Metal Filing Cabinet
Metal Filing Cabinet Guide
The metal file cabinet can be found in many styles, sizes, and varying levels of construction quality. In addition to helping you organize and providing easy access to your documents and files, file cabinets can be very flexible and useful pieces of furniture for nearly any room in the office (or the home). When comparing the two common types of file cabinets (metal or wood), metal is the best choice for its long lasting durability;
Metal Filing Cabinet Sizes
The size of metal file cabinet that you need for your specific purposes will be based on the type of documents that you are planning to store in the cabinet. There are four standard file cabinet sizes that you might consider, including:
- Letter sized. This type of cabinet will typically hold only 8.5" x 11" paper and files. Most home offices use this type of metal file cabinet.
- Legal sized. This type of cabinet is made to hold both letter sized documents and files as well as legal sized documents that are 8.5" x 14".
- Lateral file cabinets are made up of two or three drawers and hold both legal and letter sized documents.
- Personal file cabinets are smaller, less expensive, and hold only 8.5" x 11" letter sized files.
Choosing a Metal Filing Cabinet
When choosing your metal file cabinet, you should take into consideration how many drawers you need (and allow future file needs as well). You can find file cabinets with as many as five drawers. If you plan to use the cabinet for storage purposes other than storing documents, take that fact into consideration when deciding how many drawers you will need. Also, if you plan on needing more than one metal file cabinet, you should considering buying one, two, or more at the same time as many retailers will offer a special discount for multiple purchases of the same type of cabinet, or cabinets in the same line.
Safety Considerations for Metal Filing Cabinet Use
It is important that you not fill up the top drawer of your metal file cabinet while leaving the lower drawers empty as this can create a top-heavy cabinet that could fall and injure someone. Only open one drawer at a time to keep the weight of the cabinet's contents balanced. Attach the cabinet to the wall to help reduce the incidence of tipping. Put heavier items in the bottom drawer to weigh the cabinet down and help hold it in place.