Need opinions on a tool chest

[fixtureman]

Harbor Freight has a big one for $350 right now

[bennybmn]

I have a similar bottom box, two drawers and a small cabinet as opposed to all drawers. I have a craftsman mid-box and Kobalt top box on it They all fit perfectly. I actually met a guy once who worked at the factory that makes them all... Anyway, I say go for it. As long as it has ball bearing drawer slides it's going to serve you well.

[EricU]

one issue is getting a box home in the Prius. Nearest Harbor freight is too far to make multiple trips

[stav]

I bought one of the HD Husky black Friday sets two years ago. It was about $200ish for the three piece set. They were incredibly flimsy. I ended up selling to a friend who was happy with them and looking on Craigslist for an older Craftsman set. I didn't end up with as many drawers, but the quality is much better.

If I didn't find anything used I was going to go with the Harbor Freight set. It was a bit more, but much better.

[Herb G]

I missed out on this, because things didn't work out.
Oh well, maybe next year.

[Anak]

Watch Craigslist for used Lista or Stanley/Vidmar cabinets. Those things will put all the mechanics tool boxes to shame. Yes, including the Snap-On boxes.

The Lista and Stanley/Vidmar boxes are designed for machinists who will load them down with carbide tooling. Drawers are rated for several hundred pounds each. They are serious work horses.

[MarkSingleton]

I have only seen pics of the Lista and Stanley/Vidmar tool chests. And those were accompanied by VERY high prices, even used, around here. They sell fast though, the quality is there.

Those are the kinds of things that I know about, and if I ever see any "in the wild" at a garage sale or something, at a decent price I will know to snap them up. But in the mean time I have the Craftsman set LOML gave me for Christmas years ago.

[Anak]

I expect supply is going to vary by location.

If I were in the market there are a couple of reasonable C/L offerings available to me right now:

Vidmar 7 Drawer for $300

Variety of Stanley Vidmar cabinets, ranging from $250 to $500

There may be more available to me here because of all the manufacturing shut-downs over the years, particularly in the aero-space industry. Places like General Dynamics spent real money on high end tooling. Good stuff trickles down. You just have to be watching for it.

[bennybmn]

I have a Vidmar. It's pretty amazing... I got mine thru a friend of the family who is an engineer for Stanley, so I can't speak to used availability, but if you can find one, grab it!

[EricU]

I did a search of all the craigslists within 500 miles, and people are aware of how much they go for. There were a couple in Pittsburgh for over 500 for the roll around. Not that bad in comparison to new, but still on the upper end of my budget, that's for sure.