Home Depot Black Friday Milwaukee Tool Chest?

Sidebar: I'm not paddling here, I'm looking for your opinions.

I've been spending even more time than usual in the garage this year and I'm becoming increasingly frustrated with the non-ballbearing drawers in my Craftsman tool cabinet. I'm also running out of space inside. I've been thinking about an upgrade for a while, but the price of ballbearing tool boxes has always been a little steep.

I was in Home Depot yesterday for something else and they have a Black Friday Special on Milwaukee 46" 16 drawer cabinets for $698. The price is good until the first of the month.

I like the layout, I like the quality feel of the steel (much heavier than most of them) and the drawers feel great. They have precut liners, two built in power strips and what appear to be quality wheels. The only downside is that I hate the color. It's a bad shade of red and has a pebbled feel to the paint that will probably eat up greasy hand prints. A black cabinet would be preferable.

They had one on display at the front of the store, and I'm sure that there is the same one in every other Home Depot on the planet as well. It seems like an awfully good cabinet for the price.

I'm curious if any of you guys have seen one of these this weekend and what you think of it.

And, since I'm sure this will be suggested as an alternative, even used Snap-On tool chests are beyond my budget.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Milwaukee-46-in-16-Drawer-Tool-Chest-and-Rolling-Cabinet-Set-Red-and-Black-48-22-8510-8520/206126307

The 44" HF cabinet gets lots of praise from many sources and you could buy two of them for the price of the Milwaukee.

Linky

<< (glad to have bought Craftsman cabinets 35 years ago when they didn't suck)

I've seen that HF cabinet and wasn't really that impressed. And I'm sure that it would smell like every other painted tool at Harbor Freight. I don't want to live with that.

I'm approaching this like a 30 year toolbox. I don't want to do this again.

That black friday price was also the launch price during the first part of this year. I think it will be a recurring price.

Personally, i think it's the most compelling new option in that price range. I went up to the store SEVERAL times to check it out (even though i already own a toolbox that originally cost ~7x as much and is twice the size) because i was recommending it to friends.

The only complaints i've read about it are that the drawer layout is more catered to home garage DIY types than automotive work specifically because the deep drawers in the bottom box are super space inefficient for most automotive tools (but appropriate for storing 'house tools' like saws etc). I agree with that but i still think it's great overall.

The thing the HF box has over it is that the drawers are more catered to automotive tool sizes and it's more modular/expandable with the side cabinets and side boxes (in addition to the top box). If you're one of those people like me who doesn't really like top boxes because you like to use the top of your bottom box as a workbench, the HF 44" with two side boxes or an HF 56" bottom box is probably more compelling. But while they are widely regarded to be overall the best quality at the price point, the Milwaukee 'feels' WAY more expensive because of its fancy drawer slides and thoughtful features like power strips and pegboard in the top box, etc.

If your biggest complaint is the color, Home Depot should be able to help you there as well.

Vigo wrote: If you're one of those people like me who doesn't really like top boxes because you like to use the top of your bottom box as a workbench...

I am the type who would create a Jenga-like pile of crap on top of the bottom box if'n there were no top box.

have you checked lowes for a stainless steel kobalt box in very similar shape/size? should get you away from the paint complaint.

I'm about to head out to both places, Lowes first. I didn't see anything comparable at Lowes.com.

http://www.costco.com/.product.100161405.html?cm_sp=RichRelevance--itempageVerticalRight--CategorySiloedViewCP&cm_vc=itempageVerticalRight|CategorySiloedViewCP

is out of stock. but was a BF deal for $299 or $350..

http://www.costco.com/.product.100148149.html?cm_sp=RichRelevance--itempageVerticalRight--CategorySiloedViewCP&cm_vc=itempageVerticalRight|CategorySiloedViewCP That's also a nice cabinet.

Here's what I'm working out of now. Those drawers are 23" wide. The Milwaukee cabinet would occupy all the space between the pegboard and the edge of the wall.

As you can see, I am a compulsive piler.

Can you avoid piling? If I don't provide myself with someplace to stack things I find one. Windowsills. Floor. Top of a car. Currently the stairs in the Grosh. I find that having something like the top of a toolbox to pile crap until it bugs me and I clean it actually keeps most of the rest of the spaces clear. That's my biggest gripe with the box originally mentioned. In theory one could close the lid and hide the mess, but historically I would just pile things up there, close the lid so I don't have to look at it and start another pile somewhere else.

I've sold several Milwaukee boxes to professional mechanics and they are holding up extremely well. MUCH better than the HF garbage they traded in.

BTW those deep drawers are where pros put the tools that come in bulky blow-molded cases. In that box they just happen to be the perfect size for Milwaukee cases.

mazdeuce wrote: Can you avoid piling? If I don't provide myself with someplace to stack things I find one. Windowsills. Floor. Top of a car. Currently the stairs in the Grosh. I find that having something like the top of a toolbox to pile crap until it bugs me and I clean it actually keeps most of the rest of the spaces clear. That's my biggest gripe with the box originally mentioned. In theory one could close the lid and hide the mess, but historically I would just pile things up there, close the lid so I don't have to look at it and start another pile somewhere else.

I'm not alone!

I went to Lowes to take a closer look at what they have. They're offering 25% off all in stock cabinets until the 2nd of the month. There were only two choices in stainless, but I liked the big 20 drawer combo. It's five inches narrower than the Mileaukee but that might be easier to live with. It lacked the pegboard and interior outlets, but I think the drawer layout is better for the garage. The Milwaukee drawers closed a little nicer, but they were close. Unfortunately, even after the 25% off, it's about $120 more before tax.

I decided to take another look at the Milwaukee, but the Home Depot that I went to today didn't have one on display, even though it was on the big poster outside the door. They may have sold out.

HD did have a big yellow DeWalt on display. I saw it online and thought that it might be the same as the Milwaukee in a different color, but that is absolutely not the case. The DeWalt was not nearly as nice.

I went home empty handed. If I get motivated to spend the cash, I may find my way back to Lowes on Tuesday.

m4ff3w wrote:

mazdeuce wrote: Can you avoid piling? If I don't provide myself with someplace to stack things I find one. Windowsills. Floor. Top of a car. Currently the stairs in the Grosh. I find that having something like the top of a toolbox to pile crap until it bugs me and I clean it actually keeps most of the rest of the spaces clear. That's my biggest gripe with the box originally mentioned. In theory one could close the lid and hide the mess, but historically I would just pile things up there, close the lid so I don't have to look at it and start another pile somewhere else.

I'm not alone!

We call it The Law Of Flat Surfaces.

What I've noticed is as the drawer sliders wear the drawer won't stay closed unless it has a catch or locking mechanism.

Woody I'm sending you an email

I saw the one at costco today. Looked surprisingly nice. I'd have to peal the kirkland logo off out of general principal though.

Me ex- has the same tool box, only in stainless steel with blue trim. She bought it at Lowes, although looking at the website, it doesn't appear to be available anymore. She bought it over 2 years ago, but paid about $700 for the combo. It's a nice box for home use. The drawers seem to work nicely.

She was musing today as she just placed another Craftsman tool order how buying that box seemed excessive at the time (it's twice as big as the one I have - but mine is packed to the gills), but now that she's working on her cars herself, she's starting to fill it.

I would encourage yall to do some research on GarageJournal as well. There is a lot of commentary from a lot of people who know what a nice toolbox is.

There is not much positive commentary out there about Husky boxes.

I was at the HD tonight and looked at the display one. Looked really nice. I'd have plunked down except I don't have the space for it in my garage and my current tool chest is working just fine.

Consider outside the box.

Old card catalog cabinets for example. You can still find them, and they are built very strong with super nice drawers. Counter points to them are the drawers are a little deep, and they tend to be long. But, you get a cabinet that will last through your grand-childrens lifetime.

Another are map file cabinets. Very shallow drawers, quite wide. Also excellent sliders and built to last.

I bought the Milwaukee box after buying the similar Husky combo that was on sale. The husky was ok but was damaged in the box so I took it back.

Very happy with the Milwaukee set. They are pretty much all gone here in BC - the clerk told me they were a one time special buy up here... not sure if that is true.