HF US General Boxes, Are They Worth It?

[rangerfredbob]

Here's my new box, it's a 56" top and bottom with two 7 drawer side boxes. The first one is on the right and is a little darker than the rest and the second one that's on the left...

Conveniently I got everything either on sale or on one of the 20% off anything weekends... Since I just moved into the shop a week ago I don't have stuff in most of the drawers yet...

 

[TudorTom]

Was in HF today, asked the manager if he knew when the us general side locker would be back, he had no clue. He did send an email inquiry in asking, told me he'd let me know. Not that I need one now but, you how it goes.

No HF store in my area has the end cabinets or side lockers in stock either. I'm hoping they're simply re-designing them as some are speculating, but part of me wonders if they're quietly discontinuing them. Outside of this forum, I've seen relatively few of them being used amongst friends/acquaintances/former colleagues who have the USG roller cabinets.

About a year ago I bought the USG end cabinet to use stand-alone as parts storage for a temporary project. Nicest $250 tool chest I've ever had. When I was done with it, I put it on FB Marketplace & Craig's List - in mint condition, at a good price, and in a large metropolitan area. Didn't get a single bite for well over a month, and still haven't. Guess I'll just have to keep it

My own experiences obviously don't reflect the market as a whole, but if they're at all indicative of the current demand for these things, I could see why HF might give up on them to make room for other stuff that sells better.

 

[Renegade1LI]

Tudor Tom i out a first gen cart and side box on fb and sold the next day for asking price, just depends where you are. Hf by me has the end cabinets, may go get two to have them for a later project.

 

[Renegade1LI]

Here's my new box, it's a 56" top and bottom with two 7 drawer side boxes. The first one is on the right and is a little darker than the rest and the second one that's on the left...

Conveniently I got everything either on sale or on one of the 20% off anything weekends... Since I just moved into the shop a week ago I don't have stuff in most of the drawers yet...

Nice balanced look and love the blue.

 

[Mr_B]

A US Gen 56" with end cabinet is pretty usable box and drawer sizes .
Could of done with full length top drawer and the plastic drawer latches **** but it pretty solid for potential coupon/deal prices .
I see a few of these in auto shops and they do the job for an entry tech box or stationary box quite well .

 

[rangerfredbob]

Oh yeah, the drawer latches aren't my favorite, my 4X" box doesn't have them. I'm thinking of converting them to detents like I saw someone do in the HFT box mod thread... I'll probably jack up the box and space the front casters down 1/8" too to help it naturally go backward...

 

[Mr_B]

One of the SKU's for the 56" has detents in the slides by chance as slides different supplier (wheels and plastic latches different supplier too) as well as the plastic latch which useful .
Amazed me they didn't improve the latch or include detents so buyers could use what preferred.

 

[Renegade1LI]

I want to get the set up rangerfredbob has for our shop, I really don’t mind the latches, as long as the slides roll good. Just waiting for another sale.

 

[rangerfredbob]

Yeah, I like the setup, I'm hoping not to have too much junk just out in the open like I have now in the garage...

Getting everything on sale I think I have ~$1300 in that setup.

 

[Renegade1LI]

You know how it is you want it now but don’t want to pay full price, wait another week and see if there’s a coupon.

 

[whateg01]

Most of my tools are at home now. Temporary labels look really good imo, so even though I ordered a new bigger label maker, I don't know if I'll use it or not. It's not going to be at the top of the list anyway. Still have a few empty drawers but I also still have a few things to put in them.

 

[Renegade1LI]

Most of my tools are at home now. Temporary labels look really good imo, so even though I ordered a new bigger label maker, I don't know if I'll use it or not. It's not going to be at the top of the list anyway. Still have a few empty drawers but I also still have a few things to put in them.

Looks good putting the 4 base cabinets together, lots of drawers.

 

[whateg01]

Looks good putting the 4 base cabinets together, lots of drawers.

I started having second thoughts about the height after I got them stacked, but have found it not to be that big of a deal. I already had risers on my other boxes, so the top drawer was about an inch below eye level. This puts the top drawer just high enough I have to stand on my toes, but so far I've got the keys and drawer labels in one of the top drawers and nothing in the other. I don't think it's going to be a problem.

 

[GForceJunky]

Does anyone else find the 72" box rolls like hot trash? I tried moving it when it was at most 1/4-1/3 full on a perfectly smooth, level concrete floor and it did not want to roll at all. It was a serious struggle to get it to roll much at all. I eventually got it where I needed to but it should not have been that hard to move. The 5-drawer cart moves super easily even when loaded with as much stuff as I had in the 72" box at the time. Seriously disappointed with that aspect of this box. Really like the box otherwise. Before anyone asks, brakes were off. It actually wouldn't move at all with the brakes on.

Also, has anyone converted the 2 straight wheels to swivel casters on the 72" box?

 

[Mr_B]

^
I would inspect the wheels for binding issues, alignment damage .
While they don't glide great I wouldn't expect that much difficulty partially loaded .
If you intend moving it a lot you may be wise buy a set of quality wheels to your liking .

 

[javyLSU]

Most of my tools are at home now. Temporary labels look really good imo, so even though I ordered a new bigger label maker, I don't know if I'll use it or not. It's not going to be at the top of the list anyway. Still have a few empty drawers but I also still have a few things to put in them.

I like it! Great looking layout.

 

[javyLSU]

Does anyone else find the 72" box rolls like hot trash? I tried moving it when it was at most 1/4-1/3 full on a perfectly smooth, level concrete floor and it did not want to roll at all. It was a serious struggle to get it to roll much at all. I eventually got it where I needed to but it should not have been that hard to move. The 5-drawer cart moves super easily even when loaded with as much stuff as I had in the 72" box at the time. Seriously disappointed with that aspect of this box. Really like the box otherwise. Before anyone asks, brakes were off. It actually wouldn't move at all with the brakes on.

Also, has anyone converted the 2 straight wheels to swivel casters on the 72" box?

Last time I rolled mine it moved pretty easily. Has it been sitting in the same spot for a long time? If so, maybe the wheels are not round anymore...

 

[GForceJunky]

^
I would inspect the wheels for binding issues, alignment damage .
While they don't glide great I wouldn't expect that much difficulty partially loaded .
If you intend moving it a lot you may be wise buy a set of quality wheels to your liking .

I'll take a look. Thanks for the suggestion. Really hope it's something simple. The box is new (picked it up the last weekend of Jan) and it had a small ding/scrape on one corner about halfway up (got a partial refund) but aside from that it looks/looked to be in perfect shape and everything is square. I guess the easiest way to check is to prop up one side at a time and play with the wheels?

Last time I rolled mine it moved pretty easily. Has it been sitting in the same spot for a long time? If so, maybe the wheels are not round anymore...

The box is new (picked it up the last weekend of Jan) and only just started putting tools in it within the last week and a half or two. Definitely hasn't sat very long and all the sitting it has done has been with it empty or near empty.




It seemed to roll fine completely empty. A bit harder than I would expect for an empty box but at 72" and hundreds of pounds I also didn't think it would just glide everywhere as if it were floating on air.



Edit: Not that I want to have to replace the wheels but does anyone know of any quality casters that fit the 72" box and are - at minimum - rated to an equivalent capacity? If I can find a set of reasonable price I'll bite the bullet.

 

[Renegade1LI]

Did you try adding grease, the bearings are probably dry, mine were and it definitely helped.

 

[GForceJunky]

Did you try adding grease, the bearings are probably dry, mine were and it definitely helped.

No, that's a good call. Forgot they were greasable. I'll go do that next time I'm out in the garage. That may very well be part of the issue. Thanks for reminding me that I hadn't done that yet!

 

[Mr_B]

jack up each corner and physically check them and grease if okay .
is possible brakes not fully releasing or damaged, rough forklifting and being lightly dropped could damage wheels .

 

[adsinnott1]

My 56" that I just picked up had latches and detents. I removed the latches with 2 phillips screws inside each drawer. The detents hold the drawers great without the latches. I guess I just got lucky!

 

[gtonram]

these boxes are built way better than the Craftsman's I've had in the past, best bang-for-the-buck

 

[ddawg16]

Most of my tools are at home now. Temporary labels look really good imo, so even though I ordered a new bigger label maker, I don't know if I'll use it or not. It's not going to be at the top of the list anyway. Still have a few empty drawers but I also still have a few things to put in them.

I just bought on of the Ernst wrench holder. Makes a huge difference.
Besides more space, it's easier to tell when something is missing.

I have a tool roll coming....my duplicates will go in it for my jeep.

 

[Renegade1LI]

these boxes are built way better than the Craftsman's I've had in the past, best bang-for-the-buck

Funny, I bought a cm 200 series a few months ago, needed a certain size to fit in. I didn't think it was too bad, but when I got the us g boxes I noticed a big difference, especially the largest cm drawer should have two sets of slides, makes a big difference. The overall steel thickness of usg seems to be thicker, also larger hems, just to name a few plus I really like the color,lol.

 

[Renegade1LI]

Have to stop buying tool boxes, i wanted a couple side cabinets for machine tool storage, they only had one in blue. They told me a couple of days to get more, also said next month they were getting a new usg side locker, he thinks. I like that the side box is the same depth as cabinets, my old one was 18”.

 

[Renegade1LI]

Was just on the phone with customer service, problem with itc, asked about the side locker, he said they had supplier issues and it will be available end of June. At least they didn’t kill it.

 

[javyLSU]

I saw a YouTube video last night from that bear guy claiming his sources at HF said they switched suppliers and it's coming back probably next month.

 

[Renegade1LI]

I saw a YouTube video last night from that bear guy claiming his sources at HF said they switched suppliers and it's coming back probably next month.

Well thy're telling the same story at least, next month would be great.

 

[Renegade1LI]

So I sold my old 5 drawer cart with side cabinet & picked up a new 5 drawer & side cabinet, now they're all the same color. Now not sure if I want to mount the cabinet on the cart, kinda makes it more inconvenient to use. Anyone set up just a side cabinet with casters? or make a custom cart with one, maybe for specialized work or tooling, one for electrical, maybe a couple & have them nest under a bench???

 

[dcg9381]

I have a bunch of these... Maybe 5? They are the best bang for the buck I can find.
Only issues I've had:
* Colors have changed slightly over the years
* One set of castors - the rubber covering has disintegrated (they've been stored in a high heat environment)

I'll keep buying 'em.. Esp at 10-20% off.

 

[whateg01]

I've got most of my labeling done. Still have a handful of tools to decide location for so a couple drawers aren't completely decided yet. Black posterboard with white on clear labels.

 

[joey1320]

I've got most of my labeling done. Still have a handful of tools to decide location for so a couple drawers aren't completely decided yet. Black posterboard with white on clear labels.

That is just massive.

 

[Tucker99]

Reminds me of the old days, like the 70's. Everybody was in a band and we use to stack amps to look bad-***.

I've got most of my labeling done. Still have a handful of tools to decide location for so a couple drawers aren't completely decided yet. Black posterboard with white on clear labels.

 

[Renegade1LI]

Reminds me of the old days, like the 70's. Everybody was in a band and we use to stack amps to look bad-***.

I just picked up an 80s vintage pioneer receiver with the blue flouroscan display to put in the shop, it rocks! The display looks great with silver face, matches my new blue boxes with silver trim, just worked out that way, had the receiver first.

 

[seagullplayer]

I just bought the five drawer roll around cart for my home garage.
It's nice cart, I would but it again. Nicer casters than I expected.

 

[Terra Nova]

Was really hoping to add to this thread. I'm 2 1/2 weeks into waiting for the 56" cabinet to come in I ordered during the 20% ITC sale. New arrival date as of yesterday is 4/20... Guess they're having shipping/supply chain issues.

 

[Renegade1LI]

Was really hoping to add to this thread. I'm 2 1/2 weeks into waiting for the 56" cabinet to come in I ordered during the 20% ITC sale. New arrival date as of yesterday is 4/20... Guess they're having shipping/supply chain issues.

I guess it depends where you are, i was in hf the other day and the sign said all sizes and colors in stock. Of course i wanted 2 side cabinets and they only had one. When i order my 72” box they told me a couple of weeks and it came in a week, so maybe you’ll get lucky.

 

[rangerfredbob]

Yeah, my second side box was supposed to show up mid April and I picked it up on Saturday

 

[Terra Nova]

I guess it depends where you are, i was in hf the other day and the sign said all sizes and colors in stock. Of course i wanted 2 side cabinets and they only had one. When i order my 72” box they told me a couple of weeks and it came in a week, so maybe you’ll get lucky.

Yeah, my second side box was supposed to show up mid April and I picked it up on Saturday

So you're telling me there's a chance...