A tool box is a tool box, right? Not so with the Milwaukee 26 Inch Work Box! First, notice the name. They didn’t call it a tool box. Tool boxes are designed to carry and transport tools. The Work Box is designed to work. It’s not only built for durability around the jobsite, but also to be a functional piece of your gear.
Milwaukee 26 Inch Work Box Specs
- Height: 12.25 inches
- Length: 26 inches
- Width: 13.4 inches
- Weight: 11.5 pounds
- Volume: 3400 cubic inches
- Capacity: 200 pounds
- Price: $39.97 (Home Depot)
- Warranty: Limited Lifetime
Milwaukee 26 Inch Work Box Features
- Impact Resistant Resin Construction
- Buttressed Hinges
- Protected Recessed Latches
- Reinforced Corners
- Integrated Weather Seal
- Clamping Cut Groove
- Overmolded Wide Grip Handle
- Pass Through Side Grips
- Screw Mounting Bosses
- Corner Pocket Storage
- Indexing Square
Milwaukee 26 Inch Work Box Durability
There are a host of features that the Milwaukee 26 Inch Work Box offers, making it a whole lot more than just another tool box. Let’s start with the durability features for a moment. The construction starts with resin as the base material. Buttressed hinges are angled and protect the metal in the hinge. In the case of a fall directly on the hinge, the blow glances off and leaves the hings itself undamaged.
The latches are a simple, yet functional and durable design. They are recessed to avoid being exposed on their own. This way the latches aren’t sticking out to get caught when the Work Box is sliding around the back of your truck or slamming against the side of the truck bed. Opening the box isn’t as simple as just a straight up latch like you’re used to. There’s a second hinge that allows for just a little bit of additional movement in the middle of the latch. You might not feel it when you first open the box, but you’ll need to pull them towards you to fully close and secure the box.
Finally, the corners have been reinforced with additional material. If you’ve ever dropped a plastic box on a corner it’s quick to crack. The force of the weight gets concentrated into a smaller space, multiplying the force of the blow and leading to failure. These durability features combined results in a very tough Milwaukee 26 Inch Work Box. In fact, Milwaukee put 50 pounds of weight into this model and dropped it over 1,000 times without getting it to break. That’s Nothing But Heavy Duty in action!
Milwaukee 26 Inch Work Box Functionality
Jobsites are dirty, tough places to work and often Mother Nature doesn’t like to play fair. To counter these, the Milwaukee 26 Inch Work Box has an integrated weather seal that keeps out rain and dust.
Another innovative, yet simple design consideration is the clamping cut groove. When you look at the top of the Milwaukee Work Box, a groove is cut into it. For smaller diameter round materials like PVC or galvanized pipe, this feature helps you secure it for cutting. Simply place the piece to be cut in the groove and use your non-cutting hand to secure it using the handle as a clamp. This will secure the piece well enough to cut with a hand saw or even a one handed recip saw like Milwaukee’s Hackzall.
Corner pocket storage is just genius. Not only are the corner pockets sized perfectly to fit drill and drivers, but it also provides additional rigidity to the corners for extra durability. It’s a great way to store a drill, impact driver, and a pair of batteries while leaving the majority of the central space available for longer tools. You could also store hand tools in an upright position to keep them from getting scattered.
One slight downside is that on your compact drills and impact drivers, there is the potential for the tool to rest in the pocket with the trigger pressed. For that reason, you’ll want to store with without the battery installed. The pocket could also be just a half inch larger to accommodate the larger 4.0 battery packs. You can get them in there, but it is a little bit of a squeeze.
The screw mount bosses are extremely useful. I’m using them to hold a charger in the top of the box. All I have to do is drop my Milwaukee 26 Inch Work Box near an outlet, open the cover, hang my chargers, and plug it in. It never has to be separated from the box to keep a rotation of batteries going.
A top tray allows you to store any number of small items that you may need throughout your day. I have my Milwaukee Shockwave accessories as well as tape measure, laser distance measure, a couple of screwdrivers, and even a bottle opener for the end of the day.
For carrying around your Milwaukee 26 Inch Tool box, which can hold up to 200 pounds of gear, designers had to get away from some of the “traditional” models. First, the top handle feature a wide grip with an overmold to keep it comfortable. If you take a look at the side of some tool boxes, the handles will be solid, with a depression for your fingers that they will inevitably slip out of as the load get heavier. To make sure you can actually carry the 200 pounds that the Work Box holds, the side handles are completely pass through so you can get a solid grip on the box.
Conclusions
I’m thoroughly impressed with the Milwaukee 26 Inch Work Box. The durability of the design is top notch. The resin construction is not as prone to cracking and breaking like plastic and won’t dent like metal. I don’t think you’re going to find any better construction at any price point.
While the durable design sets the Work Box apart, the features put it in a class by itself. The fact that it is designed to be a functional part of your work day and not just a transportation vessel is outstanding. This isn’t just another box that has measurements marked off on the top. I love the fact that it serves as my portable charging station. While I may not use the clamping cut groove often, it’s one of those features that doesn’t add much to the cost of production and I’ll certainly be glad it’s there when I do need it.
At just under $40 from The Home Depot, the Milwaukee 26 Inch Work Box is a decent value. Looking at other tools storage options in that price range fail to deliver on both the durability and features of the Work Box. In my opinion, Milwaukee’s 26 Inch Work Box is the best tool box in its class.
