Blew 200 bucks, and "yes" it was Horrid Freight

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Some photos.............

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Above, new vs old. This was a homemade cart that came with my used plasma cutter. I think you can see why I was tired of this...........
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Each drawer has a plastic latch. Hope they hold up. In addition, when the lid is closed, two large PLASTIC bars capture all the drawers

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Above, all drawers are ball bearing and the slides seem substantial enough
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But the "out" stops are plastic. "We will see"
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Above, it's a shame to put that junk into a nice new box. "I guess" the holes along the sides are for hanging drive extensions, but I had to drill out the smaller ones to fit some of my 3/8, and could have done without the largest. I believe I have the lid gas supports in wrong but I like them that way..........they will not impinge on "what's in" the big tray

Incidently, that ugly old ratchet with the conduit cheater handle I've had SINCE THE EARLY SEVENTIES. I think it's a Thordarson
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Here you can see the unfinished look of the sides. It's obvious they took an existing bench chest, removed the side trim, and incorporated it into this cart. There's nearlt 2" of wasted space, I might try and build some "mini pockets" along the sides for ???

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Above, nothing to do with the box. A total of 20 bucks gets you both metric and US socket trays in 1/4, 3/8, and 1/2 for deep and shallow. I'm undecided. They are functional enough, but there is a LOT of wasted space. They WERE cheap!!!
 
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famous bob said:
I needed a bigger tool box, and one of my other two was falling apart. I found 44" , stain. steel on craigslist for $450. When I went to look at it I didn`t even haggle over the price, it holds all my tools except for my plumbing tools, I keep them moble. STILL HAVE A CRAFTSMAN ROLLAWAY AND 8 DRAWER BOX TO GET RID OF. Would have to be local pick up tho.
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send me some pics of the box??

Bruce
 
My tool requisition site had a set of PROTO 3/8 deep sockets, regular SAE 3/8-13/16 spread, it was over $100...I bought the bigger spread in 6 point SAE at HF, it was $9 on sale! And I aint gonna break any on phone stuff! I never did order the PROTOs. Were bleeding $$ as a company as it is. Still love their orange handled black jewelers screwdrivers, too bad they are the yellow chrome ones now.
 
Have Snap On, Craftsman, Mac and NAPAs brand for years, still have them. No discernible difference between them for the average person as long as you don't try to buy the cheapest available, IMO.
Yote
 
For the money you absolutely can not beat that box. I used one for almost 4 years working industrial maintenance. I out grew mine and use it at home.
 
HF has a lot of good stuff. I bought one of their 3 1/2 cubic foot cement mixers about 3 years ago. I don't use it often, but it works great, and I have let friends use it. Beats the heck out of a hoe and a wheel barrow. Plus it's kind of fun to use.
 
I bought one and filled it with a mix of my HF tools and my grandfather's vintage Craftsman. Holds a lot of stuff. I keep my drills, grinders etc. in the bottom tray.
 
Well that was a MAJOR step up. :) The cabinet has a frame similar to what we added to craftsmans formed sheet metal cabinets. I can predict the gas charged struts failure someday but... no worries, prop rods are free. Overall, money well spent.
The fold down shelf... probably covered in stuff thus never folded down. Weld a taller border around it so stuff doesn't fall, roll, or bounce off? Or cut a cup holder in it for the coffee LOL
 
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HF tool boxes are IMO MUCH better quality than some of the other non-extravagant boxes available.

The metal is thicker, the casters are better, and the hinge, prop strut and door mounts are engineered better.
 
I have been looking at buying that harbor freight tool cart, really nice built well good price. I also just by chance got an email yesterday from Sam's Club and they had what looked like stainless steel or aluminum tool cart. It has 4 regular drawers and a larger drawer at the bottom, with a key locking all of the drawers. Also has a wooden top 4 casters 2 that lock and is supposed to weigh in at 150lbs. I am going to go and look at it very soon and will report back on what I think about it. Forgot to mention that it is $200 and looks really classy. They have a whole garage system they offer too that matches the cart. FYI
 
Came home tonight with TWO of the folding side shelves, 28 bucks a whack.

(Yeah I know, the handle is on one side LOL)

Well they are MOUNTED and I recommend one (or two) HIGHLY. On the handle side, things are "tight." The handle will not mount in the top set of corner holes, shelf or not. The top lid comes down and hits it. So in order to mount the shelf on the handle end, I had to drop the handle/ shelf down to the second set of holes

Bear in mind this is because I bought TWO and normally you'd put the one shelf opposite the handle.

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Below.........so this left the bottom holes blank, and the handle spaces the self out, so I'll have to drill these and put washers behind the shelf bracket. "No problem"
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NICE. the handle is "useless" with the shelf up, but "OK." Also they flop in and out as the box is moved, as there are no latches to hold them tight. I'll think of "something."

These shelves are worth the money and fairly substantial. As Red "thought" above, I may eventually line the outer edges with some light angle iron for better support, and to retain stuff from "rolling." The ledges is maybe ?3/8? high

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