Craftsman toolbox quality death spiral

[kgbagent]

I am fortunate enough to have 3 "old style" Crafstman toolboxes. These boxes are solid, heavy and bulletproof. No wiggling drawers. As space is limited, I was looking at CM's current mid box selection in my local Sears the other day. These boxes look like the old ones, but that is where the similarity ends. I was appalled at how junky, cheap and flimsy ALL the boxes were--including the stainless extra, super, hyper, "heavy-duty" ones.

I performed a simple test on the drawers (mainly 26"): pull the drawer out completely then close the drawer from the far left or right edge. Most of these drawers' sliders had an inch or more of left-right play. Many didn't want to shut unless closed it from the middle. I could imagine 40lbs of tools in one of these drawers causing real problems.

It appears Sears has given up on quality toolboxes. Is there an alternative in the Craftsman price range that has the quality of the old, made-in-USA boxes? I don't need to hear about SO, MAC, Lista, etc. They are out of my price range. Thanks.

 

[Davefr]

I am fortunate enough to have 3 "old style" Crafstman toolboxes. These boxes are solid, heavy and bulletproof. No wiggling drawers. As space is limited, I was looking at CM's current mid box selection in my local Sears the other day. These boxes look like the old ones, but that is where the similarity ends. I was appalled at how junky, cheap and flimsy ALL the boxes were--including the stainless extra, super, hyper, "heavy-duty" ones.

I performed a simple test on the drawers (mainly 26"): pull the drawer out completely then close the drawer from the far left or right edge. Most of these drawers' sliders had an inch or more of left-right play. Many didn't want to shut unless closed it from the middle. I could imagine 40lbs of tools in one of these drawers causing real problems.

It appears Sears has given up on quality toolboxes. Is there an alternative in the Craftsman price range that has the quality of the old, made-in-USA boxes? I don't need to hear about SO, MAC, Lista, etc. They are out of my price range. Thanks.

Yes, the alternative is HF. Some of their boxes are excellent quality and much stronger then these new flimsy CM boxes.

Check out the HF boxes and you'll be surprised. GJ members generally have a very high regard for HF boxes.

 

[Askme42]

Nothing made in the USA in that price range but the craftsman ones aren't made in the USA either.

Go HF. Quality boxes.

 

[Smokeshow69]

Your best bet is to keep an eye out for some more good used vintage tool boxes. I made the mistake of buying one box and they keep coming home with me Vintage is the way to go unless you buy the Hf boxes or get a new snappy or proto box.

 

[Super Sport]

Nothing made in the USA in that price range but the craftsman ones aren't made in the USA either.

Go HF. Quality boxes.

Most of the Cman boxes are "assembled" in the states. Not all of them, but quite a few.

If you want USA-made boxes, you have to pay the price.

 

[ed_v]

Best consumer grade toolboxes out there are the Masterforce series that are sold at Menards. Beats Craftmant or HF in looks and quality.

....Back to your topic.

I'm not sure when the quality of the Craftsman brand started to go down hill. I wish somehow the Craftsman brand could become dis-associated from the Sears brand and return to being made in the USA. Of course this will never happen!

 

[briboki]

Nothing made in the USA in that price range but the craftsman ones aren't made in the USA either.

Go HF. Quality boxes.

Yup. A few weeks ago I bought a new "premium" Craftsman 26" lower. Had 100 lbs slides and was supposed to be USA. It was junk. The drawers were horrible. Returned it and bought a HF 44" instead.

 

[kgbagent]

Best consumer grade toolboxes out there are the Masterforce series that are sold at Menards. Beats Craftmant or HF in looks and quality.

....Back to your topic.

I'm not sure when the quality of the Craftsman brand started to go down hill. I wish somehow the Craftsman brand could become dis-associated from the Sears brand and return to being made in the USA. Of course this will never happen!

Interesting. The Masterforce boxes look nice. No Menard's in PA, though.

 

[cherokee140]

I so agree...check out the General tool boxes at HF, they are really fantastic tool boxes....I am amazed at the quality.

There is quite a bit of the HF stuff that seems to be stepping up. I looked everywhere, truck tool boxes are stupid expensive, big box stores had good boxes, but a little more then I wanted to pay. HF....those tool boxes are what Craftsman tool boxes should be and at one time they had that quality and feel.

 

[Bill Ramsey]

The COO question aside, the real question is, why can't sears sell a Chinese-made box as good as the one sold at HF? I suspect they could, if they wanted to.

 

[rsanter]

Your best bargain is the HF 41" box. That is unless you can find a vintage snap on for a reasonable price. Those old boxes are built tough

Bob

 

[pauls_workshop]

For very good homeowner type boxes, last year there were some Husky closeouts and some Craftsman closeouts on black 50 pound/drawer ball bearing slide 26" boxes. These were as low as $100 for a 6 drawer 26" wide bottom and $80 for a 5 or 6 drawer top. They were made in the USA by Waterloo. Much better than any lessor ones and a great deal at the time. The Husky and the Craftsman boxes were almost identical, very similar. All gone now. But if you can find a deal on one made by Waterloo later, they are worth that price. The Menards Performax is not bad for more money and the MasterForce is very good. Of course, the better HF ones are good, but for 26" size, are more money than these above (minus the Masterforce, which is higher) when on sale. Some ideas. - Paul

 

[Askme42]

Most of the Cman boxes are "assembled" in the states. Not all of them, but quite a few.

If you want USA-made boxes, you have to pay the price.

My HF was assembled in the USA. Right in my garage.

 

[Askme42]

Interesting. The Masterforce boxes look nice. No Menard's in PA, though.

They are very nice. HF gave me a little more bang for my buck. It was between those 2.

 

[Hpozzuoli]

It is a surprising spiral. Stopped in a month back. Saw some beautiful boxes, but it was all cosmetic. Cheap and flimsy feeling.

 

[tomwmn]

Some Waterloo boxes are USA made.


"Chest and cabinet units from the Professional, Waterloo and Shop Series that have a width dimension of 41” wide or larger are being built outside the United States. Units narrower than 41” are made in the U.S.A. from domestic and imported components.

Thanks,

Ernie Tamm
Customer Care Representative
Waterloo Industries, Inc"

That was from them on June 12, 2014
Not sure how HD they are but the Waterloo series has some nice features.

 

[Ruger_556]

Proto 440 series... The 450 line is really nice but also more expensive.

 

[McFarmer]

My last purchase was made in Canada. International ?

 

[woody 73]

My last purchase was made in Canada. International ?

Funny you should talk about those boxes, I was thinking the build quality looks very good; one of my old craftsman catalogs has a few pictures from that company.

Any GJ members know any more about International from Canada?

 

[healing]

Any GJ members know any more about International from Canada?

I tried one of their lower priced 42 inch wide boxes at the store and the drawers were quite flimsy. Perhaps their upper priced boxes are better? This was the only one the store had.

It was the standard series I tried not impressed. WRT-4204 AND WRB-4205