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Harbor Freight 13 drawer tool boxes $271.99

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Cryptic1911

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May 24, 2008
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Willimantic, CT
they are made in china, but they are actually a very very nice toolbox. really rugged, thick sheetmetal, and the drawers are on nice ball bearing guides
 

rickairmedic

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May 31, 2005
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louisville ,Ky
I dont know where they are made but look around this site and you will find they are far from junk . Most folks here feel they are better than 95% of the boxes you can get at Sears today . I have the 5 drawer tool cart from HF and it is a fantastic unit . I am working finances right now to see if I can swing the 13 drawer this weekend myself as for the twice the price you wont find a box half as nice .


Rick
 

Jack Olsen

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IMO, they are better than 100% of the (no-doubt-Chinese-manufactured) Craftsman boxes.

They're certainly better made than any of the Craftsman boxes I currently own.
 

Falcon67

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Jun 11, 2009
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Merkel, TX
IMO, they are better than 100% of the (no-doubt-Chinese-manufactured) Craftsman boxes.

They're certainly better made than any of the Craftsman boxes I currently own.

What he said - go down and grab on to one, they are dad-gum decent boxes. 1/2 the price of a Craftsman slide box. I paid $500 for by 40" Craftsman roll away on a good sale. The HF units are normally $399.
 

manansal

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Oct 11, 2009
Messages
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i bought a bunch of the boxes today!

pretty psyched 20% off all the sale prices. so cheap!



tc3.jpg


tc2.jpg


tc4.jpg


tc5.jpg


tc1.jpg
 

rickairmedic

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louisville ,Ky
Mana did you stop cause you were out of room /out of money oooooor were they out of stock on anymore you might have managed to squeeze on the truck :D.


Rick
 

Shadowdog500

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Dec 7, 2009
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Down the shore
Here's an interesting comparison:

http://cedarrapids.craigslist.org/tls/1555559241.html

I'm gonna go check my local HF tomorrow. They're really good about not having stuff in stock. I wonder if they have black in stock??


While I will admit that the HF is a great buy for the sale price, I dont think it is even in the same league as that Snap on box that you referenced.

When I was at Greg Smith today, I was checking out thier tool boxes. they has a similar box to the HF box(may even be the same box), along with a whole line of progressively bigger boxes from what appears to be the same company. I do think the bigger ones could compete with any brand box, Check out this monster. Shame it is $3,995.00.

Small details in the construction, make me believe it is probably made by the same people, the box is really deep, and appears that it would hold a ton of stuff.



Chris

HT_AtlasSuperDeluxe-6.jpg


HT_AtlasSuperDeluxe-4.jpg
 
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rickairmedic

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louisville ,Ky
I didnt get the 13 drawer today buuuuuuuuut I did get the 4 drawer roller cabinet with a $99.00 coupon to go with the 5 drawer I picked up on the first of the month with a 25% off coupon :D.


Rick
 

manansal

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Oct 11, 2009
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Mana did you stop cause you were out of room /out of money oooooor were they out of stock on anymore you might have managed to squeeze on the truck :D.


Rick

pretty much a little of all of those reasons. although i was contemplating going back tomorrow. i plan to turn those side cabinets into a counter system, and thought maybe i could use a couple more.


it really seemed to make the manager's day that i bought so much. and i got 8 free flashlights!
 

Ian M

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Jan 14, 2010
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Arrrgh! I bought one LAST weekend! I had been holding on to a $339 coupon for a couple months until I finally decided to go the HF check them out,and ultimately buy one. I figured that was about the cheapest they would go. My luck.

I will concur with everyone else that they are a nice box for the money. For kicks,I looked around on the net to see if anyone else was using them (that's how I found this site) and it seems almost everyone who has one really likes it.
 

Jack Olsen

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Could Manansal (or anyone who knows) tell me the item number for the single-door cabinet on the right in this picture?

tc4.jpg
 
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pmpski_1

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Mar 15, 2006
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Kenmore WA
They were sold out at my local HF, but they gave me a raincheck for the sale price plus my 20% off coupon.
 

tdkkart

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Jun 17, 2006
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Eastern Iowa
First, can any of you tell me hw tall the 13 drawer base would be if you took the wheels off. I've got a 36" tall space under my bench that I'd like to park one of these.


OK, time for a HF rant:

Been looking at tool chests for awhile, saw this come up yesterday and finally decided that it would be a good way to go. I'd looked at the HF chests before and they do look good, so I figured this was as good a time as ever.

Just to make sure, because I've had troubles before, and they're nearly 35 miles away, I decided to call the local HF store this morning and see if they had the chests in stock.

"Hello, can you check please"
"Nope, don't have any, haven't for awhile, no idea when we will."

DAMNITT!!!
This place is ******* me off, this is at least the 3rd time that I've tried to buy something from this store and they've had none in stock. An engine hoist, a hydraulic press, and now tool chests. I've also been there and heard them tell others that they have no stock on other items.
The tool chests weren't sold out, they never had them in the first place.
With the exception of the display models, I'm pretty certain that this store doesn't stock anything bigger than a hammer.

Now WTF good does it do to have a retail store if you have nothing to sell??

I asked the same question in the Email I sent to the customer service department.
 

rickairmedic

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May 31, 2005
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louisville ,Ky
TDK I think you can order from the web site and have them ship to store so you dont end up getting hit with shipping charges . This may be the way to go if they wont stock them at your store . I guess I am lucky I have a store here in Louisville and another store right over the bridge in Indiana.


Rick
 

j-easy

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Dec 17, 2009
Messages
62
If you show up at the store and they don't have something in stock they will happily write you a rain check for whatever the sale price is. They did this for me yesterday when I went to buy a jack for $59.99 that they normally sell for $100.
 

Jack Olsen

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First, can any of you tell me hw tall the 13 drawer base would be if you took the wheels off. I've got a 36" tall space under my bench that I'd like to park one of these.
33-1/2" without the wheels.

I had to fill 35-1/2" under my bench top -- it's a strong enough cabinet to do most of the support for a bench -- and I cut wood sections to go underneath and on top of the bench.

This is still very much in progress, but you get the idea:

BenchMaking1263783199.jpg
 

X1 Mike

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Dec 4, 2008
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Flagler, Fl
I have to come clean and admit it I bought one also. It's really a pretty good box.

(hangs head in shame and walks away)
 

shephd

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Jul 30, 2005
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va
Arrrgh! I bought one LAST weekend!

I asked about any damage since they come crated, and they told me there was a 30 day money back on the sale....they would probably rering your sale if you asked.
 

Daniel Dudley

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Sep 4, 2009
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Bought two yesterday. THANK YOU, thank you for posting the sale and the 20% coupon. I never would have purchased these without it. They are going to be my new workbench in the back of the shop.

FWIW, I waited for almost ten years before I bought my first Craftsman upper box, and another 17 to buy a lower cabinet. It cost me 200 for the lower box, which is a cheap five drawer, but matches my top. If I had to pay even 500 dollars for one of these cabinets, it was probably not going to happen, much less 3000. I would just do without, for the rest of my life.

This was an amazing one shot opportunity for me, so again I thank you. My wife, a wise woman, was the one who suggested I buy a second cabinet. (She was also the one who printed the second 20% off coupon.) I am very much looking forward to putting these units to work.
 

87GN

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Jun 10, 2005
Messages
681
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phila, pa
I'm looking to get another box, but don't want to pay Snapon or Lista prices. I wouldn't even have considered a HF box. Kind of reminded me of the stuff Northern sells. After reading how a lot of you like them, I went to their webpage and there's a HF store about a mile from me! Didn't even know that. When I'm well enough to drive, I see a roadtrip to see what they got.

Mark
 

W126C

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Jan 16, 2010
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Location
Olathe, KS
Has anyone got the black one on sale or is it just the red? What's your opinion on the availability of the modular components in the future?
 

yositoco

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Dec 19, 2009
Messages
14
I went on Saturday all excited to buy one and they were all out. Got a rain check so I will definitely get one with the 25% discount.
 

larry4406

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Jan 27, 2006
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Northern Virginia
I bought the roll around box and the top cabinet. Anyone know how to rekey the locks to match? Also, the top cabinet you need to lock it to keep it closed. Anyone replace the lock with a latch or push button?

I don't need to lock myself out of my own tool box in my own garage.
 

1984GMC

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Jan 2, 2010
Messages
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Gum Spring,Va.
I picked up one today too. Bad as i hate china ****, least its on par with craftsmans **** and it cost less, If the newer craftsmans where built better and made in USA I wouldn't mind paying the extra price, but If I've gotta get chinese , I'll get it from the lowest bidder. Called the store this morning and they had 8 left, time I got there a few hours later they had 2 left..lol Wish I could have gotten both.
Installed my craftsman top box on it.
IMG_1497.jpg

IMG_1498.jpg

Gonna move all my body tools out of the non ball bearing work bench craftsman box and put em in my old ball bearing lower and put the work bench one on craigslist.
 

3798j

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Sep 27, 2008
Messages
252
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Susquehanna Valley
Was on the fence as to whether to get in the truck and go. Then decided to. Just finished unpacking and positoning. Think it's one of the better valued purchases I've made. Colonial Cobra, thanks for the heads up.
 

Jack Olsen

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I wanted mine to match my Craftsman boxes visually -- because, well... I'm kind of nuts that way. So today I painted the drawers with Rustoleum black semigloss. I planned on painting the new bench 'Craftsman red' as well -- but now I'm thinking that re-doing the red might be too nuts. The two reds are different hues, and the U.S. General has less gloss. But the more I live with it, the less I mind it.

Problem is, I already took the U.S. General badge off, which is secured with both pins and black glue. No idea which trash can I put it in.

GlueMark1263862305.jpg


So as a temporary measure, I pried one of the Craftsman badges off my regular stack, and covered up the glue. I'd be happier with no badges at all, but this gets rid of the black glob.

CraftsmanBadge1263862317.jpg


Goofy, I know. But it's how my brain works. :confused: :rolleyes:
 
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73 stingray

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Jul 11, 2009
Messages
17
Location
Ephrata,Pa
I went to HF and got a raincheck and 20 % discount :)

I was not planning on buy a new tool box but just could not pass it up!

The Lancaster county Pa store was out of them but had alot of the black ones.

Thanks for the info and heads up:thumbup:
 
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