battery goes dead okay now let’s go Through that we’re gonna lock the top One two three four locked right let’s Say that my battery goes dead I’ve got Keys So no issue so I can unlock it now they Warn you do not pull these keys out in

The wrong position So these keys do not come out so I can Unlock it leave the key there I can lock It and pull the key out not horrible but Let’s say that I want to have it Unlocked and I want to lock it with the Key put the key in lock I can’t get the Key out so if the battery is dead and it Was unlock I get to Keo unlocked I go to Lock it he won’t come out I think that’s A bad deal here because for the guy who Says screw this electronic lock I just Want to use my key you can’t now here’s Another thing I was hoping they would Fix in it’s the same issue on the 46 Inch model these large drawers pull out They expose the full drawer at least on The bottom now when you pull out this Skinny drawer everybody wants to put Their wrenches up here this drawer comes Out about the same but you have this Overhang and that overhang will really Kind of trap some smaller tools up in There and it doesn’t allow you to get to Them is easy if this one came out just a Little bit further it would allow us to Get at that but they really didn’t Change the hinges so that’s still kind Of a complaint on mine it happens on This small drawer on the bottom to all The skinny drawers that are right next To the any of the red frames you have a Hard time getting to the back of so that Makes the drawers a little bit smaller

Milwaukee is saying These drawer slides now hold a hundred And fifty pounds which I believe is the Same as a 46 and your bottom two will Hold 300 as they have dual slides on Each of the bottom drawers they work Well and you do have a power tool Organizer over here we’ve used it not Used it it’s everyone’s choice I guess How do you guys commented that you’re Gonna put ratchets and wrenches in the Skinny drawer and hopefully fill the Bottom with some sockets now we have our Wessling machine socket holders these Are half-inch they just squeak Underneath so if you have anything Thicker then maybe this quarter-inch Piece here you are not gonna get your Sockets down in the bottom well this has Remained the same as the 46 inch model What I do like is Milwaukee gives you a Lot of different places to screw things Into giving you the option of putting Things ambidextrous lay on either side And we actually have our other one Cluttered up with the extension cord Holder just things that make this work For us and it hasn’t changed from the Other old 46 inch model but it gives you A lot of options and I like that part so Going through this probably saying hey You’re a little negative on the box it’s An awesome box it is if you’re looking For a new box and you have the budget

For the $1500 I really like the fact That the 10 extra inches up top is Giving us a ton more space any Horizontal surface that’s sitting here Sometimes for us will get filled as you Can see this guy’s got chargers and just Stuff the people said hey we need the Power outlet let’s get it going really Quick it sits there but if a little bit More organization less people in the Shop I think this is a great place to Put a lot of different tools a lot of Different things you can access quickly We keep our sockets up here because We’re accessing them all the time is That the best place and probably not it Would be nice to have them in a drawer But it works for us there’s a lot of Different things you can do with this Box I just wish that they changed a few Things the electric locks I can see Where they’re trying Say hey 15 people can access it this is Awesome you can put it in a shop I’m not Sure this is a shop box I think this is A great box for at home where and I Think that this electronic stuff Probably will appeal to more of the home Guy and he won’t lose this key other Than that I think everything is laid out Pretty well I’d like to see another set Of drawers in fact I’d like to see them Mimic the top of this husky and put the Bottom of the Milwaukee in here and I

Think you’d have a kick-ass box that Would hold a lot of wrenches and a lot Of different items again I can wish in One hand right you need 82 inches to Open this up basically in not hit Anything again it’s 22 inches deep they Say in here you have a total capacity of Forty three thousand six hundred and Twelve cubic inches of space for total Capacity that’s a lot what’s it come out To I would I really wanted to show you Guys this box full but we label Everything we have a bunch of guys that Are out here so we go through and put Everything in this box label where most Of the important things are and we’re Gonna change up some things so we’re Gonna go through this and load this a Little bit slower and try to get Everything correct before we throw out All our labels on it so can’t walk you Through it yet we can do it again if you Want to see it once it’s completed leave Those comments for me in the description I don’t know guys I’d be tough I’d be I’d have a hard time saying would I Recommend this box over the Husky and I Think I’d go with the Husky 56 just if You have a people a lot of hand tools a Lot of wrenches a lot of ratchets and You want to separate things out similar To how I discussed before you have a lot Of small drawers over here we just have Screwdrivers one drawer perfectly fits

Them you don’t have to worry about it You can separate things out and have a Drawer for everything if that’s the way You are you might go a little crazy with These larger drawers $1500 could almost Buy you two Standard 46-inch boxes and you could fit More in the 246 inch boxes then you Could this 156 inch box so the pricing On that to me is a little skewed the Only difference between the standard 46 In this high-capacity is two inches of Depth that two inches of depth is big in This one drawer here is probably big to Everyone because they liked the skinny Drawer but if you had two boxes compared To the one it’s gonna take up more space In your garage but again more tools Almost the same cost very tough to make A decision here as to what I would spend My money on because of the price and I Think that’s really what’s stopping me From saying man go out and buy this Thing because I wish I had better locks Although the locks work well I wish I Had an option of just saying you know What I want to go old-school and have a Key don’t really have that option and Maybe I’m using him wrong leave the Comments in the description if I am I’d Like to retract that statement if there Is something there I don’t think so But always possible again even $12.99 I Think I would be like yeah you’re on the

Edge $9.99 I’d say go for this thing all Day same prices the Husky behind me I’d Probably say go for it if you’re if you Want red and you want something flat and You like Milwaukee and marketing guys is Been there Milwaukee is is taken over And done so many cool things I think so Many people love Milwaukee it’s a Chevy Ford thing I really like what Chevy is Doing with sports cars I really like What Ford’s doing with trucks whatever You want to get in there and your own Personal opinion I really want that Milwaukee toolbox in there commanding a High price but I’m gonna pay it because It’s Milwaukee and I feel like that’s Where this box is there’s some cool Features that I don’t think we’ll really Thought through really well and all These boxes are made by the same company Let’s not fool ourselves this Milwaukee Made by the same place same factory as This husky They’re all the same it is what it is so I appreciate you sticking with me Through this video we’d be happy to show You more of what’s going on in the Future Stick with us you’ll see this box is Going to take this place we got to move Around some things so everything fits But good luck if you’re buying your box Leave me some comments I want to chat With you guys tell me what you know I

Will respond as quickly as possible Thanks for your time have a great day