Husky vs Gladiator vs New age-help

[hemiallen]

I am outfitting a shop and have been dissapointed at Lowes with their Gladiator/ Kobalt ( I understand Lowes is changing to Craftsman ) cabinets, the tall 2 door ones assembled always on the upper shelf so it is hard to open and closely check them out, but what I see is they seem to be very thin and flimsely made. It could be how they are assembled, but I suspect they don't have very rigid doors.

The husky item I am looking at is their 398$ 46" hardwood topped mobile workstation, they seem like good thickness and strength, and I like the multiple thin drawers for flat wrench storage and the option to move it out into the workspace for a work table. I plan to make a removable top, both bigger and with an option of a steel surface, clamped on once the unit is pulled away from the wall when I need a work surface that I can walk around. I like it over the HF 44" cabinet, mainly being a few inches shorter than the HF unit. They seem, to me to be of similar quality, am I incorrect?

And the New Age, I see great reviews, but not being able to handle them makes them a question mark. Are their lockers doors less flexible than the Gladiator cabinet doors? The only negative I see from the dimensions is they are only 18" deep ( new age), most others are 20+" deep.

Sorry if this has been beat to death, I am sure it has. I am more interested in flexing cabinet doors on the tall and smaller wall boxes. I started only needing the rolling bench with short drawers, but might step up to a system vs just the one movable bench. My old wood cabinets I am moving into the shop have seen better days, and I am thinking of converting to steel.

Thanks

 

[pbon]

New Age Bold is very unexceptional. New Age Pro is good and 24” deep for lockers. The GF 44” cabinet is sturdier than the New Age Pro base cabinets. Don’t know much about Husky.

 

[gtsgarage]

I am very happy with new age pro. Better dimensions and thicker steel. Keep an eye out for Costco they have great deals.

Very happy with them.

 

[Jsf721]

I have a gladiator premier garage. The cabinets are all very good. My tool boxes from gladiator are just ok. It’s the weakest link. Overall I’m happy.

 

[driftpin]

Gladiator Premier are welded, not knock-down kits. I have 5 of their 30" X 30" X 12" deep cabinets with double-doors, magnetic latches and two shelves. I am very happy with their build for the price. For a workbench, Gladiator has an adjustable-height square-stock steel workbench frame, it's very sturdy. I bought a Craftsman 8 ft. steel frame however, and cut a piece of CDX lengthwise, and glued/screwed together the plywood, and topped it with a 3/16" piece of steel I got cut to-fit. I through-bolted the steel top with countersunk flat-head machine screws to the frame. Underneath fit perfectly three Craftsman roll-around heavy-duty chests, two have drawers, and one has doors and shelves.

I bought them all new, on-sale, and if I had to-pay full-price, I'd have spent about $2,400, without the steel workbench top. I paid about $900 not-including the steel tabletop.

 

[hemiallen]

Thanks for the replies so far. I hadn't noticed the New age Pro, actually skipped down to the ~$1500 range setups. My budget isn't in the Pro category, but glad to know they are deeper.

I'll look at the Premiers, I noticed their adjustable height table, looks nice but I think the ~ $470 or more price gave me sticker shock. I had 2 extra of the steel ends from the Costco heavy shelves ( whalen) from making a run, and they suggested using them for overhead storage like you'd see above a garage door. I lagged 2x4's on the wall and turned them into bases for a few tabletops I had from old sturdy workbenches.

Thanks again for the input, I'll have to look closer and make a decision before unpacking the move from my garage to the new shop storage. Trying to organize the last 35 years of no organization in a small garage.

Allen

 

[poppakap]

How's the drawer flex and wobble on the new age vs the others? Maybe look at Saber?

 

[jimreed2160]

Good luck on organizing your shop. I started about two or three years ago and began with Husky and Kobalt rolling toolboxes. Then I added Gladiator Premier cabinets. You can follow in excruciating detail here:
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=391603

Now I have 4 Kobalts (red), five Huskys (black), one HF, and over a dozen Gladiator cabinets. They all coexist just fine and look great. I discovered that you can buy the less expensive Gladiator cabinets and paint the doors (rustoleoum Apple Red) to make a Premier line clone. You are correct that Gladiator doors are a little flimsy. They put the beef in the frames and shelves.

I just put together a Gladiator table and it rocks. Made out of 3" square tube, you could dance on it all night long.

Of course, I am a Gladiator fan. But garage/shop furniture is a very competitive market and most pricing is fair for what you get. My suggestion is to find a brand you like that will coexist well with other brands either by style or color. Shop the sales and don't be afraid to mix and match. Good luck with your shop organization. It will pay big dividends in time savings.

 

[pbon]

If you don’t care about a clean matching look, then mix and match. For regular use tools, you can’t beat a proper tool chest, even a lower end one line the HF 44. I had 3 of those against my back wall for years with a wood top and wood cabinets above. I now have all matching New Age Pro.

 

[poppakap]

If you don’t care about a clean matching look, then mix and match. For regular use tools, you can’t beat a proper tool chest, even a lower end one line the HF 44. I had 3 of those against my back wall for years with a wood top and wood cabinets above. I now have all matching New Age Pro.

Is the lack of a wide drawer on new age annoying? Compared to the HF. How would you compare the build quality-drawer feel-of the two?
Appreciate any insight.