Clarke Cabinets from Summitracing

[enginerd]

I just saw these in the catalog, new line they are carrying.

Has anyone seen these or know if they are rebranded or some other generic cabinet thats not being sold?

$130 is not bad for the wall cabinet, and $250 for the rolling cabinet is not bad either, and $300 for the tall rolling cabinet is pretty good too.

 

[wilbilt]

Clarke is Chinese HF/ TSC junk. Look at the photos...the doors don't even fit well. Very light gauge "steel", too.

 

[Jononon]

'Clarke International' is a British firm that sticks its name on all manner of imported garage tools. The stuff sold by MachineMart in the UK is not so bad that it won't get the job done, or will be DOA, so I suspect it comes from Chinese factories where the kids working on the production line get one more bowl of gruel a day than those making HF's tools.

However, IMHO, the storage is the worst of those Clarke products MachineMart do sell, and they don't stock those particular cupboards, making me suspect they're rougher still.

Best avoided.

 

[enginerd]

Sounds good, thanks.

 

[mhoffm911]

I know these are just particle board cabinets, but I really like the looks of them. They are from IKEA and are part of the series the other guy posted about getting his workbench from them:

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50108220

 

[enginerd]

We're only using steel.

We're looking into some commercial grade cabinets Grainger has.

Geneva's are not bad either, but not sure if the red will work, but we can always paint em.

A friend of mine is making a run of high end steel cabinets, so I'll see what kind of deal we can get on those.

 

[wythors]

It looks like you've already got your answer, but I thought I'd add that I visited Summit Racing in Reno this summer and that the Clarke stuff is, indeed, very cheap looking and feeling. It is on a par with the stuff that Autozone or Checker/Schucks/Kragen sells. Personally, I really like the Craftsman Pro cabinents. They're excellent for the price, IMO.

 

[enginerd]

Thanks again. We're looking into other options. The only reason not going with Baldhead/Moduline is because of the amount of cabinets we need, it would be $15-20k.

I'm also waiting to see what my friends new cabinet line is going to cost. Its a high end product that should be pretty affordable.

We have a couple of the pro models, they are nice, we'll reconsider them as well. Pricing is not bad for the wall and tall cabinets, plus we already have some to keep the style throughout. $4k we can get 10 of each...not bad.

A couple more of these would not hurt either, at $320, it would match and we have a couple already so we know they are decent quality.

 

[bas157]

I pretty much am under the opinion that any Clarke stuff is junk. Seems to be the same thoughts that others have.
Don't think I'd buy anything with that name on it.

 

[enginerd]

Yea, seems to be the consensus, junk!

Here is what I think the wall will look like, imagine two extra wide bays in front of them...this is in the shop of the garage. Open spaces will be filled with rolling tool chests, and in the middle there will be a 37" lcd.

 

[hdj80]

These are a chinese made cabinet sold under a few different brands. I bought two of the wall cabinets here in Australia for AUS$120 sold by Glenfords Tools under some other name.
Mine though have stainless steel doors and the identical hammer coat panels on the rest. They are a flat pack bolt together item and by australian standards quite good value for money. Once screwed together they are quite rigid and certainly don't flex or sway.
The large USA market might mean there are better alternatives and at $130 US for the basic cabinet they certainly don't rate as good as the stainless ones I bought. You would probably need to compare them side by side with the alternatives.

Personally I'm happy with them. They look OK, they work - suits my purposes - it's my workshop not a showroom.

 

[79Sleeper]

Damn near everything is made in China so.... While I have not used the cabinets in question, the Clarke HD line of toolboxes are of decent quality. fwiw, I have a box similiar to this one:

http://www.performancetoolcenter.com/cbb261.html

and it is of similiar quality to a Mac Tech 1000 box, has more room, and was 1/2 the cost.

Troy

 

[wythors]

Damn near everything is made in China so.... While I have not used the cabinets in question, the Clarke HD line of toolboxes are of decent quality. fwiw, I have a box similiar to this one:

http://www.performancetoolcenter.com/cbb261.html

and it is of similiar quality to a Mac Tech 1000 box, has more room, and was 1/2 the cost.

Troy

Having seen this exact item in person and working with several people that have Mac Tech boxes, I have to disagree with your statement completely. The Clarke piece feels significantly lower in quality than the low line Craftsman ball bearing stuff. The Mac Tech series is worlds above the Clarke in build quality.

 

[edl]

give the costco ones a look in the other thread i started ...if they are junk to they at least (i) look better (imho) and (ii) are less than half of those prices - good luck