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Tool chests made in US?

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redsky49

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Jan 21, 2009
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near the coast in eastern North Carolina
I want to upgrade from my old, non-ball bearing Craftsman 26" wide tool chest to a larger, better made unit.

Can't afford the SO silly prices. If looking for new, what American manufacturers are left? Waterloo? Can anyone come close to meeting the Harbor Freight prices? Are the Proto or Blackhawk units US made, and are they worth considering?

Really trying to buy US but it looks difficult. $750 seem to buy a lot of tool box at HF.
 
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Hiball

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Missery
I think your best bet is to keep looking in all the weekly traders, craigslist and keep a pocket full of negotiating paper (cash) and try and pick up a quality truck brand box, Believe me there out there you just have to push thru the bs sellers. I was in the same sitsuation you where and finally picked up a nice snap on box at about 25 percent the price of a new one.
 
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vette-kid

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Navarre, FL
The currentl Craftsman BB units are made by Waterloo. Im happy with mine. Good box for a good price IMO.
 
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Fuzz

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Wexford County, MI
Hello, I'm just a lurker. I was watching old episodes of DIY network's Cool Tools on hulu and caught a segment about the Husky brand boxes. It shows the 41" combos being made in their Canadian factory. I thought I would share this as the origin of Husky brand products is sometimes uncertain.
 
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danski0224

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Jan 29, 2005
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Near Naperville, IL
redsky49 said:
I want to upgrade from my old, non-ball bearing Craftsman 26" wide tool chest to a larger, better made unit.

Can't afford the SO silly prices. If looking for new, what American manufacturers are left? Waterloo? Can anyone come close to meeting the Harbor Freight prices? Are the Proto or Blackhawk units US made, and are they worth considering?

Really trying to buy US but it looks difficult. $750 seem to buy a lot of tool box at HF.
Click to expand...

If $750 is your price point, lotsa luck finding anything but a Chinese made box at that price... and lots of those look good on the outside, but the types of slides used and metal thickness has something to be desired.

Plenty of used Snappy box deals on Craigslist from auto techs fallen on hard times.

Pretty hard to beat Lista for quality. Not as shiny as Snappy, but 100% better made. Motorhead Extraordinaire has "scratch n dent" stuff at good prices. That's where I got mine.
 
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arkangel06

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Jan 31, 2009
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ontario
Fuzz said:
Hello, I'm just a lurker. I was watching old episodes of DIY network's Cool Tools on hulu and caught a segment about the Husky brand boxes. It shows the 41" combos being made in their Canadian factory. I thought I would share this as the origin of Husky brand products is sometimes uncertain.
Click to expand...


Made in Canada is stamped on the back of my huskey box.
 
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caper

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cape breton
My made in Canada Husky box broke within a year of professional use.No repair parts.Ended up welding the drawer and selling it off.By the way they are Stanley made according to home depot customer service.
 
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HandyManny

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Mar 13, 2009
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Out West
Zorro13 said:
Waterloo is made in China. They live from the common believe they are still US made.
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Not all Waterloo boxes are made in China, yet. I believe for now it's just the protable smaller toolboxes. And that is only a recent thing. Then again, things change fast.
 
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shovel

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Dec 26, 2008
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477
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Port Neches, Texas
The bigger HF boxes are hell-for-stout. They are Chinese made with a dull red powdercoating that I feel will fade to pink given enough sunlight. BUT it is a very good box for the money. My only serious knock is that the drawers are not deep like some of the tool truck boxes. For the diffference in money, I will live with it. There are some good posts on this site about Ranger boxes and Montezuma units. You may wanna search for them. My .02
 
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wantedabiggergarage

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Feb 25, 2006
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Location
Independence, MO, USA.
Zorro13 said:
Waterloo is made in China. They live from the common believe they are still US made.
Click to expand...

arkangel06 said:
craftsman tool boxes are made in Canada.

Well atleast mine is

proof if you need it
Click to expand...


Waterloo boxes are all over the place. My understanding is with the great Iowa lake last year (more flooding then not), that non of them is made here any longer (have no proof). But they do have lines made in several places, as well as Mexico (not mentioned).
 
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redsky49

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near the coast in eastern North Carolina
There hasn't been a lot in the way of Craig's list choices here in eastern NC, but I will continue to look. What I have seen are people asking from 2 or 3,000 and up for used Snap On boxes - way over my budget! And most of these are from the larger towns like Raleigh and Wilmington which is a bit of a drive for me.

And I still have a couple of 20% off coupons for Harbor Freight.

In any case, I will try to find a US manufacturer, maybe the scratch and dent approach would work for me.

Thanks for all the input. :beer:
 
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rallenc

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Jul 7, 2009
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Southern New Jersey
I was wandering the Harry Epstein website and they had a Williams (made in Snap-on's Canada plant), top and bottom for $1,000. Don't know what shipping will do to you but might be worth a look.
 
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wantedabiggergarage

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Independence, MO, USA.
Same color blue and from memory, same layout. I have no idea what New Holland's color is. It was sturdy, and marked more then, when I was there. Didn't seem like a good deal to me, just because of its size (small for cost), but I don't use it commercially anymore.
 
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Motorhead Extraordinaire

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372
Location
Chelmsford, MA
We sell toolboxes that are Made in America for a lot of good reasons including quality and the fact that we believe in American Made products and the American workers who make them.

While not as cheap as the foreign made items, they are always of significantly better quality than the foreign made items.

We also have a special deal with LISTA that we call our Junk Yard Specials which are slightly blemished brand new LISTA cabinets at about half-price. We usually get 10-20 units a month and they sell out real fast.

Check out www.MotorheadExtraordinaire.com for more info or to sign up for our newsletter. We send out a gentle newsletter when a new lot of Junk Yard Specials arrive. Our regular prices are always real good with usually 10-15% off all the tim.

I apologize for the shameless plug but felt it was within the scope of the question asked.

Joe Germann
 
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T56 Impala

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Dec 8, 2007
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Roswell GA
Motorhead Extraordinaire said:
We sell toolboxes that are Made in America for a lot of good reasons including quality and the fact that we believe in American Made products and the American workers who make them.

While not as cheap as the foreign made items, they are always of significantly better quality than the foreign made items.

We also have a special deal with LISTA that we call our Junk Yard Specials which are slightly blemished brand new LISTA cabinets at about half-price. We usually get 10-20 units a month and they sell out real fast.

Check out www.MotorheadExtraordinaire.com for more info or to sign up for our newsletter. We send out a gentle newsletter when a new lot of Junk Yard Specials arrive. Our regular prices are always real good with usually 10-15% off all the tim.

I apologize for the shameless plug but felt it was within the scope of the question asked.

Joe Germann
Click to expand...

I'm not one who normally approves of shameless plugs. HOWEVER, I do respect your philosophy and you do seem to have a nice selection of items relevant to this site and the direction of this thread.

I will be digging into your site. Thank you for posting.
 
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MotoDave

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Jul 1, 2009
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505
Location
Ventura, CA
Wow, I'm glad I came across this post. Your Junkyard Sale prices are great, I'm definitely going to look you up when I am due to upgrade my garage toolbox.
 
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offroader30

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Sep 28, 2009
Messages
4
I know you are looking for boxes in the US but there is a company who sells Torin boxes that has some really good prices. I would have a look. All their boxes have the double ball bearing rollers. Great quality boxes for the Price.
http://www.torerostore.com
 
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dieseldodge01

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Sep 27, 2009
Messages
603
Location
Ohio
I own a Kennedy Tool Box 2812 top with friction slides, bottom is a 297X with ball bearing. The bottom is an awesome box. The drawers slide closed almost with one finger, even heavily loaded. Top is good but was not available with ball bearing. They are made in Van Wert, Ohio. I got the bottom for $450 from the factory on a scratch and dent sale. Still haven't found either. Top was $300. That was about 4 years ago. Also some of the Homak and I have seen a couple of Craftsman made by Kennedy Manufacturing. I have seen the boxes in there inventory at the plant.
 
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PistolWhip

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May 14, 2009
Messages
361
Location
People's Republic of New Jersey
I have a Ranger that in my opinion is one of the best bangs for the buck going in terms of tool chests.
Check out the link in my Sig, I put together a review and can answer any of your questions if you have any.
I know they're assembled and distributed out of California, but not 100% sure if they're completely made in America. Either way, the quality is top notch.
 
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CitySlicker

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Joined
Apr 7, 2008
Messages
11
Location
NY
Craftsman Club Flyer Oct. 4-31, on back cover, save $1000 now $999.98
"Craftsman 23 drawer 52 inch wide heavy duty ball bearing griplatch 1000lb capacity"
#59629/31 (upper & lower) Don't know where its made?
 
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