Tool box thoughts?

[kbroderick]

OK, so I'm looking for a new toolbox or two...my stuff is now spread between a cheap-but-functional top-loading (i.e. kinda like this except that it opens from the middle on the top) box and a couple of large plastic trunks. Ideally, I'd like to get one box that's big enough to hold all my stuff and can levitate itself for moving into the truck for track days and he like. Since that's not likely, I figure I'm going to be looking at a pair of smaller boxes so I can actually lift them; the two that seem most promising in my shopping so far are Craftsman 6-Drawer Ball-Bearing Chest, 26 in. Wide - Red/Black - Model 62020 at Sears.com and Husky 27 in. Chest - 6 Drawer - 92-2715-6BKN at The Home Depot. I'm leaning towards the Husky model because it's cheaper and still has ball-bearing slides.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

[CEO]

I have craftsman boxes. If you're not making a living with your tools you don't need snapon. Ball bearing slides are a must.

I would get the craftsman... but hold out for a better price. Their shit goes on sale all the time.

All mine are ball bearing griplatch and I just kept an eye on the prices for a while and got a great deal.

[KillBill]

+ 1 on the Craftsman

[CEO]

Oh and also, when you buy the chests don't get roped into buying the drawer liners from craftsman, they're way overpriced...

You can buy rolls of it from harbor freight for 3 or 4 bucks a roll. I bought a shitload and did all my chests, my workbench drawers, and a couple of my shelves.

You can see there's like 10 rolls in that box along with socket rails

[obsolete]

Another +1 for Craftsman.

[Jim]

i have craftsman too, but i think mine are the easy glide

[CEO]

i have craftsman too, but i think mine are the easy glide

The easy glide are fine (definitely don't buy the homeowner's though) until you start really utilizing the space in the drawers... Once you've got some decent weight in there the slides start to work like shit.

The ball bearing slides you can toss 50 pounds in a drawer and they still work great.

I also like the griplatch feature, especially if you're going to transport these boxes at all... will prevent them from sliding open in a truck as well as preventing re-opening if you shut them hard.

[bigred875]

+1 on the craftsman ball bearing ones...good bang for buck

[GixerJockey]

Or...

Find your local Snap-On or Mac or Matco guy and see what he has for used boxes. Many techs change tool boxes like they change underwear. They trade the old one in on the new one, just like cars or bikes...

I paid $250 for a used Mac box that originally retailed for $1000.




Sorry, I don't have any pictures of it...

[DB Duramax]

Craftsman, look for the dented toolboxes that Sears discounts all the time.

[Jenni]

i picked up a rolling tool box the size of chris's @ walmart for about $100 a few months back. all my shit used to spread the entire floor of one of the garage bays before i bought it.

[BostonSVkid]

I dont think ball bearing units are worth the cash. I got a 7 drawer from crafts man for HALF of what the ball bearing ones go for. Wow it take a little extra umph to get it closed. Saved me $80+.

[TimD]

I like the harbor freight one. Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices

Solid mediocre quality at a dirt cheap price. I'd put the quality of it right around that of the craftsman unit. It even comes with liners that work better than the roll on stuff.


The "professional" toolboxes Mac matco, cornwell, snap-on etc are slightly nicer but absurdly expensive, even all the used ones that I could find. The Snap on toolbox with roughly the same dimensions/drawer setup as the harbor freight one was selling for around $5200 last I checked.

[eboos]

I just use two plastic toolboxes. They are easy to transport and only cost me $40 for the pair.

[Currently]

Craftsman, look for the dented toolboxes that Sears discounts all the time.

In some areas of the country, Sears has repair facility warehouses that have a lot of returned merchandise and scratch and dent sales.

My neighbor just bought a 3k lawntractor for $1200 because the hood was dented and scratched.

I bought a beat up crapsmen from a snapon dealer for 80 bucks, that was 25 years ago and I am still using it. Still looks like sh!t but works just as well as the day I bought it.

They are tool containers and organizers, no sense in paying top dollar for them. I got crapsmen, husky and northern tool roll arounds.

[ssg]

I have craftsman boxes. If you're not making a living with your tools you don't need snapon. Ball bearing slides are a must.

I would get the craftsman... but hold out for a better price. Their shit goes on sale all the time.

All mine are ball bearing griplatch and I just kept an eye on the prices for a while and got a great deal.

Agreed 100% on all counts.
I have one setup that is not BB slide and it sucks, it's now for 'general storage' rather than tools. All tools are in Craftsman (aka waterloo) BB sliders. I just watched and waited...this is a good time of year to buy (well, falltime or right after Christmas is).

Join the craftsman club and you'll get some smokin deals not published in-store too.

[ssg]

So I was thinking about this today and took a spin down rt. 9. There is a sears outlet there, that had 40" ball bearing rollaway (bottom part only, but with a wood top) new, black, for 350$ as part of a sale they are having. Regular price was 700$.

Or you could spend 199$ (bottom)and 150$ (top) and get a 26" wide unit in black, ball bearing, griplatch. Though this is an outlet, these units are new (overstock I suspect). They had about 4 of the 40" units and 2-3 complete 'sets' of the 26" units.

I can't find a website for the store, but here is their addy info:

SEARS OUTLET SHREWSBURY VILLAGE, 1000 BOSTON TPKE (508) 845-1800

Good luck!

[kbroderick]

So I was thinking about this today and took a spin down rt. 9. There is a sears outlet there, that had 40" ball bearing rollaway (bottom part only, but with a wood top) new, black, for 350$ as part of a sale they are having. Regular price was 700$.

Or you could spend 199$ (bottom)and 150$ (top) and get a 26" wide unit in black, ball bearing, griplatch. Though this is an outlet, these units are new (overstock I suspect). They had about 4 of the 40" units and 2-3 complete 'sets' of the 26" units.

I can't find a website for the store, but here is their addy info:


Good luck!

Damn. That's a 3-hour drive for me, and I'm not sure I can pick up a toolbox on the Ninjette...definitely not a top.bottom combo. $150 for the top Griplatch unit or $350 for a set would kick ass. I assume they don't ship, eh?

I may have to call them tomorrow and figure out if it's worth driving the damn truck that far. Was this the Griplatch combo they had for $300?

Thanks for the heads up.

[CEO]

Was this the Griplatch combo they had for $300?

If they have that combo for $300 it's worth walking there and pushing it back, buddy.

[kbroderick]

If they have that combo for $300 it's worth walking there and pushing it back, buddy.

I don't know about that, but I'm definitely thinking about when I might be able to spend a day driving down to pick it up if it is the same one (tomorrow is out, as I've got a consulting gig, which also makes Thursday tough, but possible). That's also kinda why I was wondering what they had...I suppose I should just give them a call.

[CEO]

Well that one you posted lists for 1000 bucks... 300 dollars just isn't going to happen unless it fell off a truck... at 80mph.

Also I wouldn't buy that setup. The 8drawer bottom makes the entire stack very tall, such that getting into the top of the top chest is difficult.

That's why I like my 6-drawer bottom chests, perfect height and the top chest is still at a good height.

Another crappy thing about the one you posted is that not only does the stainless usually cost more, but it looks like shit since it gets dirty/fingerprinted so easily. I wouldn't get stainless cabinets.

[eboos]

SEARS OUTLET SHREWSBURY VILLAGE, 1000 BOSTON TPKE (508) 845-1800

That location is an appliance and TV center only. They do not have any tools there.

[kbroderick]

Well that one you posted lists for 1000 bucks... 300 dollars just isn't going to happen unless it fell off a truck... at 80mph.

Also I wouldn't buy that setup. The 8drawer bottom makes the entire stack very tall, such that getting into the top of the top chest is difficult.

That's why I like my 6-drawer bottom chests, perfect height and the top chest is still at a good height.

Another crappy thing about the one you posted is that not only does the stainless usually cost more, but it looks like shit since it gets dirty/fingerprinted so easily. I wouldn't get stainless cabinets.

Thanks for the feedback.

I actually wouldn't be terribly surprised to see something in an outlet for 30% of retail--they seem to discount a lot of the tool storage in the 50% range on a regular basis, so 30% is probably pretty close to their cost on the item.

[CEO]

Thanks for the feedback.

I actually wouldn't be terribly surprised to see something in an outlet for 30% of retail--they seem to discount a lot of the tool storage in the 50% range on a regular basis, so 30% is probably pretty close to their cost on the item.

Just to clarify, I have two of these:

Craftsman 6-Drawer Roll-Away, 26-1/2 in. Wide, Ball Bearing - Model 59615 at Sears.com

They list for $490 and I got them for $270 each.




And on top of one of them I have one of these:

Craftsman 5-Drawer Chest, 26 in. Wide, Ball Bearing - Model 59614 at Sears.com

which retails for 360 and I got it for 210.



The picture of that top chest hasn't worked for ages I'm not sure why but this is the same one in stainless:

Craftsman 26 in. 5-Drawer Ball-Bearing Chest - Stainless - Model 59632 at Sears.com




This was all straight from a sears store BTW.

[GixerJockey]

I think that the guy that posted above me is a huge tool box...