Tool Boxes?

andoor

andoor

Been Around the Block
So I finally have my own garage and I need to upgrade my small toolbox that is overloaded with tools. I want to get a good rolling cabinet now and eventually buy a chest for the top.

Who makes solid boxes that are not ridiculous in price?

My dad has craftsmen boxes that are older than I am and still work great, but the new ones feel so cheap. I use Proto boxes at work and really like them. Proto would be my first choice as of right now.

Thanks

Andie
 
I've got a Craftsman box at home and have used Snap-on and Matco boxes at work. If I were buying another toolbox for myself it would probably be another Craftsman. After 15 years of using the higher $ boxes everyday at work I've yet to see any benefit to their higher price, especially for home use. My current Matco work box lists for ~$1500 w/o tools and it's a rattly piece of junk. Luckily my work boxes are provided by the company. My Craftsman is now 16 years old. It was was my work box for the first 6 years. I brought it home when the company started providing boxes and tools for us.

BTW, my personal opinion is that no matter what brand box you buy, get a bigger roll around and skip the top chest. All top chests do is limit your available workspace.
 
I have been very happy with my Clarke chests. I bought them 5 or so years ago for a job and they have stood up great, both in an industrial setting and in the garage. They can be found pretty cheap too, with ball bearing drawers.
Hope this helps,
Jason
 
Craftsman stuff used to be so good when it was made stateside. Now it's all made overseas out of potmetal. You guys that have 15-20 year old craftsman boxes should hold on to them. That's when they were decent. I won't buy another craftsman product, complete garbage at this point. I hate to say this, but I have a Kobalt 7 drawer and for the price it's fantastic. Great roller bearings in the drawers, and the sheetmetal is a decent gauge. It could be a bit thicker, but bang for the buck it's perfect for non-professional work.
 
SquadraCorse said:
Craftsman stuff used to be so good when it was made stateside. Now it's all made overseas out of potmetal. You guys that have 15-20 year old craftsman boxes should hold on to them. That's when they were decent. I won't buy another craftsman product, complete garbage at this point. I hate to say this, but I have a Kobalt 7 drawer and for the price it's fantastic. Great roller bearings in the drawers, and the sheetmetal is a decent gauge. It could be a bit thicker, but bang for the buck it's perfect for non-professional work.
Click to expand...

Good point about the Kobalt stuff. From a casual glance at Lowes, they look like a decent box for home use.
 
This is a timely thread as I'm also soon to be in the market for a good tool box. I'm getting married this weekend and we agreed to get a good rolling tool box with some of the gift cards we have received, and will receive. Originally, I was thinking Craftsmen, but now I'm second guessing after reading this thread. I haven't used anything Kobalt, I don't think, but I was surprised with the Ryobi products at Home Depot that I do have; for the occasional home use anyways. Maybe I will give the Kobalt line a look.
 
we made our own for my brohters house... used some cabinets the top 6 are roll out shelves, then it has big doors under it, made a bench top (out of my brothers college bar top) and then put it on wheels... works awesome!!! get creative i did not want to spend 2 g on a toolbox!
 
Well I would love to have one of the nice big tool chests, but I have so many other things to spend that kind of chedda on. I decided that a big tool chest is not needed really in a home shop. I mounted peg board on just about every wall of my garage to hang tools on that are less used when working on a bike and for the more used stuff that really needs to be on a mobile cart I just made my own. It was simple and really cheap! I used a bus boy cart from a restaurant that was getting new ones, so I got it for free but I am sure you could score one for cheap if not free. I mounted 2 sides of it with peg board and left the other 2 open. I screwed on a surge protector power strip and set my tool chest of ratchets and sockets on top. The open sides allow access to the inside where large power tools and such stay. I have spare space for parts and little holes and pockets for all sorts of nick-nack shit. I took the original casters off and got a beef up set from a store much like harbor freight to fit it with. The casters were about $25, the peg board was mostly scrap from doing the walls but a sheet might be $15, the power strip was like $10, the peg board pegs and such depending on what all you want may cost you $15-$35, and the other hardware and such may have been like $10. I say you could get a cart for less than $40, but assuming it was $40, you could build the whole thing for less than $100. Mine works better than a tool chest to me because all of my tools hang in plain view with no drawers to open and close, also I can tell if something is missing super quick! I don't have any pics of just it, but here are a few with it in it for you to get an idea of what I did.

SDC12585.jpg

SDC12577.jpg


As far as the Kobalt stuff, well I have all Kobalt tools now as I have been buying new tools and asking for them as gifts for the last couple years. My Kobalts have stood up well and they have the same over the counter exchange as craftsman, so I love them. I have never had to exchange one yet, maybe I never will!
 
that peg board rolly round is awesome!!!! my walls are covered in peg board though... it is flat out awesome to use!!!
 
You can see my walls are covered too, and that i like to build what i can to save cash! I built that bike table and it is on casters too!
 
I've got a moving workbench that I've been using but it never occurred to me to put on peg board. would save a lot of back and forth tips to the bench.
cool idea
 
trust me on this one.

US General. its sold by harbor freight. quality IMHO is nicer then any of the big brands, and WAY cheaper. Craftsman has amazing tools, but their boxes feel light and junky to me (the pro level stuff isnt much better). so, save yourself the money, head over to HF, buy the box you need, and fill it with the GOOD tools that you did NOT buy from HF :D

check out item number 95272-1veh

200 dollars, 5 draw rolling cart, 700lb capacity. i have the coupon for it if you want (just got it in the mail! 100 bucks off!)

not one bad review.
 
I picked up some of the better craftsman professional stuff at a Sears warehouse it was scratch and dent, they were like a 9/10 got them for less than half price :) they have been good, not great but good, the cheapie cabinets from sears weren't that good was quite dissapointed when i looked at them, the other cabinets i have are some 4-5year old mastercraft ones they are a bit heavier and nicer but the canadian tire stuff is the same the cheapie stuff is very light and junky.

If anyone is looking try out Kijiji or craigslist always seems to be auto techs or whatever retiring and selling there tools off.
 
I would love to do something with peg bard and all that but being in a rental I don't want to go that crazy. I think I am going to start looking around for an old craftsmen box maybe it will be a good winter project to clean one up. I will have to check craigslist and see whats out there.
 
+1 on the craigslist finds. You can always find someone selling one of the older (albeit non-ball bearing) Craftsman or Snap-on boxes. You can get a top, bottom and possibly some general tools for the same price as just one box at the store. MSC Direct has some decent quality boxes (Kennedy and Clarke). Kobalt is decent and you get a lot for the money. HF boxes aren't bad for home or LIGHT industrial use, but for a mechanic or a machine shop of some sort, I'd get something a bit heavier. I've got a Craftsman top (machinist box with small drawers) and bottom (7-drawer) thats about 10 years old. Everything still slides as smooth as the day it was made. I got it from a family friend for $400 slap full of tools, some still in the packages. Deals can be found, search around, check the classifieds and GO TO YARD SALES!!! People are ALWAYS getting rid of tools at those.
 
750K... the HF US General stuff is better then the craftsman pro stuff if you ask me...
 
SERIOUSLY check craigslist! People often sell off things like this before, during , or after a divorce to get the cash while they can.
 
Re: Tool Boxes?I

I think for home use just about anything will work fine. Craigslist or ebay would be good choices, and Craftsman, HF, or Kobalt would work. For any of those get the ball bearing slides, though, since there is no greater source of rage inducing ignorance than cheap friction slides! This is my top/ road chest:

toolbox.png


It weighs 205# empty, and over 500 loaded. I have long lined it from a helicopter many times, and put thousands of road miles on it in all weather and it works great! Simple and straightforward. When at the shop, it sits on a Mac Tech1000 roll cab with side bank to double the roll cab capacity. The Mac box is nice, as well, albeit for a different purpose. I swear by the Waterloo, though.
 
gotta agree on the Harbor freight . It is good enough for home use . I have been seeing these pop up at work also and everyone I have talked to has been happy with them . Do asearch on them. Here is mine HomeDepot bottom , dont recall side cabnet brand , Crapsman top and middle stack on 3 drawer bottom

tools003.jpg

tools002.jpg
 
Re: Tool Boxes? (Harbor Freight it is!)

So I started this thread a while ago, but have yet to buy a box. Priorities and funds have shifted a bit, but now I can’t take it any more I get pissed every time I try to find anything in my tiny toolbox.

I was skeptical at first about the harbor freight boxes because the price is so low, but recently a store opened up near me and I was able to lay a hand on them. They feel so much better than the craftsmen boxes. I will be picking up one of the HF boxes the next time a sale hits!

HF has become one of my favorite stores, every time I am in the area I end up walking out with a cart full of stuff for under 50 bucks. Don’t get me wrong, some of the stuff there is crap, but they offer some gems as well!

Thanks for all the suggestions guys!
 
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