# Wood Machinists box at Costco



## AR1911

I picked up a nice box at Costco yesterday. This is a real nice wood box, seems to be well made, with stainless steel furniture.  At $65 it seems to be a good value.  It is so much nicer than the junk at HF.


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## MarkStephen

Nice find. I don't see it on their web site. Looks like you lucked out. I'm going to be stuck with the HF box it seems, though I have heard thy are serviceable for the money. What makes this so much better than the HF box? Or maybe the question is, what makes the HF box junk?


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## darkzero

MarkStephen said:


> I don't see it on their web site.



Many items & pricing sold in Costco stores are not the same or not available at Costco online. Many items at Costco online don't require membership.


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## MarkStephen

darkzero said:


> Many items & pricing sold in Costco stores are not the same or not available at Costco online. Many items at Costco online don't require membership.



Yea, I kind of figured that was the case. Thanks. 

Still would like to know what makes the HF boxes "junk", as I have read others impressions of them and thought they were a good buy, especially with the 20% of coupon.


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## DMS

I was looking at these boxes yesterday at Costco, and was surprised at the apparent quality. Can't tell much about long term durability from a quick touvh and feel in the store, but the orice was nice.


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## Ulma Doctor

going to Costco now.....


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## george wilson

Several years ago I bought both rolling chests,risers,and tool boxes from Costco. They are made of red oak,except for the sides of the rolling chests,which are MDF,veneered. I have had no problem with these chests holding weight.

But,these chests are very different from the chest being shown here. Mine are a lot more like Gerstners. Not quite as nice,but they were 10% of Gerstner price. So,a bargain,I think.


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## kd4gij

If the op will post a sku # might find it that way.


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## Inflight




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## MarkStephen

Cool, Costco does not have them on their sight but http://shop.trinityii.com/16-tool-boxes hast them, or sorta has them. Says there back order. 

Thanks.


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## extropic

Inflight said:


> View attachment 95675




The OP wrote $65 (in Fort Worth, TX). Was the $65 true? It's $99.99 in Long Beach, CA?


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## DMS

They were $69.99 at the San Jose Costo if my girlfriends memory is correct (I actually though they were $79.99).


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## george wilson

You never can tell what Costco is going to have. I think they depend a lot on opportunistic buying for things like these tool chests. This one looks nothing like the chests I got.

Take a drawer out and look at how the bottom is attached. If it is just stapled onto the drawer,with no rabbet joint,it will not hold much weight,possibly. I have heard of the bottoms falling out of wooden tool chests. The bottom needs to fit into a groove near the bottom of the drawer. Metal is best,but if it is inlet,1/8" plywood is o.k.,too.


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## gjmontll

George
  I had looked at the HF chests for over a year, but I got one of these Costco chests for Christmas. The drawer bottoms are fitted into grooves and are probably 1/8" MDF. It seems plenty sturdy. On the downside, unlike the HF chest, this one will not "lock" against casual non-authorized borrowing. So I drilled a hole through the catch for a small padlock.
    Greg


george wilson said:


> You never can tell what Costco is going to have. I think they depend a lot on opportunistic buying for things like these tool chests. This one looks nothing like the chests I got.
> 
> Take a drawer out and look at how the bottom is attached. If it is just stapled onto the drawer,with no rabbit joint,it will not hold much weight,possibly. I have heard of the bottoms falling out of wooden tool chests. The bottom needs to fit into a groove near the bottom of the drawer. Metal is best,but if it is inlet,1/8" plywood is o.k.,too.


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## Grumpy Gator

That first picture just shows rabbits{groves} instead of metal drawer guides. What keeps it from coming out of the chest when you pull it out past half way to get the tool bit in the back ?
*********Just Saying**********Gator**************


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## 18w

grumpygator said:


> That first picture just shows rabbits{groves} instead of metal drawer guides. What keeps it from coming out of the chest when you pull it out past half way to get the tool bit in the back ?
> *********Just Saying**********Gator**************



That is the one disadvantage of wood machinists chests whether it is a cheap imitation or a genuine Gerstner. Metal drawer slides take up too much space when trying to put as many drawers with the required wood thickness in a common sized case. Lots of tools have ended up on the floor over the years by careless owners....but a Gerstner sure is a thing of beauty as far as a tool chest is concerned. Me, I'm too poor to own one. 

Darrell


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## george wilson

Frankly,I have not been impressed
 by the new Gerstner chests. They say made of quarter sawn white oak. But,it is hard to find a drawer that shows the medullar ray structure that truly quartered oak really has, Their "International" chests are made of red oak,I think.


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## ch2co

AR1911 said:


> I picked up a nice box at Costco yesterday. This is a real nice wood box, seems to be well made, with stainless steel furniture.  At $65 it seems to be a good value.  It is so much nicer than the junk at HF.


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## ch2co

It's a fairly  nice box, although I'm up to my eyeballs with Kennedy boxes (long story) however I got one, for my wife to use as a jewelry box.
She loves it! 

Grumpy Gator


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## 18w

george wilson said:


> Frankly,I have not been impresses by the new Gerstner chests. They say made of quarter sawn white oak. But,it is hard to find a drawer that shows the medullar ray structure that truly quartered oak really has, Their "International" chests are made of red oak,I think.



George, I agree with you that the oak is certainly not the quarter sawn used on the older chests. The international series is red oak and is probably a o.k. lower cost alternative box. My comment about Gerstner boxes being a thing of beauty should have been prefaced as a old Gerstner box is a thing of beauty. At first blush the new ones look nice but side by side with a nice old one the difference in the beauty of the wood in the old one is remarkable. Some day I would still like to own one, old or new, but common sense tells me my Kennedy's work just fine. Just going off everyone's photos, if I just needed more storage, the Costco boxes look like a bargain and quite a bit nicer than the Harbor Freight one.

Darrell


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## w9jbc

I always wanted a gerstner box, but living only 35 miles form van wert oh. I ended up with a whole lot of kennedy factory seconds instead. most have some minor defect a small scratch or dent or the like. usually I bought either damaged or seconds because i'm frugal!


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## fastback

The Casco box looks decent.  From the picture it looks like cherry.  As for myself I have 2 Gerstners one  a seven drawer was free and the other a 10 drawer I paid $125 filled with tools.  The are pretty.

Paul


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## AR1911

$69.95 was the price, not $65. 
I like this well enough that i may go buy another for the shop.
The first one has the tools I keep at the house for gun work etc.


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## bleonard

The Casco box is not real wood. but it dos look good.
Bob


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## AR1911

You are correct, it has no grain showing anywhere. Obviously dense pressboard of some sort.
But, I have had two Gerstner knockoffs made almost entirely of wood, and both fell apart within a few years. For $70 this one was worth the risk.


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## george wilson

I don't know if the brief era of real wood knock off tool boxes is over or not. You can get Grizzly boxes,of course,but they cost more. I did buy one for the toolmaker's shop. O.K.,except for the screw on plastic Grizzly logo.

Years ago,in the 80's,Harbor Freight had a TV program called "Buy It Now". I did buy an all oak large tool box for $99.00,and still have it. One drawer,the full width of the chest,2" deep,is filled chock full of smaller size end mills. It is VERY heavy,and the bottom is still on it! Survived the jostling of moving to this house,too,full of end mills.Not a gerstner,but really not a bad looking chest. If I had sprayed a couple extra coats of lacquer on it when new,it would be a little nicer. Of course,made of red oak,but what do you expect? At least it's real oak! Not a bit of fake wood in it!


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## AR1911

Back about 10 years ago, pre-Christmas, both Costco and Sams Club each had a very nice wood tool chest, much bigger than these boxes, and very nicely made.Sam's was dark wood, Costco's was blond. Both were priced at $99.95. I am still kicking myself for not buying one or both of those.  Did any of you buy one of those?  If so, please post a photo


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## kd4gij

I looked at one at sams club and waited till after christmas thing it would be cheaper. You guesed it none to be found.


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## george wilson

I think it was longer than 10 years ago that I bought 2 sets of roll about cabinets,risers,and tool chests from Costco. All made of oak,except the sides of the roll abouts were oak veneered MDF board. No trouble with them,though. I still have them,one is pretty well loaded with NOS files.


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## gjmontll

And now Costco has these Trinity Wooden Tool Boxes marked way down, $39.97 (at San Marcos, CA store). I thought it was a good deal when I got mine for Christmas, on sale for $75, as I recall.


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## Inflight

I


gjmontll said:


> And now Costco has these Trinity Wooden Tool Boxes marked way down, $39.97 (at San Marcos, CA store). I thought it was a good deal when I got mine for Christmas, on sale for $75, as I recall.



I just ordered two with free shipping because I'm too lazy to stand in line at Costco.  I'll report back on quality when they arrive.


Matt


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## kingmt01

I've been thinking about building my own. One of these days I'll get down the list to that project but for now things keep jumping above it.


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## AR1911

Geez, at $39.95 I gotta go buy a couple more.


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## kingmt01

You guys talked me into one. I was going to get 3 but decided I wanted to touch one first. Cost me $42 since I'm not a member. Also sounds pretty small but I need something to put this stuff in instead of cardboard. I have metal & plastic but that make tools rust if they aren't coated.


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## Terrywerm

I was holding off figuring that I would have to get a membership, but I am starting to rethink this now. Might be one of those boxes in my future, too.


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## jpfabricator

Aaaarrrgh there are no Costcos close enough to merit a membership.

Sent from somewhere in East Texas Jake Parker


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## kingmt01

It cost you $2 more without the membership. Being this is the only time I've ever bought anything from them & looking at their other prices I didn't think spending $55 on a membership was worth while. If they wasn't so small I would have bought a few but just one till I see what they are actually like. All of us jumping on this is going to drive the price up. To bad the fourm doesn't get a kick back from it for all the sales it has genarated.


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## Inflight

I got two for $39.95 each with free delivery, one day shipping with no membership. The case and drawer boxes are made of MDF and lined with some sort of synthetic green felt. I don't consider these to be anywhere near the quality of solid wood, but for my purpose I'm happy with the purchase.


Matt


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## Terrywerm

I also ordered one. I have a Kennedy but am running out of room. I was planning to make one of my own out of birch plywood, but at $44 with tax and non-member fee I cannot come close to making one for that kind of money. I knew they were made of MDF, but with proper care and usage it should last a long time.


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## Charles Spencer

I got the Harbor Freight wooden tool box for $64.00.  So I figured I would check this one out at $45.00 (tax and non-member fee added) even though I'm well over my tool budget for this month.  I also did a search for this and found it on overstock.com for $140.00

http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Trinity-TWM-3501-Wood-Tool-Box/10089929/product.html

I'm bookmarking this to show the wife how I saved $100.00.


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## kingmt01

Lol. Does that work with yours? Mine would just remember the $140 part ever time she brought it up. Something like "You just bought a $140 tool box."


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## george wilson

The boxes you guys are talking about are not like the boxes I got. Mine(I bought 2 sets) are as large as a #92,or is it #72 ?52?(can't remember,never paid the tariff on a real Gerstner ) Gerstner,has a riser base,and underneath the big roll about cabinets with drawers about 7 " deep. The tool box and the risers are solid red oak,no veneered MDF. They were not real cheap,but,like I said,about 10% the cost of real Gerstners. I may have paid about $400.00 per set of tool box,riser,and roll about cabinet. The Roll about IS veneered MDF on the top and sides. The drawers are solid oak.


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## kingmt01

I won't get the one I ordered till Wed. I'll let you know my impression then.


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## nmasi

These are showing 39.97 with 0 shipping when I put in SKU 922281


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## kingmt01

Yelp. I got mine Friday & it is a pretty nice box but a little to small.


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## Fitter Bill

Mine was delivered Monday. I had to get it to the shop fast because the Bride said it would be perfect for her sewing room....


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## kingmt01

Lol. I'd buy my wife one if it'd get her sewing.


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## Terrywerm

Mine arrived today, and it isn't bad for the price, but don't make plans to put your copy of Machinery's Handbook in the middle drawer; it isn't tall enough.   Anyway, yes, it is made of MDF with some sort of veneer on the outside, might be vinyl, but it sure seemed to be wood. It seems to be rather well built, and no, it is not a Gerstner, but I didn't pay Gerstner price for it either!

I thought too that it would be perfect for my wife as a sewing box, but she didn't seem very interested in having one. Her current sewing box is packed to the gills and the legs are wobbly, so I told her she could have this one if she wants it and I'll order another one, but she didn't say anything. She's gone to bed now, so I'll leave it in the living room and see if it gets hijacked or not.


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## Inflight

One issue I've found so far is that the drawers don't have stops and easily pull all the way out, potentially spilling all the contents. Although the front cover has a stop which works well. The lid is also missing a mirror commonly found in machinist style boxes.


Matt


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## Terrywerm

I noticed that about the drawers, too, but I can live with that, and can probably come up with some sort of stop system, given a little time...  never mind, I've got an idea already.

As for the mirror, If I want to stand there and admire myself, there's a BIG mirror in the bathroom.


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## kingmt01

Why do they usualy come with a mirror?


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## Terrywerm

That question has been raised and discussed many times, but the most common answers are:
1. So the machinist could comb his hair and make himself look presentable before leaving at the end of the day.
2. So the machinist could use it to help remove a metal sliver from one's eye.

There may have been other reasons given, but those are the only two I remember.


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## kingmt01

Both sound logical. Maybe to clean the oil slung on his face off.


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## Charles Spencer

Got mine yesterday.  It smelled a little funny, but not too bad.  I like the fact that the drawers come out.  It makes it easier to organize them.  I'm also thinking that I can remove the whole drawer and take it to the work with all the tools in it if necessary.  

I'd say that if you don't have a wooden tool box already you really can't go wrong for the price.  I already had one, but I think this is useful for the added space.

By the way:

"_Lol. Does that work with yours? Mine would just remember the $140 part ever time she brought it up. Something like "You just bought a $140 tool box._"

Yes it does.  My wife knows that I can be one cheap (I prefer "frugal") bastid when I wanna be.  I worked in procurement most of my life.  My wife says I should write a book about it.


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## kingmt01

I just refure to myself as cheap.


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## Vegemitesandwich

I have an "international" 10 drawer. it's nice wood but the drawers will go in the floor with no stops also no guides have to use 2 hands to open the large drawers. Still quite serviceable and half the price as the "real thing" Face it owning the real deal is a statement, "I have arrived". If you just want to store your stuff a Kennedy will do just fine. Something for the grand-kids to fight over when I am dead along with my saddleback leather bags.


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## COMachinist

Just checked price of these 99.99 if you can find one. Not such as great a deal any longer me thinks. I picked up an old Gerstner that needed some TLC with some new parts. Total was around $150 and I spent money on American stuff just saying.
CH


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## benmychree

One difference in these cheap tool chests is in the fit of the drawers in the case (quite sloppy); my old Gerstner, bought in the 1960s (black walnut) the drawers are a close fit in the case, but never bind; the cheap offshore Gerstner line has sloppy drawers as well.  The only problem I ever had was a joint in the front corner of one of the drawers came loose; I glued it back together and all is well.  This was the largest Gerstner box made at the time, with the center drawer for the Machinery's Handbook; cost ----$ 76.00 ---- but that was when journeyman wages were $5/hr.


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## woodchucker

george wilson said:


> Frankly,I have not been impressed
> by the new Gerstner chests. They say made of quarter sawn white oak. But,it is hard to find a drawer that shows the medullar ray structure that truly quartered oak really has, Their "International" chests are made of red oak,I think.


I would think just the outter case is qtr sawn. its much more expensive because of how it's cut.. less yield.


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## RandyWilson

Fitter Bill said:


> Mine was delivered Monday. I had to get it to the shop fast because the Bride said it would be perfect for her sewing room....




Mine DID end up in the sewing room.


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## ch2co

If the drawers weren't so sloppy you wouldn't be able to open them. They'd be stuck.


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## benmychree

Luckily, I was single and employed at "the trade" when I bought mine, and it went right to my job at the Kaiser Steel machine shop in Napa, Cal.  I like the black walnut much better than oak or the naugalhide covered that Gerstner sells.


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## george wilson

Yes,there is less yield on quarter sawn wood. But,IF Gerstner advertises "quarter sawn,and I do not know for a fact that they DO) they should be using quartersawn white oak. Red oak os a LOT more common. I'll see MANY red oak trees before I spot a white oak tree(has shaggy bark). Red oak has a smoother bark).

I don't think anyone here has been lucky to get the SAME tool boxes I did from Costco. Mine cost 10% of a Gerstner,but are certainly a LOT BETTER than 10% of a Gerstner!! I bought 2 complete sets of their oak boxes at costco. There is the large roll about cabinet,the "riser" chest,and on top the machinist's chests. The whole thing (per complete unit) is about 5' 10" tall. I think I paid about $400.00 for each complete unit. And,Costco even let me take several sets out of their cardboard boxes to check them over. I remember that one chest had a "ghost" image of a full hand print on it. Like some worker put his hand on the chest,getting very fine wood powder on it before the lacquer was sprayed! Glad I didn't get that one!!!!


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## Ulma Doctor

When i first saw the title of this thread Wood Machinists' Box, i thought to myself, wood machinist ???
i thought they were called Carpenters ???


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## benmychree

ch2co said:


> If the drawers weren't so sloppy you wouldn't be able to open them. They'd be stuck.


That has not been a problem with my Gerstner box, now 50 years old; the drawers still fit tight and they still open nicely.


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## ch2co

_ benmychree  said  "That has not been a problem with my Gerstner box, now 50 years old; the drawers still fit tight and they still open nicely._"   

Thats what I was trying to point out. The Gerstners are very well crafted and can have a much tighter fit without sticking. Its called quality construction.
 Its the cheap ones that rely on sloppiness to keep the drawers from sticking.


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