Craftsman tool chests

Anybody have any experience with the "homeowners" line? I imagine you guys all have better stuff than that. Any comments appreciated.

Brian

Looked at the Storehouse stuff at Harbor Freight. Looked OK. But the instore price was $50 more than the price on the web. "If you print out the info from the web we'll honor that price." BS. I'm not gonna drive clear across town again to get the price I should get anyway.

Hello Kmears.

So much for trying to save some money to put towards 8N parts.

Brian

Tims$.02

My most recent addition is an old bank executive desk. It originally was used in a BB&T in the 70's. It was left behind when one of my tenents skipped town without paying his last month's rent. It has a solid wood top, 2 filing cabinet drawers and 4 regular size drawers.

It provides lots of storage space and is a good extra work station when my other work bench has another job spread out on it. James

Believe it or not, I know a guy who has a tool chest that absolutely covers one whole wall. He has got to have $25K or $35K in this thing and I think this is the stupidest thing ever. Why dump that kind of money in a darn tool box unless maybe we are showboating?

I bought these Craftsman boxes new; the one on the right in 1967 for $158, the one on the left in 1990 $230. Have used them daily ever since and they hold up just fine.

Allan

In 1984, I was working for a company that built industrial robots, and teaching aids for "tech schools". (Hydraulics, pnuematics, electronics, and robotics) It was the "coolest job" I've ever had. They had everything under the sun in that place. I could even make my own hydraulic hoses FOR FREE!

The DOWN SIDE...

The people that ran the company were the most insufferable A$$$%&@ I've ever ran across. I'll leave it at that. ('nuther time, 'nuther story)

They made an offer to employees. It was to pay 50% of ANY tool purchases, after you had been there 1 year.

I was there for 14 months when that went into effect. I was working 14 hours a day, 7 days a week at that point. One SUNDAY, I started to leave for home at 7:00PM. The owners son went off on me for "NOT BEING DEDICATED ENOUGH TO STAY AND WORK ALL NIGHT". You were right Todd...I'm not THAT dedicated.

Well, about that time, I sold a car I had. I got $4400 for it. The day after I sold it, the Snap-On man shows up. I casually walked out to his truck, and let him know I needed $8800 worth of tool box, tools, and whatever he had on the truck. We made our deal, and in the office I went. The bookkeeper had to cut me a $4400 check. It went over like a lead balloon!

2 weeks later, I loaded my $8800 worth of Snap_on tools, in my Snap-On "Rick Mears Indianapolis 500 Special Edition" toolbox in the back of my pick-em-up, and headed for brighter days....

Never felt any remorse....

Now I have great tools for life. AND a toolbox the size of a BIG refridgerator! John

I would shop around and look for the features and price you want to pay.

Ball bearing glides are definitely worth the money. I just junked my Craftsman friction glides for a Kobalt ball bearing.

If you look at these boxes, many are the same, save the name and some little things like Craftsman "lift latch" and other gimmicks that each has to try to one up the other.

JU

I didn't want to take all my tools and boxes from home. My budget is quite limited, so I bought the Craftsman homeowner grade stuff. Started with a $200 3 drawer bottom cabinet with door and a top box, have since added a 3 drawer middle chest and a side cabinet.

It's been over a year now, and no complaints, particularly for the money I spent. Then again, my box doesn't get moved other than to clean under it 2-3 times a year, and the drawers are fairly lightly loaded. I figure more drawers with fewer tools is a good idea, and it keeps me from having to paw around to find the 19/32nds left-handed Framis wrench ":^)

So they really don't expect many buyers to go for the cheapest lines. When I've looked at tool chests at Sears, the cheap floor models are often beat to hell and falling apart. (These are the chests that have bars in front to lock the drawers.) I have a set of the mid-priced chests, and they've held up well. They're over ten years old now. I don't think the average person needs the high-end ball bearing versions; these are aimed at tool junkies who have more money than sense, IMO.

Brian