kf4zht
Well-known member
Recently the computer shop where I worked has been having inventory issues, most of our parts were in loosely organized boxes, no list of what was available, etc. We were going to purchase one of the large bin racks from costco, but it was discontinued. This left it between (in the budget range) between The Northern Unit or This Harbor Freight Unit.
We ended up going with the Northern Tool one, mostly due to the slideout bins and it looking more professional. It can be ordered in several colors, we chose black.
The system is $200 shipped, it was not available in stores, it drop ships from quantum. While checking out they said shipping would be 10-14 days and we would get a call from a freight company, however about 4-5 days later it showed up UPS standard in 5 boxes, home users can order this without problem.
Quality - Overall it is good, the bins are not quite at the quality of real Akro-Bins but they are not bad, seem to be fairly flexible. The steel frame is made of a decent gauge for the weight. One thing I found was that in some places the paint was flaking. Not a big deal in a computer shop but in a garage where there is high humidity or regular moisture this may be of concern.
Assembly - Assembly is tedious but not difficult, all the hardware is the same and uses a flat head screwdriver and a 7/16" deepwell socket. Placing the nuts on the screws gets very tedious due to the design. I think a quick change in the shelf design would make it much easier to assemble, but oh well. Using a manual screwdriver and 1/4 socket wrench it took me about 4 heavily distracted hours (it was during time we are open for business) I would recommend using a lithium driver for speed, if you wanted to the hardware could be changed out for phillips head screws, would make life easier for assembly. There are 3 X braces, one for each side but the front.
Note, the directions are worthless, the only piece of information you really need is to skip 5 holes in between each shelf. And it will seem flimsy at first, after the shelves are in it sturdies up alot.
Overall, for $200 shipped it is not a bad deal. The single size of bins limits you but I can think of enough parts and small stuff in the garage to fill it up. I am strongly considering one myself.
We ended up going with the Northern Tool one, mostly due to the slideout bins and it looking more professional. It can be ordered in several colors, we chose black.
The system is $200 shipped, it was not available in stores, it drop ships from quantum. While checking out they said shipping would be 10-14 days and we would get a call from a freight company, however about 4-5 days later it showed up UPS standard in 5 boxes, home users can order this without problem.
Quality - Overall it is good, the bins are not quite at the quality of real Akro-Bins but they are not bad, seem to be fairly flexible. The steel frame is made of a decent gauge for the weight. One thing I found was that in some places the paint was flaking. Not a big deal in a computer shop but in a garage where there is high humidity or regular moisture this may be of concern.
Assembly - Assembly is tedious but not difficult, all the hardware is the same and uses a flat head screwdriver and a 7/16" deepwell socket. Placing the nuts on the screws gets very tedious due to the design. I think a quick change in the shelf design would make it much easier to assemble, but oh well. Using a manual screwdriver and 1/4 socket wrench it took me about 4 heavily distracted hours (it was during time we are open for business) I would recommend using a lithium driver for speed, if you wanted to the hardware could be changed out for phillips head screws, would make life easier for assembly. There are 3 X braces, one for each side but the front.
Note, the directions are worthless, the only piece of information you really need is to skip 5 holes in between each shelf. And it will seem flimsy at first, after the shelves are in it sturdies up alot.
Overall, for $200 shipped it is not a bad deal. The single size of bins limits you but I can think of enough parts and small stuff in the garage to fill it up. I am strongly considering one myself.