Mister Moose
Well-known member
- Joined
- May 24, 2012
- Messages
- 131
As if there aren’t enough threads already on Harbor Freight tool cabinets. I think this offers new material, so I started a new thread.
I initially set out to compare 26” roll away tool chests, and in the process looked at the 41 inch series as well. I don’t use my tools to make money, but I do maintain and fix most everything I own, and it was time to consolidate my tool collection into a well constructed chest, but I knew I didn’t want to spend thousands. In researching on line I kept coming across a wealth of information here on Garage Journal that was a big help. Nothing better than reading some real life experiences from actual users of these chests. Many of the reviews were quite subjective though. This one felt better than that one. This one seemed like it could hold more weight than that one. While I agree, you can feel the difference in some cases, use over time loaded up would tell much more than feel. I wanted to know what construction was under the covers. They all look the same from the outside. Shiny paint, casters, full width silver pulls. So armed with a camera, calipers, and the willingness to take chests apart on the showroom floor, I set out to discover what was the best consumer grade tool chest out there for the money. Well, in my neck of New England, anyway. And because stumbling onto this forum was so useful, I’ll pay it forward and share in detail what I found.
This information reflects what was in stores in April and May of 2012. Older cabinet construction may be different. I looked at Sams and Costco, but there were no tool boxes when I was in.
Sears.
I thought this was where I would end up. The Craftsman name was generally well respected, the no nonsense warranty was great, and they have as good a chance as anyone to be around for a long time in the future. My wife actually started this whole foray by buying me a 26” 5 drawer Quiet Glide rollaway for my birthday. (Note: Any wife that buys her husband a tool chest for his birthday confirms that you indeed married the right woman) The tool chest was waiting for me to pick up a few towns away. She explained that she was going to buy the ball bearing model, but this (Quiet Glide) cost more and the salesman said it was better. I was immediately skeptical, and started looking at the inside of tool chests at Sears.
Long story short, there is a horrific low grade of “Basic” ball bearing tool boxes at Sears. They are almost as bad as the black cheapos at Harbor Freight, and it is true they are less expensive than the Quiet Glide models. They aren’t even worth reviewing. They are confusing, as there is very little to tell them apart from the more mainstream, better built (regular) ball bearing models. I passed on the ‘Quiet Glide’ models as well as they are nothing more than some plastic runners on steel sliders. My wife said “No problem, I’ll cancel the one I ordered and you can pick out the one you want.” Cool.
Ball Bearing.
The (regular) ball bearing series is fairly flimsy. The drawers are made of the 2nd thinnest material in the field I reviewed. Only the awful black tool boxes at Harbor Freight were thinner. There is a lot of wobble to the deeper drawers. There is no top drawer edge reinforcement as many others have. The height of the drawer slides is second worst, and the casters are the very worst; 4½“ plastic wheels on a simple axle with no bearing. The deeper drawers still only have one slide. Caster reinforcement is somewhat typical with a sheet metal channel doubled up with one edge bent to an ‘L’ shape on only one side. The boxes were expensive for the quality, a 5 drawer 26” base was 265 on ‘sale’ from 379. These things are always on sale. 4 drawer was 255/319.
The disappointing worst in the field plastic caster.
Sears smaller 1 1/16” slides, 12 pairs ball bearings.
Grip Latch.
This is a further disappointment. I expected this series to be better built, but for the most part it isn’t. The grip latch is a good idea, and it works…. sort of good. I saw a floor model where the grip latch failed. The hinge is nothing more than a tab through a slot with the two ends of the tab bent into ears. The ears had failed on the floor model and the handle was loose, flopping at an angle and not gripping the latch. The weight of the handle keeps a little sheet metal barb locked in the slide frame, until you lift the handle. A nice feature, most of them work fine, and under light duty use it would probably last. The drawer slides are upgraded to a more industry standard 1 3/8”, but the drawers are the same thin un-reinforced drawers that are in the regular ball bearing models. The box construction is the same. You get upgraded to a 5” cheap plastic caster. The handle for all these cabinets is just a piece of pipe, crimp bent and bolted on. This is the cheesiest handle I saw. The 41” 14 drawer base was on sale for 775, down from 969. That’s a lot of money, and it turns out to be very uncompetitive.
The Grip Latch caster. $775, and still a cheesy plastic wheel on an axle caster.
How the Grip Latch works. Better 1 3/8 12 pair bearing slides, but same non reinforced drawer.
Heavy Duty Limited Edition.
This sounds very impressive. It’s nothing more than a ball bearing chest with the 1 3/8” slides, but no grip latch.
Stainless Steel series.
Like the grip latch, but with riveted on stainless drawer fronts.
Pro Series.
This was talked about in this forum, but there were no floor models to look at.
All the floor models are overpriced, underbuilt disappointments. I’m fine with their hand tools, but the chests and roller cabinets are not worth the price, not by a long shot. The tool chest buyer at Sears should be publicly run out of town.
Home Depot.
Nothing to see here. Worse than Sears. The same box construction as Sears, same recessed side wall, small slides, flimsy drawers, but there was no reinforcing visible at all at the base for the casters. Visions of the cabinet floor buckling at the caster with any weight added. No good at any price, which by the way was a lot less than Sears. At least Home Depot priced their junk appropriately. $169 for a 5 drawer base, $259 for a 6 drawer base. You even get an MDF work top. Although not on the one in the photo, it must have went on walkabout.
2nd Cheapest of the cheap. Run.
Home Depot at a different store also had a 5 drawer 42” stainless cabinet. This is different than the Sears/Waterloo construction. All drawer fronts are full width over the frame Euro cabinet style on 1 3/8 slides, but the sheet metal is still too lightweight. $349
Tractor Supply
They carry 2 lines, Jobsmart, and Masterhand.
Jobsmart is just like the Sears ball bearing series, except it’s black, and the slides are smaller. There are only 8 pairs of ball bearings per 1” high slide, the worst in the group. OK, it’s not like Sears, it’s worse.
Jobsmart 26” chest set. Looks identical to Masterhand from the outside.
Masterhand is better. The drawers are from the same stock, but the top edge is rolled over double to stiffen the drawer. The slides are 1 3/8” with 12 pairs of ball bearings, and have a detent. The deep drawer has 2 slides, where Jobsmart had 1 slide. The two look identical from the outside. The really odd part is that they are priced the same. That’s right, you can get cheapo drawers and slides or decent ones for the same money at the same store. The 26 inch 8 drawer base is $329, and the 40” 12 drawer base is $499. Comes with an MDF top as well. These cabinets are apparently sold at other stores in other parts of the country under the same names.
Masterhand 42” cabinet. Behind to the left is the Jobsmart 41” cabinet. Outwardly identical, same price.
Masterhand 12 pair roller bearing cage
Masterhand & Jobsmart caster. Better hard rubber, hard to tell the bearing type with the shield in place.
I initially set out to compare 26” roll away tool chests, and in the process looked at the 41 inch series as well. I don’t use my tools to make money, but I do maintain and fix most everything I own, and it was time to consolidate my tool collection into a well constructed chest, but I knew I didn’t want to spend thousands. In researching on line I kept coming across a wealth of information here on Garage Journal that was a big help. Nothing better than reading some real life experiences from actual users of these chests. Many of the reviews were quite subjective though. This one felt better than that one. This one seemed like it could hold more weight than that one. While I agree, you can feel the difference in some cases, use over time loaded up would tell much more than feel. I wanted to know what construction was under the covers. They all look the same from the outside. Shiny paint, casters, full width silver pulls. So armed with a camera, calipers, and the willingness to take chests apart on the showroom floor, I set out to discover what was the best consumer grade tool chest out there for the money. Well, in my neck of New England, anyway. And because stumbling onto this forum was so useful, I’ll pay it forward and share in detail what I found.
This information reflects what was in stores in April and May of 2012. Older cabinet construction may be different. I looked at Sams and Costco, but there were no tool boxes when I was in.
Sears.
I thought this was where I would end up. The Craftsman name was generally well respected, the no nonsense warranty was great, and they have as good a chance as anyone to be around for a long time in the future. My wife actually started this whole foray by buying me a 26” 5 drawer Quiet Glide rollaway for my birthday. (Note: Any wife that buys her husband a tool chest for his birthday confirms that you indeed married the right woman) The tool chest was waiting for me to pick up a few towns away. She explained that she was going to buy the ball bearing model, but this (Quiet Glide) cost more and the salesman said it was better. I was immediately skeptical, and started looking at the inside of tool chests at Sears.
Long story short, there is a horrific low grade of “Basic” ball bearing tool boxes at Sears. They are almost as bad as the black cheapos at Harbor Freight, and it is true they are less expensive than the Quiet Glide models. They aren’t even worth reviewing. They are confusing, as there is very little to tell them apart from the more mainstream, better built (regular) ball bearing models. I passed on the ‘Quiet Glide’ models as well as they are nothing more than some plastic runners on steel sliders. My wife said “No problem, I’ll cancel the one I ordered and you can pick out the one you want.” Cool.
Ball Bearing.
The (regular) ball bearing series is fairly flimsy. The drawers are made of the 2nd thinnest material in the field I reviewed. Only the awful black tool boxes at Harbor Freight were thinner. There is a lot of wobble to the deeper drawers. There is no top drawer edge reinforcement as many others have. The height of the drawer slides is second worst, and the casters are the very worst; 4½“ plastic wheels on a simple axle with no bearing. The deeper drawers still only have one slide. Caster reinforcement is somewhat typical with a sheet metal channel doubled up with one edge bent to an ‘L’ shape on only one side. The boxes were expensive for the quality, a 5 drawer 26” base was 265 on ‘sale’ from 379. These things are always on sale. 4 drawer was 255/319.
The disappointing worst in the field plastic caster.
Sears smaller 1 1/16” slides, 12 pairs ball bearings.
Grip Latch.
This is a further disappointment. I expected this series to be better built, but for the most part it isn’t. The grip latch is a good idea, and it works…. sort of good. I saw a floor model where the grip latch failed. The hinge is nothing more than a tab through a slot with the two ends of the tab bent into ears. The ears had failed on the floor model and the handle was loose, flopping at an angle and not gripping the latch. The weight of the handle keeps a little sheet metal barb locked in the slide frame, until you lift the handle. A nice feature, most of them work fine, and under light duty use it would probably last. The drawer slides are upgraded to a more industry standard 1 3/8”, but the drawers are the same thin un-reinforced drawers that are in the regular ball bearing models. The box construction is the same. You get upgraded to a 5” cheap plastic caster. The handle for all these cabinets is just a piece of pipe, crimp bent and bolted on. This is the cheesiest handle I saw. The 41” 14 drawer base was on sale for 775, down from 969. That’s a lot of money, and it turns out to be very uncompetitive.
The Grip Latch caster. $775, and still a cheesy plastic wheel on an axle caster.
How the Grip Latch works. Better 1 3/8 12 pair bearing slides, but same non reinforced drawer.
Heavy Duty Limited Edition.
This sounds very impressive. It’s nothing more than a ball bearing chest with the 1 3/8” slides, but no grip latch.
Stainless Steel series.
Like the grip latch, but with riveted on stainless drawer fronts.
Pro Series.
This was talked about in this forum, but there were no floor models to look at.
All the floor models are overpriced, underbuilt disappointments. I’m fine with their hand tools, but the chests and roller cabinets are not worth the price, not by a long shot. The tool chest buyer at Sears should be publicly run out of town.
Home Depot.
Nothing to see here. Worse than Sears. The same box construction as Sears, same recessed side wall, small slides, flimsy drawers, but there was no reinforcing visible at all at the base for the casters. Visions of the cabinet floor buckling at the caster with any weight added. No good at any price, which by the way was a lot less than Sears. At least Home Depot priced their junk appropriately. $169 for a 5 drawer base, $259 for a 6 drawer base. You even get an MDF work top. Although not on the one in the photo, it must have went on walkabout.
2nd Cheapest of the cheap. Run.
Home Depot at a different store also had a 5 drawer 42” stainless cabinet. This is different than the Sears/Waterloo construction. All drawer fronts are full width over the frame Euro cabinet style on 1 3/8 slides, but the sheet metal is still too lightweight. $349
Tractor Supply
They carry 2 lines, Jobsmart, and Masterhand.
Jobsmart is just like the Sears ball bearing series, except it’s black, and the slides are smaller. There are only 8 pairs of ball bearings per 1” high slide, the worst in the group. OK, it’s not like Sears, it’s worse.
Jobsmart 26” chest set. Looks identical to Masterhand from the outside.
Masterhand is better. The drawers are from the same stock, but the top edge is rolled over double to stiffen the drawer. The slides are 1 3/8” with 12 pairs of ball bearings, and have a detent. The deep drawer has 2 slides, where Jobsmart had 1 slide. The two look identical from the outside. The really odd part is that they are priced the same. That’s right, you can get cheapo drawers and slides or decent ones for the same money at the same store. The 26 inch 8 drawer base is $329, and the 40” 12 drawer base is $499. Comes with an MDF top as well. These cabinets are apparently sold at other stores in other parts of the country under the same names.
Masterhand 42” cabinet. Behind to the left is the Jobsmart 41” cabinet. Outwardly identical, same price.
Masterhand 12 pair roller bearing cage
Masterhand & Jobsmart caster. Better hard rubber, hard to tell the bearing type with the shield in place.
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