Not quite but I did make some modifications to my 41" 2000 Series with the help of a Brazilian hardwood known as Camaru. Yeah, I probably should have went with a Harbor Freight box but I chose the Craftsman 41" combo for a few reasons.
For starters I wanted to support USA made as these Craftsman 2000 Series are made in Sedalia, Missouri. I wasn't thrilled with the quality, even whilst checking them out in the flesh at a local Lowe's. The sheet metal really is thin as it's predominantly 20 gauge with a small amount of 18 gauge thrown into the critical areas. However, I liked the setup and it was something I could haul back the same day easily. Also, I am merely a home wrencher so it would be more than sufficient for my needs. Of course I would rather have a Mac or Snap-on setup as I've felt those in person and there's a dramatic difference in quality. However, I have other priorities right now and didn't want to drop $4-5K on a used KRL or Macsimizer. Craftsman really needs to step their game up as many of the Chinese boxes are surpassing them in quality. Oh yeah, Lowe's had no 3000 series boxes available to compare to but I wasn't a fan of the color scheme or appearance based on photos online. They looked 'plasticky' so it was 2000 series or bust. Regardless, I'm certain the 3000 series quality was noticeably better than the 2000s.
Once I had the top hutch box and rolling cabinet together, I was shocked how wobbly everything was. I kneeled down and could easily see a lot of flexing and bowing of the cabinet floor's sheet metal. Fortunately my FIL had plenty of extra Camaru hardwood laying around which would be excellent for this modification. The end result:
Before you ask, I used whatever hardware I had laying around. That included copper clad lock nuts and Made in Germany exhaust bolts.
By the way, the dinky little screws that originally secured the casters were laughably small. I'm sure they would do the job but I would much rather have proper hardware in the form of nuts and bolts.
Leveling it all out with the help of two scissor jacks!
Craftsman, if you're reading this y'all gotta step your game up! I know the original Craftsman we once knew and loved is no longer around but don't taint the name you feel me?!
For starters I wanted to support USA made as these Craftsman 2000 Series are made in Sedalia, Missouri. I wasn't thrilled with the quality, even whilst checking them out in the flesh at a local Lowe's. The sheet metal really is thin as it's predominantly 20 gauge with a small amount of 18 gauge thrown into the critical areas. However, I liked the setup and it was something I could haul back the same day easily. Also, I am merely a home wrencher so it would be more than sufficient for my needs. Of course I would rather have a Mac or Snap-on setup as I've felt those in person and there's a dramatic difference in quality. However, I have other priorities right now and didn't want to drop $4-5K on a used KRL or Macsimizer. Craftsman really needs to step their game up as many of the Chinese boxes are surpassing them in quality. Oh yeah, Lowe's had no 3000 series boxes available to compare to but I wasn't a fan of the color scheme or appearance based on photos online. They looked 'plasticky' so it was 2000 series or bust. Regardless, I'm certain the 3000 series quality was noticeably better than the 2000s.
Once I had the top hutch box and rolling cabinet together, I was shocked how wobbly everything was. I kneeled down and could easily see a lot of flexing and bowing of the cabinet floor's sheet metal. Fortunately my FIL had plenty of extra Camaru hardwood laying around which would be excellent for this modification. The end result:
Before you ask, I used whatever hardware I had laying around. That included copper clad lock nuts and Made in Germany exhaust bolts.
By the way, the dinky little screws that originally secured the casters were laughably small. I'm sure they would do the job but I would much rather have proper hardware in the form of nuts and bolts. Leveling it all out with the help of two scissor jacks!
Craftsman, if you're reading this y'all gotta step your game up! I know the original Craftsman we once knew and loved is no longer around but don't taint the name you feel me?!
