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Kinda like shooting ole "Trigger" after he just took a bullet for you huh?
I had to flip an old Craftsman four drawer I'd had forever into the metals dumpster at my local landfill and had to keep talking myself out of sprinting back and picking it out!
Last year I replaced the Matco box I'd had for 15 years. I bought it used, and used it well. I decided upon a Craftsman triple deck box with ball bearing drawers. I'm not sure where they are making these but it is a good quality box and I've had no issues thus far. Other than already needing more space that is.
I still have two Craftsman rollaways I bought in the early 60's in my garage "office"; I've lubricated the slides regularly over the years, and the drawers still move smoothly (if you don't, they won't). In the work area, I have a Craftsman ball-bearing rollaway and a ball-bearing service cart (both with the casters removed) as the base of my workbench, and another ball-bearing rollaway and top box - all bought on sale six years ago when we built the house. I'm very happy with the ball-bearing Craftsman chests/boxes for what I paid for them, and this time of the year there are some great sale bargains on Craftsman carts, chests, and boxes. I only have two empty narrow drawers left out of all this, so I'm nearing capacity again.
There are many things you can get from this discussion.
1. Buy the best you can afford.
2. Buy more drawers than you think you need by at least half.
3. The best will have ball bearing drawer slides.
4. Everyone seems to think they know what is the best, however, it can be seen that Snap On, Matco, Mac, Craftsman, Kobalt, and a few others are serious tool boxes and can last a long time. Unless you are in the automotive business or restoring or repairing, or other related repair and maintenance, any of these will probably outlast the time you need them.
5. The standard metal slides from years ago should not be eliminated. Most have said they have used those for very long periods of time before they wore out. Most simply need to be greased or oiled occasionally to be easy to use.
As far as Craftsman, I bought the Quiet Glide a few years ago. Personally, I think it slides as well as friends' ball bearing boxes. They sadly agree. I also have more weight in my drawers than they do, so that is a testiment to its ease. It was on sale at $300 for the 8 drawer top box, the two drawer intermediate, and the 5 drawer bottom. The two drawer with the take away drawer I didn't like. I replaced it with the current 4 drawer.
Don't be fooled by the 5 drawer/5 drawer on sale at Sears. Know your stuff, Sears still likes to baffle you with brillance with a hundred different models that often vary only in color. Also, none are oiled in the store, so naturally the ball bearing work the best.
Check the return section of Sears. Often you can find returns and discontinued items at a GREAT deal.
I also have a 20 year old 3 drawer Craftsman that has been around the country, dropped out of trucks and trailers, rained on, flooded, and so on. It still works flawlessly, slides well, and I still use it. However, it isn't nearly big enough.
However, I can pick it up to take somewhere.
None of these big chests will be very portable, unless you have a hoist to set it in your pickup. You will need a winch to roll one up the ramp door of an enclosed trailer or several friends.
Watch eBay. There are many good deals on used boxes. Many have tools in them, probably half of which you will give away.
Know your tools. Then decide on drawer space. I personally like many shallow drawers. I don't need 4 inch drawers for wrenches and sockets as that is a waste of volume. Standing enough sockets to fill a four inch drawer overloads the drawer anyway. However, you may need one or two to get a sander or impact into.
Don,
I don't know if you've made a decision yet, but this box has served me very well since 1967. The variety of depth of drawers is helpful since not all tools are the same size. The drawers are just the slide type, but I keep them clean and oiled. And every 5 years or so, the old girl gets a coat of wax.
Of course, over the years I have accumulated many more tools than it can hold so I have extra storage space nearby, but I'd never get rid of it in favor of something huge that would hold everything. I've memorized the location of every tool in every drawer, and I don't want to have to put myself through that all over again..........
Good luck finding something that suits your needs.
I agree with those recommending the Craftsman boxes. I've had the red one since '75 with no problems. The black one just a couple of years and it has the ball-bearing draw slides which are really sweet. I think I just saw a sale ad for these at Sears too!
I recently retired a set of Snapon boxes that I bought used about 20-years ago and started looking at all the name brands, deciding I would have to spend some serious money to get what I thought I wanted. And then I went to Costco looking for something else and saw the stanless boxes they have for about $650. I figured they would be cheap, light and shakey. Boy, was I surprised - took three guys to get the bottom box onto my tailgate (stock height) and the drawers roll in and out flawlessly thanks to the great ball bearing action. I've had the boxes for about 4-months now and use them everyday. If I had more tools I'd run down and buy another set while they still have them. Did I mention they are stainless and look great?
Someone posted that you could not store sockets standing up, the drawers would not be strong enough. The drawer in the picture is 49"X27". There are 1/4" and 3/8" drive shallow and deep, both metic and standard, 1/2" 6 and 12 point standard and metric, deep and shallow, standard and impact. Plus 3/4" drive up to 2-3/8". Plus many specialized sockets. No sagging on this drawer.
Standing up like this makes it very easy to see what is missing when you get through a job
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