Tool cabinet

The tool cabinet is a passive building that provides a 6% work speed bonus to workbenches linked to it. It is a Facility and can be found in the Misc section of the Architect menu. Tool cabinets can be uninstalled and relocated at will.

Acquisition

Tool cabinets can be constructed once the Complex furniture research project has been completed. They require 200 Steel, 1,800 ticks (30 secs) of work, and a Construction skill of 4.

Summary

A tool cabinet increases the work speed of nearby compatible production benches by +6% per tool cabinet. This is multiplied by other factors to bench work speed, such as temperature and the natural 50% penalty from crafting spots, butcher spots, and hand tailor benches.

The list of compatible of workbenches are listed below. These correspond with the in-game definitions for the room roles of "Workshop", barring the electric smelter and brewery.

Maximum range from the tool cabinet to center of a workbench.

A tool cabinet will link to as many workbenches as are in its range. However, a single work bench can only benefit from up to 2 tool cabinets, for a maximum 12% increase in work speed.

The maximum range is shown in the image on the right. The range is measured from either end of the toolbox to the center tile of the workbench. This is not the interaction spot. Links are shown as a white line, visible by selecting a tool cabinet or a workbench. The info screen of a workbench will list its current work speed Factor.

Analysis

The bonus may appear small, but it adds up very quickly, especially if you can link the majority of your production to one or two cabinets. For example; linking to two cabinets reduces the time needed to craft marine armor from 60,000 ticks (16.67 mins) to 53,571 ticks (14.88 mins), a difference of approximately 6,420 ticks (1.78 mins) or 2.6 in-game hours per armor.

The steel requirement can be steep, especially in the early game. Build tool cabinets when steel is currently in surplus - i.e., when you don't need the steel in the near future. In some maps, such as mountainous maps, steel is common enough that they're fairly cheap. Deep drills will eventually make steel production, and thus the creation of tool cabinets, trivial.