Tool Boxes

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redneckalbertan
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Re: Tool Boxes

Post by redneckalbertan »

BadDog wrote:
Harold_V wrote:A side note. Monday I found myself in a KMart, looking for some chairs for our rear porch. I happened to walk past some Craftsman toolboxes. Absolutely shocking! While made from steel, they had the feeling of having been built from aluminum foil. It could be that Craftsman has various levels of quality, but the box I saw wouldn't be suited for use for much beyond a butterfly collection.

Harold
They do have differing levels, but in the last 10 years the MBAs have allowed nothing but trash to carry the Craftsman name. Sad, they used to produce a good product for a fair price. Now it's a premium price for stuff that does not even compare favorably to Harbor Freight at a budget price.
It's sad when a company like this starts producing garbage. I start my tool collection on Craftsman tools because they were good quality tools at a reasonable price. I don't feel that way anymore about them.
blackdog
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Re: Tool Boxes

Post by blackdog »

redneckalbertan wrote:It's sad when a company like this starts producing garbage. I start my tool collection on Craftsman tools because they were good quality tools at a reasonable price. I don't feel that way anymore about them.
I understand your feeling but think we are at least partly to blame. I have no empirical data to back up my contention, but doubt that Sears makes much of anything anymore. Like so many U.S. companies, they are likely nothing more than resellers of shiney offshore stuff. They think we're too cheap to pay for good quality tools produced here & we think they're greedy. I think there's some truth in both arguments & doubt there's any fix for that in the immediate future. I made a decision a long time ago not to buy *shiney* stuff but then again the area I live in is the land of plenty. :)

David
STRR
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Re: Tool Boxes

Post by STRR »

THANK YOU Jim (jim314159) for starting this thread. Many times, we never know what good comes from our posts. You prompted me to action, that has been very rewarding.

After owning an SK Tools chest/roller cabinet for many years, I was finally able to find out who manufactured the box. As with many things, the name on the item is not necessarily the company who made the item.

I purchased the tool box, used, and some of the roller slides had dropped bearings out. This week I found out SPG International from Canada makes tool storage items for anyone who is willing to pay for them and SPG will put ANY name on their products, for the client, with NO indication SPG was the manufacturer. Matter of fact, SEARS is currently selling SPG tool storage products with the Craftsman name on them. These are not the top of the line but they are FAR from the bottom.

ANY good retailer will sell products customers are willing to purchase. That seller will charge as high a price the buyer is willing to pay. Sears is constantly compiling data on what sells and what does not sell. If we, the buyers, are buying shiny import things, then Sears is going to sell them and sell them at the highest price WE are willing to pay. Since the trend is buying lower quality, throw away goods, retailers are not going to stock the quality, lifetime warranty items that do not sell well. Sears is one exception. They still sell high quality tools but you have to know what that quality looks like and be willing to pay for it. Most buyers, looking for high quality, will go one of the few high quality sellers. With access to the internet, it is easy to find a high quality goods seller. The hard part is finding the high quality items that do NOT have the high quality manufacturer's name on them, such as Waterloo. Like SPG, Waterloo makes tool storage for many different sellers, without the Waterloo name.

To remedy the problems, all we buyers have to do is purchase ONLY the high quality goods. The import stuff won't sell and the retailers will not carry items they can not sell. BUT, fat chance of that every happening in today's society.

Good Luck to You All,
Terry Miller
ronm
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Re: Tool Boxes

Post by ronm »

Harold_V wrote: A side note. Monday I found myself in a KMart, looking for some chairs for our rear porch. I happened to walk past some Craftsman toolboxes. Absolutely shocking! While made from steel, they had the feeling of having been built from aluminum foil. It could be that Craftsman has various levels of quality, but the box I saw wouldn't be suited for use for much beyond a butterfly collection.

Harold
KMart, huh? Used to be Craftsman was strictly sold at Sears, but I have seen Craftsman wrench sets at Ace Hardware lately, so maybe Sears has started marketing lower-end Craftsman-branded stuff at other outlets? I agree on the decline in quality, I have Craftsman metric wrenches that are about 40 years old, my late father-in-law gave them to me for Christmas about the first year I was married...I've used them on the service truck all that time, & they are as good as any wrench I've had, of course not as finished & shiny as Snap-on or Mac. Those things I saw at Ace were definitely not as good as my old ones...Haven't looked at tools at Sears lately, I'm reaching the stage in my career where I need to deal with my tool addiction... :roll: I've also managed to survive somehow without ball-bearing slides on any of my tool boxes... :wink: My big Snap-on box I bought when I couldn't really afford it was before they even offered ball-bearings..
To get back to the OP's topic, I saw a nice roll cabinet-type box at Sam's Club, ball-slides & all, for about $400, would have been nice for lathe & mill tooling in the shop, but of course, it's not there any more & couldn't even find it on their website now...you see something you want at Sam's you better jump on it, cause once they sell out, they're gone... :?
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Harold_V
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Re: Tool Boxes

Post by Harold_V »

I may be wrong on which entity purchased the other, but I think KMart now owns Sears, thus Craftsman products are sold at KMart. Why they are sold elsewhere I don't know, but I've seen them, too.

It is likely common knowledge that Sears makes nothing. They simply market things made to their specificatons, along with name brands. They, long ago, fell victim to the logic of modern day sales, where profit is far more important than customer satisfaction. In many cases, their quality is suspect. So much so that I rarely consider Sears when I'm in the market for anything.

Many years ago, when I was building the castle, I needed a VSR 3/8" drill motor. I was drilling 3/4" holes in studs to pull Romex. Purchased one from Sears. It lasted about ten days. Returned it, although they wanted me to send it in for repairs, which was not an option, as I needed the drill immediately. The second one lasted a little less time, which was also returned, and, again, they wanted me to send it for repair, which I refused to do. The third one lasted about ten days, and puked, just like the first two did. I returned it to the store and demanded a refund, which I got. I then purchased a second from the top of the line Black and Decker, which has run faithfully to this day.

As a result of the above, I will no longer even consider buying any electrified tool sold under the Craftsman name. That's the reward they've reaped for choosing profit before the customer. I have virtually nothing positive to say about Sears, which is truly a tragedy when I consider that there was a time when Sears Roebuck was considered one of the best operations going.

Harold

Edit:
A comment about friction slides. I suffer from arthritis. I'm functional--but it causes pain that I prefer to avoid. Exerting enough effort to cause badly worn friction slides to move isn't my idea of a fun day. How others tolerate them is a mystery to me. Sort of reminds me of listening to music I don't enjoy. Why suffer through things that can be avoided?
Wise people talk because they have something to say. Fools talk because they have to say something.
ronm
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Re: Tool Boxes

Post by ronm »

I totally understand about the arthritis thing-40 years of heavy-equipment wrenching has done its work on my hands & shoulders...
The drawer slides of my Matco tool box that has ridden about 1/2-million miles in the truck are just about gonna make it until I quit...I hope...
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jim314159
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Re: Tool Boxes

Post by jim314159 »

Again, thank you all for the interesting perspectives! Lots of good discussion.

In the end I purchased a really nice 11 drawer Vidmar from a local manufacturing shop that was downsizing, for what I felt was a fair price of $800. It shows some marks from a few years of light use, but is extremely heavy and of high quality and will last me forever. I bolted some heavy duty casters to the bottom of it and it's meeting my needs already!

And it came full to the brim with electronics equipment I can either use or part out on eBay. 8)

--jim
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Benaentai
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Re: Tool Boxes

Post by Benaentai »

I know it's an old thread, but maybe it will be a timely resurrection for someone.

I used Cat Premium Plastic Portable Tool Box. Incredibly sturdy, and just barely long enough to keep my longest tool, a 24" breaker bar, in the bottom. After a year of bouncing around in the back of my jeep full of tools off and on road, there are no cracks. I keep this box in my jeep at all times, and it fits just about anything I'd need for a roadside or trailside repair.

I don't really use the two top containers as it is just for mechanic work, but if I worked more construction I'm sure I'd keep random screws and bits in the two top compartments. The tray inside is sturdy and covers the inside of the box completely, and fits some of my more commonly used tools- screwdrivers, ratchets, wrenches, and pliers. The bottom fits larger items like socket rails, a hammer, breaker bar, bit set, OBDII sensor, etc.

The box is just about full, but I can't really think of anything other than specialty tools to fit in it.

I highly recommend this box.
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Harold_V
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Re: Tool Boxes

Post by Harold_V »

BadDog wrote: Fri Jul 26, 2013 4:33 pm
Harold_V wrote: Avoid anything that isn't roller type.
I can't agree strongly enough. The HF I referenced is ball slide, and the main reason I wanted to replace the 30 year old Craftsman (other than more drawers) is the stiff slides.
Well folks, this update is well after the fact, but it may serve to help others who may have ANY tool cabinet that has friction slides.

I stated that I really hated mine, an old Kennedy rollaway, purchased back in '66 if I recall correctly.

I ordered some bearing slides of the proper lengths, thinking I'd replace the friction slides. I hadn't given much thought to how the old slides were attached, figuring they could be removed easy enough, but when I took a look at them, it became quite obvious that damage that would not be acceptable would result, as they were spot welded in multiple locations, not necessarily in any specific place. The drawers would be badly distorted by removal of the old friction slides, which would not be acceptable, nor would the multiple holes that would be required to weaken the spot welds.

With that in mind, I removed all the drawers from the box, releasing each slide as the drawer was removed. I then removed the inner portion of the slides from the sides of each of the drawers, You likely know that they're made in an I configuration with a pair of runners in a U shape at the tops and bottoms, and are easily removed simply by pulling out the stops which are a part of their construction, marking the slides as I removed them so I could switch sides when reassembling, to expose previously unused surfaces, an effort to prolong their useful lives.

Before I go farther with this, I'd like to state that I had previously cleaned the slides and relubed them a time or two, but not by dismantling. That means that a portion of the contamination remained behind, and that turns out to be the chief problem I had experienced.

Careful examination of the slides revealed the real problem. The lubrication that was originally applied, along with any that had been added in the many years the tool box had been used, had solidified. The level of friction of the slides was extreme, and became so severe as the drawers neared the full closed position that it required two hands and considerable effort to close them.

I started by saturating the female portions of the drawer slides, using mineral spirits. That, alone, was not enough to remove the hardened lube, so I also applied a wire brush. When I had cleaned the female portions of the slides, both in the cabinet and on the drawers, I turned my attention to the male portions. They, too, were firmly encrusted with old lubrication, so I repeated the cleaning process, scrubbing and washing until they were free of all old lubrication.

I had hopes of not having the lubrication repeat its past performance, so I chose to use an antil seize lubricant on the female portions. I then used a light colored wheel bearing grease on the male portions, and reassembled the entire toolbox. I was rewarded with drawers that move easily, restoring the tool box to its original performance, which I found to be more than satisfactory.

Do I think the friction slides are as good as the bearing slides?

Of course not. But they now work in an acceptable fashion, and I suspect that they will do so for the balance of my lifetime.

Just wanted readers to know that there may be a fix for those boxes with drawers that don't slide well.

Before closing, I'd like to comment on the amount of wear I discovered. In my mind, I thought that would have been the chief reason why the drawers didn't function well. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the amount of wear was minimal. Sure, there's minor tracks in the female portions, where the weight of the drawers bears down, but the box is almost 60 years old and was in daily (hard) use for 18 years. Since then it has seen only irregular use. I'm happy to have it back and operating properly.

H
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NP317
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Re: Tool Boxes

Post by NP317 »

Another restoration job well done!
RussN
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liveaboard
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Re: Tool Boxes

Post by liveaboard »

1966, that's just a few days ago... Nothing goes to waste over at Harold's.
JackF
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Re: Tool Boxes

Post by JackF »

Harold, thanks for the repair post. I bought all of my kennedy tool boxes used and they are all friction slides. With the exception of one bottom roller box they slide pretty well. That bottom roller will get some attention now and the rest will as well as any improvement will be welcome. :wink: :D
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