Craftsman tool boxes at Lowes

[Fender1325]

Noticed some craftsman boxes online at Lowes. I'm not in the market but it does seem they would be competitive with HF boxes now.

Ball bearing, double wall 18/20 gauge steel (strange but okay) made in USA with global materials. Price points on par with HF.

Hey, I say good for them.

https://m.lowes.com/pd/CRAFTSMAN-He...all-bearing-Steel-Tool-Cabinet-Red/1000462565

 

[archirelic]

There's a huge Craftsman Tools layout at my local Lowes. Tons of Craftsman boxes on display and all of them are very disappointing with regards to build quality. Very lightweight and flimsy. I messed around with easily 7-8 different boxes and they're no different than the low quality units Sears always had in store.

I don't know how they plan on reinvigorating the brand if all they're doing is marketing and selling the same sub par stuff they had at Sears.

Perhaps online they offer some heavier duty units, but everything in store was very disappointing. All the Kobalt units are built better.

 

[Fender1325]

When I was searching for a box (ended up with the earlier gen. HF one) I looked at Lowes, HD, Sears and HF. Some of the boxes at Lowes and HD were actually identical to the cheaper HF black ones.

Sears was **** at the same price point. Perhaps the boxes at your Lowe's were old stock Sears stuff. Back when I looked about a year ago $350/400 didn't even get you ball bearing drawers as I recall from Sears.

Hopefully they're hip to what's really what on the market. I suppose it would just feel good to see craftsman atleast be competitive to HF. Still a little glimmer of brand loyalty to those tools we all used with Dad growing up I guess. Don't get me wrong, I don't buy craftsman currently and stopped a few years ago, but, here's hoping they can save it.

 

[1982fxr]

They’re not going to be able to use US labor in US facilities and hit the same price points on those cheap boxes that china can hit. Even with imported materials.

That box in the link is never going to be on par with for instance US general for frickin $399. Sorry but get real. Wish I was wrong.

 

[nelstomlinson]

Other threads here have said that SBD is going to sell current Craftsman production as sourced by Sears until they can make their own production arrangements. I suppose they don't want to just slap a Craftsman label on their Proto boxes, because then they couldn't hit the Craftsman price point, and they would be cannabalizing their Proto sales.

 

[1982fxr]

99% of the people shopping at Lowe’s would think a Vidmar or Lista badged as ceaftsman was a $2,500 file cabinet and we would probably have 10 new members a day starting threads about what a rip off the new craftsman is.

 

[jimreed2160]

I agree with the assessment of the current stock on display. It seems a little too lightweight for me. But I think they are headed in the right direction. In my opinion, there is much fertile unexplored ground in the toolbox market. Most of the high quality boxes I have seen have shallow drawers and are made for mechanics and their handtools. Lowes, like Sears, is more of a weekend warrior place. I think that market would appreciate units with deeper drawers that could hold cordless tools and household items.

So the toolboxes we see in Lowes today are the old line from Sears. That is expected because it is all they have to sell right now. Just wait a few months and maybe the box offerings will morph into something more in line with Lowes customers. It takes awhile to turn a big ship around.

 

[AceofSpad3s]

Noticed some craftsman boxes online at Lowes. I'm not in the market but it does seem they would be competitive with HF boxes now.

Ball bearing, double wall 18/20 gauge steel (strange but okay) made in USA with global materials. Price points on par with HF.

Hey, I say good for them.

https://m.lowes.com/pd/CRAFTSMAN-He...all-bearing-Steel-Tool-Cabinet-Red/1000462565

Drawer layout on that is ****, especially considering it's 52" wide and is probably reusing drawers from a 26. Too many deeps and too narrow

 

[Sco Deac]

It’s no so simple that SBD is marketing Sears legacy sourced products until they ramp up. It’s more complicated and seems to be an evolving process.

Take just the ratchet sets for example. The sets with the familar RP ratchets appear to be from legacy Sears sources. The gunmetal sets, however, appear to be the result of SBD’s influence. They share a similar genealogy with the Stanley FatMax black chrome sets introduced a year or two ago. As for tool storage, Sears was sourcing some products from Waterloo. SBD has not acquired Waterloo. Are these just rebadged Templar Waterloo designs or uniquely spec’d for the Craftsman brand?

There will be a mix of sourcing for a while until they can shift over. Part of it is simply that it takes time to get a new design of anything delivered to market. Another aspect is we don’t know what long term contract commitments SBD assumed as part of the deal. We know that some Western Forge Craftsman contracts were not renewed. Other contracts may be locked in for a while.

 

[ihateminimumwage]

The black 26" CM boxes I saw at Lowes are the same Waterloo boxes that were in the Hot Deals section a couple years back that were moving for $35 each with a coupon (IIRC). Cheaply made, but been hammering mine as a road box since then and it's not completely destroyed... Yet.

 

[dale500]

I have the 52 inch box the op referenced and for me it suits my needs well. There are better boxes and more expensive boxes but it all depends on what you need and how you are planning to use it. Would it survive daily use by a pro is up for debate but would largely depended on the individual user. For me as a home box it will still be looking good long after I'm dead and gone. I might need to upgrade the casters someday but that will be about all. For me 4 smaller drawers that hold a hundred pounds each works better than one large drawer that holds one hundred pounds total.

 

[Outahere]

The Craftsman "2000 Series" made-in-the-USA top box gets good reviews at Lowes.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/CRAFTSMAN-...in-H-5-Drawer-Steel-Tool-Chest-Red/1000615509

 

[Professional Tool User]

Other threads here have said that SBD is going to sell current Craftsman production as sourced by Sears until they can make their own production arrangements. I suppose they don't want to just slap a Craftsman label on their Proto boxes, because then they couldn't hit the Craftsman price point, and they would be cannabalizing their Proto sales.

Stanley now owns Waterloo. They have the capability to do whatever they want. Right now that seems to mean slapping made in USA with global materials stickers on flimsy Waterloo sourced boxes.

 

[Professional Tool User]

It’s no so simple that SBD is marketing Sears legacy sourced products until they ramp up. It’s more complicated and seems to be an evolving process.

Take just the ratchet sets for example. The sets with the familar RP ratchets appear to be from legacy Sears sources. The gunmetal sets, however, appear to be the result of SBD’s influence. They share a similar genealogy with the Stanley FatMax black chrome sets introduced a year or two ago. As for tool storage, Sears was sourcing some products from Waterloo. SBD has not acquired Waterloo. Are these just rebadged Templar Waterloo designs or uniquely spec’d for the Craftsman brand?

There will be a mix of sourcing for a while until they can shift over. Part of it is simply that it takes time to get a new design of anything delivered to market. Another aspect is we don’t know what long term contract commitments SBD assumed as part of the deal. We know that some Western Forge Craftsman contracts were not renewed. Other contracts may be locked in for a while.

Stanley has taken over Waterloo. If you don't believe me, just run a Google search. If you bothered reading the details of the Craftsman takeover deal, it gives Sears the right to run their own line of Craftsman tools for a certain number of years after the deal is signed while Stanley introduces their own Craftsman line. Stanley can theoretically do whatever they want in terms of the tools they introduce. In this case, they've moved on from temporary stock to rebranding other Stanley products or having one of their subsidiaries supply something that is designed for the Craftsman brand like the tool boxes.

 

[Ralf11]

They’re not going to be able to use US labor in US facilities and hit the same price points on those cheap boxes that china can hit. Even with imported materials.

That box in the link is never going to be on par with for instance US general for frickin $399. Sorry but get real. Wish I was wrong.

Will they be able to use US robots in US facilities and hit the same price points on those cheap boxes that china can hit?

 

[Paul_The_Builder]

I haven't been impressed with any of the Craftsman boxes at Lowes. I think they have poor drawer layout, and they're not not as sturdy as the HF freight boxes. Most of them are 18" deep, and don't have soft close or latching drawers.

I rather like the Husky boxes at Home Depot. They have a really good variety, good drawer layouts, most boxes are 24" deep with a decent work surface on top, and most of the newer boxes have soft close slides, which I thought were kind of gimmicky until I got them and now I love them.

 

[whateg01]

The thing that I really noticed I don't like about the craftsman boxes at lowes are the soft close slides. They seem to take a lot of pull to get them the first couple inches out then they let go. I commented about them to a buddy and he said the soft close drawers in his kitchen don't require any more force to open than his non-soft close drawers used to. Maybe I just need to get out more but that seemed really bad. I am looking at a husky box similar to the Yukon at hf. It's slightly more money but it's deeper.

 

[mikester]

They screwed up when they stopped offering side boxes. I'd buy a HF set just for that reason alone.

 

[Paul_The_Builder]

The thing that I really noticed I don't like about the craftsman boxes at lowes are the soft close slides. They seem to take a lot of pull to get them the first couple inches out then they let go. I commented about them to a buddy and he said the soft close drawers in his kitchen don't require any more force to open than his non-soft close drawers used to. Maybe I just need to get out more but that seemed really bad. I am looking at a husky box similar to the Yukon at hf. It's slightly more money but it's deeper.

The soft close drawers require significantly less force to open once the drawer is loaded up with weight (tools). So they feel terrible while empty (in the store), but once the box is full they are great.

 

[BiggityBen]

The Craftsman "2000 Series" made-in-the-USA top box gets good reviews at Lowes.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/CRAFTSMAN-...in-H-5-Drawer-Steel-Tool-Chest-Red/1000615509

i think i have the bottom box that goes with this in my work van. it's actually pretty great so far (maybe 3 months of use). i don't think it was even $250 and it perfectly fits in a gap between a shelving rack and the driver's cab, like it was made for it.

 

[Jtels85]

Why buy from Lowe’s anyway when you can score this deal right now. “No low ballerz, I no what I got”.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Craftsman-tool-box-full-of-tools-automotive-mechanic-tools/402793382946?hash=item5dc85b4422:g:AcsAAOSwsrVgd2zu

 

[Jeepster04]

Its always confused me when people say the old and new craftsman tool boxes are junk. Ive had the 'old' craftsman ball bearing tool boxes since 2010 and I love them. Nice and smooth with a perfect notch to hold the drawers closed. Im sure they'll last my lifetime. I've never gotten up and tried to stand on the drawers or anything, idk how the tool box would ever fail.

Ive got a new lowes tool box and its ok. I really dont like the soft close drawers and how hard you have to pull to open the drawers.

 

[MarvinBerry]

The soft close drawers require significantly less force to open once the drawer is loaded up with weight (tools). So they feel terrible while empty (in the store), but once the box is full they are great.

Same experience here.

Bought a box in January and now that it's mostly loaded the drawers open & close much smoother then empty.

Overall I can't find anything to complain about. Not sure it'd hold up to a 24 7 pro environment beating but doesn't seem any better or worse then cman boxes of years ago?