Tool Chests

[Projects14a]

Assuming that i can get a 20% discount using the trade card at halfords, they are still over priced when compared to clarke hd. Can anyone with experience of both tell me which is better quality?

 

[Ratty]

No kidding - Free Delivery

Building it in or using it as it comes.

Not really doing a 'built in' sort of kitchen, I've moved my dish washer and range cooker so they stand at right angles to the wall opp. the sink and am backing the tool chest to the cooker (minus the wheels and plus some adjustable feet). Annoyingly the chest is 100cm and the cooker only 90cm..still working out the details but may build some narrow shelves at the end of the cooker. I got some bargain bamboo worktops from ebay (lots of ex mfi stuff on ebay ) so lots of nice work area with chunky wooden legs (reclaimed from a 50's grain dresser) and possibly a shelf or so beneath. I'm kinda making it up as I go along

 

[NeilH]

Assuming that i can get a 20% discount using the trade card at halfords, they are still over priced when compared to clarke hd. Can anyone with experience of both tell me which is better quality?

clarke HD without a doubt.

there is a lot of halfords and clarke HD boxes at work.

the clarke are made from thicker steel, have better locks, and and better built. they are a lot more "solid" if you know what i mean.

and if you ever want to expand you can get side lockers, end cabs and middle boxes for the clarke, you cant do that with the halfords box.

and the drawers and ball bearing runners are heavier duty.

 

[Projects14a]

Thanks, thats kind of what i thought. When i went in store and had a look at the halfords stuff, it didnt feel as heavy duty as i'd expected. Will go and have a look at the clarke stuff and hope that they have another vat free day soon at MM

 

[james.c]

I have a sealey roll cab at home. Its very good quality i think and i have a mac one at work. The sealey one is their 'superline pro' series. Better than the 'american pro' stuff imo

 

[NeilH]

I have a sealey roll cab at home. Its very good quality i think and i have a mac one at work. The sealey one is their 'superline pro' series. Better than the 'american pro' stuff imo

the sealey superline pro and the american pro are the same box arnt they??

either way, ive seen both those boxes and they are very good quality. even the mac tools man commented on its quality after one of the boys at work bought one.

i have a halfords industrial for use at home, the older style one, when they were still making good quality boxes.

the mac boxes are excellent imo. they are boring to look at but thats not why you buy a tool box really.

my box at work is a snap on one and it was £2000 empty.

and ill say this in no uncertain terms, snap on boxes are not worth the money.

 

[Hitch]

I wonder who/where the clarkeHD boxes are made, my old one and new one are stamped made in USA.

 

[james.c]

the sealey superline pro and the american pro are the same box arnt they??

Im not sure really.. some of the american pro ive seen hasnt been as good. The american pro boxes they have at college are very tinny and have no ball bearing sliders. My superline one has ball bearing sliders and came with foam draw liners aswell. Maybe its an option on the american pro stuff?.

This is how mine is at the moment. i really need to move some junk away from it so i can actually get to use the work surface more

 

[andy pen]

I just bought an american pro off ebayjust like micheal1703 and added a no name 3draw mid box.All of a sudden I can find (most) of my tools and I've got some spare shelf space for and minute(no more).I'm very happy with it , robust enough for me at home don't think it would last in an industrial enviroment to well but great all the same.

 

[gaz_moose]

i thought most toolboxes were made by waterloo.
the thing to lookout for is the depth of the box some of the cheaper ones are real shallow and avoid the ones with the lift-up compartment at the bottom
when i was after an old cab for home use i got the word out with the tooltraders and got a sealey 7 draw for £70 that someone had traded in.
the smaller 'starter' boxes usually fetch good money secondhand as all the apprentices want them and people want them for home.
i sold my old 7 draw snap on roll cab for £100 more than what i payed for it 3 years previously.

 

[algreenplus3]

Found This

Don't know if its any good but looks ok for price

 

[madkayaker]

should be ok for the money

 

[Robotstar5]

ARGOS stock clearance, looking at the boxes in the picture. I would want to see before buying one, had one from a catalogue many years ago, made from tinfoil!

 

[irondarren]

Big difference in tools chests, i have a couple of halfords one and a couple of sealey. In terms of thickness they are much the same. None have worn worse than the other, with the one exception. The coating on the sealey ones is far more durable, the halfords ones show signs of rusting

 

[Dusty]

Not good for pose points from your mates, but hey WTF, at least there's plenty of space for your tools! you might actually find them! friction drawer slides can be a pain(white spray grease!) and in a damp garage will go rusty, if not looked after.....

But at that price, better than half a dozen broken boxes and odd crates piled in the corner of the shed! LOL
Buy one and Let us Know....
Dusty

 

[graffian]

I have some 30 year old friction slide snap on roll cabs, spray the slides with chain grease when they get stiff[every five years or so] and they work fine. A few years ago I wanted a roll cab for measuring tools and someone gave me a like new american pro thing, what crap, after a few years with me it's litteraly falling apart. Makes it really obvious why people buy snap on.

I was at the auction when they shut down dunsfold, must have been hundreds of the big Polstore roll cabs there, they make snap on roll cabs look like cheap light stuff. I couldn't hang around to buy a few but phoned the next day to see what they fetched and they averaged 50 quid..

 

[aametalmaster]

I built 7 of these big tool boxes, 6 for my buddies. I bent all the metal on a large hand brake (with help). The box is 6' tall and 4' wide. I also used a deadbolt from my house for the lock. The only problem is you have to use a rollback truck to move it outside the shop...Bob

 

[big_d]

Info: Halfords Tool Chest sale

Hi all,
Just noticed Halfords have a 30% off sale on Tool storage. For once, I managed to win from a sale, usually I just miss out. Good news for me as I was watching one on Fleabay which went for only £14 less than I paid new!!!! I'm not arguing that Halfords are better/worse/same as any other make, but I needed a intermediate box to fit with the rest of my chests.

 

[tigler]

Whether or not Snap-On boxes are value for money or not is one question , but in my experience of trying and using many & most of the competition they are undoubtably the best quality by some margin. This comment applies ONLY to genuine , USA made Snap-On boxes.

 

[Bigjoe]

My local costco have got some good quality stainless boxes which im thinking of upgrading too at some point,although Halfords new ones are good (and im told by an insider that are made by one of the big boys).