Did not see it mentioned but the drawer pulls are different on the premium boxes. Some are just formed metal, some are formed with a reinforcement piece. Some formed with a decorative piece and some formed with a large aluminum pull that helps with drawer rigidity such as an older 6S Matco.
What makes a toolbox expensive/better?
- Thread starter Burt Shaver
- Start date
oldmachinenut
Well-known member
This is my Son’s all SnapOn set-up, he says there is no comparison to other brands. I can’t even guess how much is sitting there.
whateg01
Well-known member
Customer of mine. That's just the boxes in that direction. All owned by the company owner. The other techs had similar but smaller setups.This is my Son’s all SnapOn set-up, he says there is no comparison to other brands. I can’t even guess how much is sitting there.
Lookin4'67Galaxieconv
Well-known member
Bottlecapdigger
Well-known member
One thing that hasn’t been mentioned yet is the the depth of the drawers ( horizontally) when I was looking a few years ago for another tool box I noticed 99% of the cheaper tool boxes only had 18” long drawers. To get the 22,24” depth you had to go to a more expensive box. At that time the only one at mid price was the husky. Now I think the Milwaukee and even dewalt have gone to 20 or 22” depth.
If I was to vote, I like the vidmar, rossenau style. Locking drawers, setup for dividers, high quality slides and high end casters. BCD
If I was to vote, I like the vidmar, rossenau style. Locking drawers, setup for dividers, high quality slides and high end casters. BCD
whateg01
Well-known member
Lots of brands have deeper drawers now. My new Husky is 24 overall. Drawer depth is 22. My US G series 2 are 25 deep overall and slightly less for the drawers. Yes to get to 30, you are going to pay more still.
pcmeiners
Well-known member
Yes this was not mentioned but very important, especially with large set of wrenches, sockets etc. With the smaller dimension drawers it requires more drawers to fit large sets which was disappointing. Example, I have one Vidmar drawer containing every socket in my 600 socket set, try that with a smaller box.
Hooterville
Well-known member
One caveat is "Expensive" cabinets can be found on the used market. I am a big fan of buying inexpensive/used cabinets with 400lb capacity drawers. I suspect I will only load a maximum of 200lbs per drawer but, as someone else mentioned, they open & close with ease even when heavily loaded. My 3-drawer Kennedy-Bott CNC cabinet is full extension with 550lb capacity per drawer! I am always on the lookout for another great deal for a used Vidmar, Equipto, Lyonn, or Rousseau. I was very lucky with these three super good deals: Kennedy-Bott CNC cabinet $50, Equipto $450, and I think the Vidmar was $250.
The Pros far outweigh the Cons, nevertheless there are a few minor Cons to consider:
Con #1.: I waited years and I spent enormous time searching Craigslist! Oddly I found all three cabinets within 2 week timeframe.
Con #2: I had to get rid of other items to make space for these. Not easy for me with a small garage.
Con #3: Quality casters with proper load rating can be expensive. I bought a dozen casters, with 1,000 to 1,200lb load rating, for a ridiculously low price (also required time/patience to find the good deals on Amazon of all places).
The Pros far outweigh the Cons, nevertheless there are a few minor Cons to consider:
Con #1.: I waited years and I spent enormous time searching Craigslist! Oddly I found all three cabinets within 2 week timeframe.
Con #2: I had to get rid of other items to make space for these. Not easy for me with a small garage.
Con #3: Quality casters with proper load rating can be expensive. I bought a dozen casters, with 1,000 to 1,200lb load rating, for a ridiculously low price (also required time/patience to find the good deals on Amazon of all places).
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Ultradog MN
Well-known member
600 sockets. Wow!
I hope they are nicely organized.
Imagine having to sift through 600 sockets if they were all jumbled together in one drawer
pcmeiners
Well-known member
"600 sockets. Wow!" Not Wow because technically I could get away with <200 sockets/bits.
Have magnetic socket rails for most of the sockets but at this point I need to shift some smaller sets to another drawer as it is over crowded .
My 13 Vidmars came mostly from one source, met a guy who purchased scratch and dent units in Allentown PA, some were in perfect condition others had a small scratch or small dent on a side or back of the cabinets. Paid between $100 and $400 for my cabinets, great investment. My cabinets were purchased while I lived in NYC, a rough area to find reasonable priced units. Even rougher was how to place them on my first floor of my house without over loading the floors, until I moved to PA
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