Tool Chest/Cabinet

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benjamming

benjamming

Joined
Jan 3, 2004
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6,341
Location
northern Alabama
I am looking for guidance on a tool chest/cabinet made in USA.
What about a plastic one from Rubbermaid?
SK? Waterloo? Clarke?
I assume that drawers with full extension ball-bearing slides should be a requirement.
It should also have casters.
Are drawer liners worth it?
Gas struts for lid??? Wow.
A couple full width drawers for longer tools would be expected.
Powdercoat or enamel finish?
Stainless steel or chrome over molded side handles?
 
craftsman ball bearing griplatch. It is the higher end one that is a bit stronger/heavier. Love it.
 
I just bought the a Black Sears lower 40" griplatch box. I thought I got a real good deal. Then I just saw my box and the upper box on add for only $99 more than I paid for just the bottom.

I like the box, the Craftsman emblem is kinda cheap. I must say that the box at Harbor Freight looked pretty nice. I use the drawer liners. I bought the first liner from Sears for I think $22 bucks.

I see the same thing at Harbor freight for about $6. I have never had a full length drawer, but it would be nice. I used my old bottom Sears box to store misc auto tools and stuff. I put my old top box on top my new bottom box. I might buy the top box at some point in the future.
 
Its not made in the U.S., but the Harbor Freight unit is a very well constructed box, for a great price. It is 40-41" wide though, so that might be a problem at home. If I had the room, it is what I would have, instead of the Snap-On and Matco units I bought used.

I agree that Waterloo seems to make most of the name brand boxes, including all, or most all of Sears. The cheap ones are ....cheap, but the upper ends ones are pretty nice.
 
It is for home use but the 3-car garage is 30' long x 32' wide so I have enough room.

What kind of prices have y'all paid for what you thought was a good deal?

Oh, and thanks for all the good replies so far.
 
The HF units are going for $480 for the bottom and $370 for the top, but I believe those regularly go on sale for $400 and $300. I have about $1100 in my used boxes, which aren't in the best condition, and only 34" wide.

Three car garage? I have a serious case of Garage Envy! You must feel like a kid in a candy store...
 
I bought a 22 drawer, 41 inch wide Craftsman chest and cabinet combo from Sears for $630 a couple weeks ago. It's the ball bearing Griplatch version. i like it a lot. It's a heavy guy and well built.
 
I have a Snap on 80th anniversary box. It's about 6 feet tall by 5 feet wide by about three feet deep. I think I ppaid about 8 grand for it. Sure does hold lots of tools. The lock and roll feature is nice and the rollerized drawers are great, but now that I'm older and wiser, I would probably buy something a little more dollar wise next time.
 
I can only dream of NYEngineer's Snap on box.

Mine is 14 drawer Craftsman 40-3/4" for $599 on sale. Like I said this box with the bottom was just on sale for $699 for the both of them.

I still saved about $150 over regular price. So I don't feel too bad. Sears has newspaper ad sales and website sales. I bought mine on the web.
 
oilboy, I started out as a teen with a Mac top chest on a cart. The Snap on man gave me more than I paid for it as a trade in for a small top and bottom, then a few years later, I stepped up again to a bigger one, again getting more for my trade in.
I really liked the America's Best KRL series box I had, but it was packed. When he showed up with the 80th anniversary box, I hated it. It's not the bright Snap on red, it's a custom red, almost the same as Campbell's tomato soup with gold trim instead of brushed stainless. It was on the truck for months and the price kept dropping from 9800.
I think he then added a DVD player to the deal and I also got him to throw in a pair of Snap on work boots. He gave me 6 grand for my old box and I had only paid 5200 for it.
So... I started buying tool boxes at 17 and worked my way up. I'm 42 now. It took a while to get something real trick. You'll get there.
 
My first "real" tool box was an old style Mac 7 drawer top chest with the 2 separate handles on each drawer. I got it from the Mac man, paid on it a while then he had a bottom chest to match but I had to order the old style handles to make it match up. That box met an early fate when I had a car in the shop with a manual transmission and a bad ignition switch and accidentally "hopped" the car into my box. I still used it for a while, then sold it to the Mac man, bought a big Sears chest then later traded that in on a cheap version Snap-On top and bottom box. I nicknamed that one "The Cathedral" because it was the biggest box I had ever owned. I used that one till I got out of the car electronics business and stored all my tools in cardboard boxes for a while. Then I got a small Craftsman chest that sat on top of my clothes dryer for a long time, still keeping some tools I didn't really use much in pasteboard boxes. Then a few years ago I picked up another Sears top chest, then a bottom to match and had those for several years. Then I got a larger Sears top and bottom chest and sold the smaller set to a local machinist here who builds Toyota engines.

I am done now buying tool boxes but still like to check them out from time to time. In hindsight, I should never have spent so much on tool chests when the Craftsman ones work just fine. Took me a long time to realize "it's not the box that gets the job done, it's the tools in it and the man using them". Snap-on does make some mighty fine tool boxes though, IMHO. I sometimes miss getting on the Snap-On and other tool trucks and spending money...
 
My toolbox is an growing, evolving 1-ton monstrosity consisting of two 26" wide craftsman bottom boxes (the tall ones- I don't think they make them anymore), two 26" top boxes (one is 18" deep, one is 15" deep, I think), a three-drawer metal filing cabinet mounted on the side (roughly the same height as a bottom box, with a half inch thick plate bolted to the top for anvil purposes... all mounted on a skid made of 2" angle iron with big, heavy, greaseable ball-bearing casters (the original plastic Craftsman wheels gave out long ago).

These are relatively cheap boxes- not the cheapest models, but no ball bearings in the slides. They've held up for well over a decade of abuse, neglect, dirty conditions, and occasional outdoor use in a service truck.

I learned Jimmy's lesson early on. Tools are important... a toolbox is just storage. I'd say that I've invested about $900 in my toolbox-monstrosity over the years. Johnny Cash style: one piece at a time.
 
I have a vice that I've been meaning to bolt onto the half inch plate. Haven't got around to it yet.
 
Same as onion on the "monstrosity " front.

104" long, 29" deep and 49" high. Matco bottom box with two matching side boxes. What a PITA to move.
 
I furnish all tools at my shop. Have 3 seperate and distinct work areas with old dilapdated boxes at each. 2 Snapon, one Craftsman Pro. Since work is different at each, can keep more specialized tools at each. Have outside service lift used in tolerable weather, oil and tire service only, so not many tools required. have an old SnapOn bottom only.Old service station bay of interior is mainly devoted to exhaust and shocks.Another old SnapOn box with a side cart Largest box is in general repair stall and alignment rack. Largest selection of tools, and storage for really seldom used tools. Have a Craftsman large Pro Grade box with side cart and small top box. All were bought used.

While I enjoy/covet quality tools, hate to waste money on storage!

Bob

Bob
 
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