The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Tool Chest NAPA Tool Chest and Drawer

Was at my local NAPA parts store in KC today picking up an oil filter for my rider and was looking around and seen some nice looking tool chests and drawers made by Homac or Homak. Never heard of this brand. They looked wellbuilt and drawers had roller bearings and are rated for 100 lbs. They are wide and are on rollers. All for $799.00 while supplies last.
Has anyone seen them in other areas of the country? And if so what do you think about the quality. They seem to match up with Craftsman's best if not better.
Had plenty of drawers,can't remember how many but it is huge and will hold a heck of alot of tools.
Thinking about buying one.

When we had a "Farm & Fleet" store in Clearfield PA Homak was the brand of toolchests they carried.
F&F went out now it is "Tractor Supply" not sure what they carry, but the Homak chests looked to be decent.
My rolling chest is a "Kobalt" brand, but the badges on it for the roller bearing drawers are identical to "Craftsman" brand ?..I believe many of the chests out there are made by the same manufacturer and the end seller just attaches there logo to them.
Tim

Just judging by the construction, it's a Waterloo. Waterloo also make the Craftsman boxes. F&F also carries Waterloo boxes.
TSC carries MasterForce toolboxes, as does Menards. Those are made by Clarke.
Not sure who makes the Kobalt boxes that Lowes carries, some look like Waterloo, but their larger boxes seem to have a different construction.

I was reading this post and remembered that Lowes sells one for something like $1,700.00 it has all sorts of draws AND and CD radio and minifridge, which in MOHO is such a waste, as decent full size fridge for the shop/garage is $400 and has a freezer, you know for the Vodka! If I was ever to hit the lottery and had a 5-7 bay garage built I might consider it.

Our local Lowes had one on clearance a while back, about 1/3 off, due to it having a rather large dent in the backside of it caused in shipping.
'Course, then again, I'm kinda partial to this one.

Unless you need a big tool box like Matco,Mac, SnapOn etc. they are a real waste to pay $2500.00 to $10000.00 for a tool box to sit in a home shop when a craftsman will do or you have so much damm money you just don't care. I worked in a Food Production for 41 years and Mac,SnapON Matco did not hold up any better than the Craftman or Waterloo etc. In that enviroment the all break down from moving them around from job to job getting wet welding on top them etc. and the more weight you have in them the sooner they break down from being moved. Like one guy said you do not need a frig.,radio built in as they charge a arm and a leg for these add on's. Now don't get me wrong but they look nice sitting there and as far as metal thinkness they are all about same in thickness. All it boils down to is bragging rights. What gets me is all the boxes do the same thing hold tools. Just think about it!
62Blue
Don

Yep

Why add that when you could just add an office and a lunch room. Maybe a locker room with showers, etc.

Not necessarily. My shop got one of those big, heavy duty Craftsman boxes to hold big wrenches and heavy tools. Wrenches sized from 1" up to 2". 3/4" drive, 1" drive and spline drive socket sets. The darn drawers in that thing fall out just sitting still!! Brand new box and the tear out is so bad, we can't even fix the sliders. I'm about ready to toss the box out. The similar Snapons don't have that problem. So all boxes are not created equal.

Very true. That's why I have a Snap-On at work. Besides, once you get into a Craftsman box that size, the price is about the same.

Well I have to agree about the pricing but if the box is having problems like the draws falling out take it back as it has a warrenity There only a few places that make the rollers and sliders and if you look closely they are all real close. The only advantage with a SnapOn or Matco or Mac. is the salesman comes out to see what your problem is where the Craftsman you have to take it back to where you got it.
Thats part of the price you pay when you buy tools from those guys. I bet tools and boxes have a 50% markup like electronics. Do you guys really believe it cost $4000.00 to $7000.00 to make a sheet metal box as most are 16Ga to 14Ga.. Here's another thing how many guys are in and out of that Craftsman box in a week throwing heavy wrenches and other tools in it not treated like their own I bet. Oh well to each is own on how much you will pay for a box!
62 Blue
Don

Nope, two boxes. The high end professional series. The drawer was opened once to load it. The second time it was opened, it tore out internally. The only way to fix it is to replace the box or weld in a new internal strut. That requires complete disassembly. After that first one fell out, three or more drawers fell off after being opened once or twice. Returning the box is next to impossible having bought it in a bulk purchase through a third party vendor. The Snapon?? Doing just fine with day in and day out use.

Look, I own a Snapon, Proto and Craftsman boxes. I'm feeding four of them. There is a big difference in quality! It wasn't a sales pitch that got me to buy. It was the quality. I've also owned Cornwell and Mac. All boxes are not created equal.

Agreed. I too work in the professional repair feild, for what it would take to handle the amount of tools I have, a Craftsman box just won't do. Not enough load capacity. It was also not a sales pitch that got me, but rather load capacity and drawer size/configuration.
BTW, I also buy almost all of my tools from either Snap-On or Matco, as they have the specialty tools required for my job that simply are not available otherwise.

"Professional repair field," I really like that. Like many of you, I made my living with my hands and my tools. When I quit working on cars for a living, I decided to get rid of my two big Snap-On boxes and the special tools one of them contained. An aside here, I worked on German cars. Unless you have been there you will have no idea just how many special tools are required. I bought a new truck with what I got for the boxes and tools. I bought one of the big Craftsman combos for my "smaller" tool set. The bottom chest collapsed in a year! I now use the top box for drills, taps, dies, mics, etc. I bought a big Kobalt combo from Lowes and it is now 4 years old. Time will tell.

Also, for me, as a box gets retired, if it was still usable, it does lighter duty for other stuff. I have an old Dunham box for my carpentry tools, and another old, used box for electrical, etc.

Like MNSmith says, "All boxes are not created equal!"

best wishes,

Les

I have to make a correction to one of my earlier posts in this thread. I stated that "once you get into a Craftsman box that size, the price is about the same". That is no longer true. The Craftsman boxes in the same size as my Snap-On are MORE! In the case of the size box I have, it's about $1000 difference, not counting shipping, tax, and finance fees.