Gray Tools Canada Gray Pro+ toolbox: now made in Taiwan.

[jvitez]

So almost 5 years ago I took the plunge and bought my first roller cabinet. Man was it awesome! No more working out of multiple hand boxes. In my excitement I posted a thread with pics.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=65132

I really like the multiple small drawers, the old-school handles, and the fact that it was made in Canada by a respected old Canadian tool manufacturer. For those of my American compatriots that don't know, Gray Tools has been around for 100 years and makes hard line tools of equal quality to any of the major US manufacturers. They don't have a big internet presence and market mostly to industrial customers, so we don't hear as much about them anymore as companies that market to the automotive segment, but years ago Canadian Tire sold a lower line of Gray Canadian make tools that were very popular and excellent quality. So any Canuck tool guy worth his grease and skinned knuckles will know about Gray Tools.

When I bought the the roller cabinet alone I though it would be enough. Then GJ took over. I quickly added a top chest and side locker, and thought I was finally done.

The pic at the bottom shows how it looks today..

It's held up beautifully, excellent quality, and I'm still happy with the drawer configuration, though the 18" depth isn't great and I would like one full width drawer up top for my sockets. But all in all these are minor issues for my home hobbyist use.

I need a bigger box. Do I buy a 41" or 56" top chest/roller cabinet combo, or do I just buy a second Gray Pro box, put them side by side, and in effect have a 52" toolbox with a side locker? My final thought was to buy a matching Gray Pro box. So I look on their website, and that line is now called Gray Pro+ with ball bearing slides, not the friction slide mine came with, and the paint looks a different shade of red. Hmmmm. So I call the company directly and speak with a sales rep. She informs me these boxes are now made in Taiwan and have different red colour. No Gray toolboxes are made in Canada at all anymore she says. Gray used to have 3 lines of toolboxes, now only two. I find an online Canuck tool dealer who still has photos of the Canadian made Gray Pro series on their website. I call them up ready to order, but they tell me all their toolboxes are ordered when the online order is made, so they keep no toolboxes in inventory and hadn't updated their website yet.

So now I'm stuck. Do I sell this box and buy a bigger SPG International one that's still made in Canada, or give in and get a Chinese or Taiwanese one? Then as I'm perusing this fabulous website called Garage Journal, I come across this thread:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=272670&highlight=beach+toolbox+back



Boo to Gray for caving in and offshoring more Canadian manufacturing. Kudos to Beach for resurrecting an iconic Canadian brand, and for keeping some jobs in Canada.

 

[pipsters]

Don't get the Value series SPG. You'll regret it. Cheap and flimsy.

 

[KamiCrit]

...Well that *****.

 

[jvitez]

Don't get the Value series SPG. You'll regret it. Cheap and flimsy.

I've seen the rebranded SPG ones at NAPA and they seemed OK to me on cursory inspection. Do you have a Value series box? They're sold on costco.ca of all places and the price seems excellent, but Costco does extract low wholesale prices from vendors.

I hope someone gets up close and personal with a new Beach toolbox soon and posts their findings.

 

[jvitez]

...Well that *****.

Yup. Especially with your signature.

 

[lbgradwell]

Gray Pro...

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=272670&highlight=beach+toolbox+back


Boo to Gray for caving in and offshoring more Canadian manufacturing. Kudos to Beach for resurrecting an iconic Canadian brand, and for keeping some jobs in Canada.

Boo, indeed. But there's a bit more to the story...

If the new Beach boxes look familiar to you, there's a reason for that: the parent company to the "new" Beach - G.H. Metals - were the people who made the old Pro Series for Gray in the first place!

 

[oldtools]

I ran into some large Gray wrenches at the flee market and was surprise at the low quality (same as HF India made wrench). Maybe it is their low end tools line.

 

[lilredex]

These??

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=70908

 

[oldtools]

These??

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=70908

No. Those I saw have "Gray Canada" stamped on them. They are chrome plated. They look much much worst than the one in the link (think HF India quality). Not sure whether they are real gray tools or imitation. I should have take some pictures.

 

[FMC1959]

I've seen the rebranded SPG ones at NAPA and they seemed OK to me on cursory inspection. Do you have a Value series box? They're sold on costco.ca of all places and the price seems excellent, but Costco does extract low wholesale prices from vendors.

I hope someone gets up close and personal with a new Beach toolbox soon and posts their findings.

I have this one
http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B004FLJ6T6/?tag=atomicindus04-20

Cheap and flimsy depends on your perspective. I got it on Amazon when they had it for $399 delivered; for that price I find it quite good. At regular price, I find it is OK, definitely would not last in a commercial setting, but fine for me.

The Gray cabinet now made in TW, see if you can check it out first, made in TW does not mean cheap, and in some case can be excellent. If Gray has it made to their standards, I would bet it is much better quality than the International I have.

 

[jvitez]

If the new Beach boxes look familiar to you, there's a reason for that: the parent company to the "new" Beach - G.H. Metals - were the people who made the old Pro Series for Gray in the first place!

Very interesting!!! I did a double take after looking at the first Beach pic, as my first impression was "That's my toolbox!" Just curious how you know. Do you work in the industry maybe? It would be awesome if can buy another of my same toolboxes with only slightly different cosmetics.

FMC1959: I have definite respect for Taiwanese tool manufacturing, as I have Toptul and Facom wrenches that are excellent quality. In no way do I believe Made in Canada must always be better. It's the loss of Canadian jobs that concerns me, and selling out to the cheaper-cheaper/faster-faster mantra of modern day manufacturing.

Thanks for the amazon link! I never would have thought to look at amazon.ca for toolboxes. Costco.ca was strange enough.

 

[nicksnothereman]

Depends on the level of quality but I'd say the taiwanese box is probably not a bad option. Their metalwork is impressive. Not that people encounter it everyday but if you ever get a chance to inspect stainless exhaust made in taiwan there is zero chance you will not be completely impressed with the craftsmanship; literally incredible. Only problem is that it's not cheap which is definite problem because no one will say it's better quality than a domestic mfg. The high end stuff actually might be but I won't go there.

 

[lbgradwell]

Just curious how you know.

I was told...

 

[lbgradwell]

No. Those I saw have "Gray Canada" stamped on them. They are chrome plated. They look much much worst than the one in the link (think HF India quality). Not sure whether they are real gray tools or imitation. I should have take some pictures.

What you saw was the old 0-Series (Maple Leaf) wrenches. You can read about them here. They look like ****, but they're very strong.

 

[oldtools]

What you saw was the old 0-Series (Maple Leaf) wrenches. You can read about them here. They look like ****, but they're very strong.

I always though Gray is the Canadian equivalent of SO. I didn't know they make low end wrench also. Should have created a separate brand for the low end line.

 

[Spinaker01]

I always though Gray is the Canadian equivalent of SO. I didn't know they make low end wrench also. Should have created a separate brand for the low end line.

My "backup" SAE wrenches are a set of the old 80's vintage (I bought new back in the day) GRAY Maple Leaf line. They were the value series from Gray and while not polished they were/are a very tough set of wrenches probably comparable to Armstrong or Proto would be my guess. Sorry for the poor pic.

 

[thetreshon]

As far as I know, ALL of Gray's tool storage is now offshore, and a lot of us first found out about the Beach relaunch from a Beach worker who posted this thread:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=272670&highlight=beach

I plan to buy from Beach as I always loved their vintage stuff, their work for Gray Tools and really want to see their new stuff in person.