The OP wrote $65 (in Fort Worth, TX). Was the $65 true? It's $99.99 in Long Beach, CA?
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Wood Machinists box at Costco
- Thread starter AR1911
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The OP wrote $65 (in Fort Worth, TX). Was the $65 true? It's $99.99 in Long Beach, CA?
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.
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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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
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
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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 ?
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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
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.
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 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.
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