Kennedy box still has friction slides
- Thread starter RedVise
- Start date
Tinner
Well-known member
You can get any of Kennedy's boxes, 29" and smaller, with either type of slide. The machinist top boxes are friction only.
Last edited:
American Locomotive
Well-known member
I've never had a problem with good rigid friction slides. As long as they're lubed, they work plenty good.
The problems are with cheap, garbage friction slides that flop around and lock-up with any kind of weight on them.
The problems are with cheap, garbage friction slides that flop around and lock-up with any kind of weight on them.
Wamsutta
Well-known member
Friction slides have their advantages; one being is you don't have to have the drawer all the way closed to keep it from moving.
Musicinabottle
Banned
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2016
- Messages
- 3,371
I have a couple Kennedy boxes and I know that everyone raves about them but I'm not super impressed with mine. I inherited one from my dad and the other I bought for $5 then sold it to my friend.
Lookin4'67Galaxieconv
Well-known member
Must be where you live. Out here their resale value is quite good because they're solid, American made tool boxes.
I'll have to come out sometime and pick up those $200 boxes for $8.
Vinko
Well-known member
Must be where you live. Out here their resale value is quite good because they're solid, American made tool boxes.
I'll have to come out sometime and pick up those $200 boxes for $8.
I was going to say the same thing. I sometimes think they're priced too high (I'm a fan of the bottom boxes with 6-8 drawers). Don't care as much for the type that has the large drawer that "pulls out and up" on the bottom but those are good for throwing drills and grinders and whatnot in them.
I also find that a lot of the old Kennedy boxes are in better condition then the SO boxes of the same time period -- at what I've found -- and when I restore them are in much more functional, working condition.
Yeh that pretty much my opinion. Good friction slides are fine and no real ballache. my old boxes have friction slides and been no bother in 25yrs use .
ball bearings are good on bigger full width drawers of large boxes but certainly not a must feature when looking at bargain used boxes .
Probably lot easier selling ball bearing over slides but that just makes friction better buy for those who know they more than usable .
MushCreek
Well-known member
I converted my old Kennedy chest to roller slides. After many, many years, the old friction slides just wouldn't work smoothly anymore. I cleaned them, greased them, and yet they were so stiff that the box would roll before the drawer would open. Mine wasn't designed to be converted, so I had to remove the old slides by drilling out the spot welds, and installed roller slides from a kitchen supply place. Works great now.
Shocked that a box with Friction Slides still has Friction Slides?
I believe that is a 276 (27" 6 Drawers) box, I have the same one, and a 3 drawer bottom same wrinkle paint (which has been discontinued) I'd like to find a 285 to go with my setup. But Kennedy is the first toolboxes I ever encountered with Ball Bearings, service carts and the like. that was back when I was about 6 years old. My dad had machinists boxes from Kennedy that he got back during WWII... and a Carpenter's box in the 50s...
They are for sure High Dollar boxes for no REALLY good reason aside from being SOLID and American Made....
I believe that is a 276 (27" 6 Drawers) box, I have the same one, and a 3 drawer bottom same wrinkle paint (which has been discontinued) I'd like to find a 285 to go with my setup. But Kennedy is the first toolboxes I ever encountered with Ball Bearings, service carts and the like. that was back when I was about 6 years old. My dad had machinists boxes from Kennedy that he got back during WWII... and a Carpenter's box in the 50s...
They are for sure High Dollar boxes for no REALLY good reason aside from being SOLID and American Made....
bobcatdan
Well-known member
I think where Kennedy comes off as being expensive is when they are compared to a known object like craftsman boxes, which really have not gone up in price in the last 20 years like most of their other tools. Where as Kennedy has followed the normal price increase over the years to adjust for operating cost. If you want to compare apples to apples, proto still offers a lot of 26" boxes and those aren't cheap either.
Wamsutta
Well-known member
Also, the drawers in a box that size aren't really going to be holding that much weight to need ball bearing slides.
MushCreek
Well-known member
I'm a toolmaker by trade, so my drawers are full of a LOT of heavy tool steel. Angle blocks, vises, 1-2-3 blocks, V-blocks, parallels, etc. Probably why mine wore out.
Majority of kennedy boxes are not bought by individuals, but more so companies and even government businesses. They are iconic in the skilled labor trades, especially in factories, from maintenance to the production floor. They are seen as a cheaper fill in and personal box below an industrial cabinet. So while they may not seem a good value for the individual, for the larger company they certainly are.
With that said, they have about the worst resale value of any tool box maker. For a long time the machinist community was their majority market share. However with modern machining tools being larger and bulkier, many entering the trade are going to the mechanics line or another brand mechanics tool box. Same trend happened with Gerstner in that their market is now a portion machinists with majority being storage of fine delicate collections. Knives, guns, watches, jewelry, etc.
One thing nice about their modern friction slide boxes (barring the machinist top chest series) is that they use snap in runners on the box and drawer side instead of the welded in runners. Which if they do ever get damaged beyond repair one can buy another entire assembly or even upgrade to ball bearing slides without having to drill spot welds and the like.
With that said, they have about the worst resale value of any tool box maker. For a long time the machinist community was their majority market share. However with modern machining tools being larger and bulkier, many entering the trade are going to the mechanics line or another brand mechanics tool box. Same trend happened with Gerstner in that their market is now a portion machinists with majority being storage of fine delicate collections. Knives, guns, watches, jewelry, etc.
One thing nice about their modern friction slide boxes (barring the machinist top chest series) is that they use snap in runners on the box and drawer side instead of the welded in runners. Which if they do ever get damaged beyond repair one can buy another entire assembly or even upgrade to ball bearing slides without having to drill spot welds and the like.
Historically, machinist tool boxes are about the most dense loaded tool box due to the nature of the tools needed. As MushCreek mentioned, fixture plates, V blocks, surface gauges, tooling holders, even tooling (HSS blanks, large drills, end mills, etc.) are all very dense and can pack in a small drawer very easily. The theory was with thinner drawers typically found in a true machinist chest, one could not stack the tools. With modern machinist tools being digital they are difficult to fit in the thinner drawers. The box that the OP posted is really out of Kennedy's mechanics line.
WittHay
Well-known member
American Locomotive
Well-known member
$2500 for some folded and painted steel.
crewchief888
Well-known member
i had kennedy machinist's boxes when i worked as a machinist. my 1st mechanics boxes were also kennedy in brown wrinkle finish, friction slides.
while they were ok for home use, once i started wrenching for a living, they kinda fell short of my storage expectations. i paid $500 for the top and roller cab new in 1978, i traded them on my SO boxes in '86 and got my $500 back on trade. similar boxes now are approx 2X's the price.
as mentioned theres nothing wrong with a good set of friction slides, but nowadays they seem to be a "hard sell" with all the bearing slide boxes out there now.
bobcatdan
Well-known member
$2500 for some folded and painted steel.
You forgot spot welded. Also the KRA 62c weights 180 lbs empty so there is a bit of steel in it.
crewchief888
Well-known member
$2500 for some folded and painted steel.
^^^
yea them spot weld are expensive
but i'm guessing you havent priced or (or purchased) a "professional" toolbox lately (or ever).
i paid that much for a new KR550/555B set that i bought in '86...
back then, at $6/hr, that was a whole lotta money....
FWIW, i still have that set of boxes, they are sitting in my garage now "retired" from daily use in a heavy eq shop.
Cope
Well-known member
^^^
yea them spot weld are expensive
but i'm guessing you havent priced or (or purchased) a "professional" toolbox lately (or ever).
i paid that much for a new KR550/555B set that i bought in '86...
back then, at $6/hr, that was a whole lotta money....
FWIW, i still have that set of boxes, they are sitting in my garage now "retired" from daily use in a heavy eq shop.
Those were the good old days.
Sometimes people prefer friction slides depending on their work environment.
I've flipped my share of kennedys, they can bring good money but the model and condition are everything.
I have a 2 bay 3915 right now but probly gonna hang onto it for a while.
I've flipped my share of kennedys, they can bring good money but the model and condition are everything.
I have a 2 bay 3915 right now but probly gonna hang onto it for a while.
American Locomotive
Well-known member
You can get a brand new Nissan Versa for $12,000. In what reality would 5 of those tool-boxes be equal the materials and labor of building a car
crewchief888
Well-known member
Thinking back, I wonder how "good" those days really were?
True, it was a much simpler time, especially in the world of construction equipment repair.
bobcatdan
Well-known member
This weekend I was paging threw an old supply catalog, couldn't find a year on it. Found my exact Kennedy roll cab in there, including optional red wrinkle finish. $60.84 new, pretty good resale, I paid $60 for it 5 or so years ago.