Craftsman has come out with a new 42″ and 20-drawer ball bearing tool storage unit. While this isn’t the first or only Craftsman tool storage unit of this size, it has a couple of features that I find intriguing.
First, do you see any seams between the top chest and bottom roller cabinet? Do you see any side handles on the chest? Here’s the full ~26MP image so you can zoom in for a closer look.
What you should notice is that this isn’t a combo, it’s a one-piece unit! Or at least that’s what it looks like to me. Am I wrong?
Next, there are two full-width drawers in the middle section, not just one. This looks to be a very high-density-storage unit, with a good mix of shallow and deep drawers.
The partitions between left and right drawers, and top, middle, and bottom zones look to be wider than in many 2-piece combos I’ve seen. I wonder why. Added strength?
Each of the drawers can support up to 100 pounds, and the unit can support a total of between 601 to 1,000 pounds. But then the product specifications say that it has a basic up to 400 lb. capacity weight rating. It comes with 4 5-inch casters, with 2 of them being locking swivel casters.
The top compartment is held open by gas struts, and there’s a single (central?) lock. There’s a side handle on one side, and has a similar slide-into-the-frame construction, similar to the design found on Dewalt’s 40″ tool storage combo.
The new Craftsman unit weighs 280 pounds.
Price: $1000, on sale for $810
There’s bound to be a freight delivery fee. Right now this model isn’t available for delivery in any of the zip codes I checked, but that’s probably because it’s so new.
Buy Now(via Sears)
First Thoughts
Craftsman has tried different things over the past few years, some of them being innovative, others promotional, and others responsive to the changing market and customer demands.
The last I heard, Craftsman and Sears was still a market leader when it came to ball bearing tool storage products.
With Milwaukee coming out with a fantastic ball bearing combo at $700-$800, Dewalt offering an excellent storage combo for a little over $1000, and a massive combo for $800, and Husky offering a couple of 41″ to 52″ combos, it’s obvious that more users are looking towards bigger and higher capacity tool storage solutions.
Craftsman has offered large tool storage combos before, including a 40″ combo or two that routinely go on sale for under $1000.
Maybe it’s my imagination, or hopeful thinking, but this one looks different, maybe even better. Its one-piece construction is very unusual compared to what I’m used to. But for something this wide and heavy, does it matter?
I hope Craftsman gets its weight capacity rating straightened out. If its drawers are rated to 100 pounds, but the casters or cabinet cannot support more than 400/600/1000 pounds, that’s a shame. A 1000 pound rating would be great, but let’s not forget that the casters also have 280 pounds of toolbox that they’re also supporting. Hopefully someone at Craftsman will read this and get back to me with updated specs.
One thing I already know I wouldn’t like about this unit – the uncapped drawer handle pulls. My Craftsman Griplatch top chest scratches me if I even look at it. Plastic caps for the ends shouldn’t add too much to the cost, but too many brands eschew this nice finishing touch.