HF 26" vs 44" cabinet

[Quijote]

I am certainly buying at least one 44" 13-drawer cabinet. The question is do I buy a 2nd and put a work surface over the two as a few here have done, or do I get a 26" cabinet instead. The drawers are higher up and easier to get smaller bits out of versus reaching down. But that means having to buy or build (I have little time for the next year) a sturdy work bench.

Is the build quality different between the two?

Thanks!

 

[jjjrmx5]

26" goes up. 44" is wide.

Just depends on your space and the footprint you need.

I;ve lived in houses with basements where teh 44" would not fit thus 26" tall is where I went.

For a shop, the 44" is prime as it gives you nice storage and a work surface.

It's all about your persnaol space and its setup. Both boxes are capable but the 44" tends to be the better alternative if you ask most here on GJ.

For my home use, I like tall and less footprint unless I have gobbs of room in the basement and garage.

YMMV.

 

[cheechi]

speaking as someone who bought a husky 26" stack a few years back, if I had to buy any of the cheap 26" I would get the HF one. It's at least as good as any from HD, Lowes, TSC, etc.

I would not buy the 26" if I had room for the 44. I would not buy the 26 & 44 if I had room for 2x 44. Yes there is a difference in quality. Hard to describe exactly because the 26" is not bad, but the 44" is better.

 

[Quijote]

Thanks guys.

 

[arbadacarba]

I bought my 26 based on the square inches of drawer space available. Mostly I needed flat space. The 44 on the other hand has greater cubic inches of space, but I found the 26 easier to lay tools out in.

I do wish the top drawer was deeper for sockets.

 

[allinon72]

The 26" just doesn't feel of the same quality IMO.

 

[celticbhoy]

I have the 26" and really like it. I wish I had bought the 44" just because I have more tools than I initially thought, but the 26" is fine quality. Best $320 I have spent in a very long time.

 

[Quijote]

See, I already have a 26" Craftsman ball bearing that I bought maybe 5-6 years ago (5-drawer bottom & 5-drawer chest). It still looks brand new. I was planning on leaving that one in my attached garage and buy the HF stuff for the upcoming, new detached garage. But I am starting to think I will not have enough of the type of tools to warrant leaving it there.

I think will bring that to the new garage and compliment it with two 44" HF cabinets under a work surface. If I find I need it, I may just get a small chest for the attached garage later.

I'm planning on moving almost all my tools to the detached garage/workshop and just leave a few basic tools in the house. Basically the few tools I used to have out of college before I upgraded to nicer stuff and my small, 12V cordless. Just enough to hang, assemble, and install stuff around the house.

 

[Loscaldazar]

I have a 44in HF box and a 26in Performax (Menards cheaper brand) box. The HF 44 is definitely more heavy duty (and more storage, but the Performax with 8 drawers on the bottom and 6 more on top is just shy of 15,000cubic inches), but doesn't have as smooth as drawers, and lacks the nice gripping mechanism that pulls the drawer in and locks it the performax has. The Performax is such a nice tool box for a home shop (not pro use). Blows anything from sears, Lowes, HD, etc out of the water, and challenges the HF 44in box in every aspect except thickness of steel and expandability.

If Performax made a box equal to the size of the HF 44in, I would have never gotten the 44in HF one.