Tool trolley recommendation

[JumbleDuck]

I don't think they like you taking them!..

Carlisle station used to have a luggage trolley - it may still be there - which said "Not to be removed from London King's Cross Station". Since Carlisle is on the line from Euston I presume that some enterprising person loaded it in King's Cross, pushed it along Marylebone Road and then managed to sneak it on a rain north. I admire that person.

Are you secretly sharing my workshop??? Sounds incredibly familiar! I love a workshop thread

You might well be in my workshop. Are you a small furry creature? Seriously, I saw one looking at me from a shelf a few years back. Definitely not a rat, but I have no idea what it was.

Snap on are lovely, but way to dear for diy use, halford pro or normal are more than good enough.
Make sure you check sizes, as not all boxes are created equal!

Indeed. The US Pro 5 drawer is 20% narrower, 30% shallower (front to back) and 20% lower than the Clarke one, which comes to just under half the volume, and the Clarke was going to be marginal enough. Yes, I really do need all.those spanners.

Power tools are mostly plaasticky and lightweight these days.
My work benches are weighed down by my stockpile of wood and metal.
...
I have inherited some right crap tools, but the lathe makes up for it.

I generally stick to Bosch for power tools. I inherited a vast quantity of wood and metal, but storing it was impractical so I gave it all away - around a half ton of wood to my local men's shed and around a quarter ton of metal to my local narrow gauge railway. It broke my heart to see it all go, but I really had nowhere to keep it and it's much easier to get materials when needed now, thanks to the internet, than it was when my old Dad build up the collection. I kept his Hobbymat mill/drill, though, as it goes well with my Hobbymat lathe.

I can reccommend US Pro-Tools.

As others have too, I shall trawl their range for something good enough.

On the upside, I spoke to Chronos today and they cheerfully said they were arranging return and refund, so no quibbling there.

 

[Stemar]

Yes, I really do need all.those spanners.

I feel your pain...

How is it that, no matter how many years you've been collecting tools, half the projects still need something that isn't in your tool mountain?

 

[Phill]

Not really that relevant but just thought I’d jump in and show you why some of us with professional workshops use Snap On. These photos are of one of my cabinets that I bought in 1993 and it was used daily until I retired in January this year. Expensive but very good quality. Pictures are when I brought it home for a clean this year.

 

[Sticky Fingers]

So that's 27 years old!

 

[Phill]

So that's 27 years old!

It is. The last Snap-On one I bought is not the same quality and doubt it will look that good in 27 years time.

 

[Sticky Fingers]

Impressive. I just looked on eBay they go for silly money...!

 

[anoccasionalyachtsman]

Impressive. I just looked on eBay they go for silly money...!

Even at an 'out in the sticks' auction room. They had an early metallic blue cabinet that had a guide of £100. I really fancied it, so put in a bid of £250. It went for over £1k.

 

[JumbleDuck]

I feel your pain...

How is it that, no matter how many years you've been collecting tools, half the projects still need something that isn't in your tool mountain?

Have you noticed that tools scurry away and hide when they are wanted? I own lots of 7/16" and 11mm AF spanners, because they are needed all over the place on the DS, but when I actually have to use them they hide, leaving an assortment of 10mm, 12mm, 3/8" and 1/2" spanners to mock me.

Mind you, the first time I took the front valance off the DS I found five 11mm spanners in it, only two of which I had contributed myself.

 

[lynallbel]

Not really that relevant but just thought I’d jump in and show you why some of us with professional workshops use Snap On. These photos are of one of my cabinets that I bought in 1993 and it was used daily until I retired in January this year. Expensive but very good quality. Pictures are when I brought it home for a clean this year.
View attachment 89494View attachment 89492View attachment 89493

Teal, certainly an unusual colour.
Love the KRLs
Have you taken a look at the Snap on website? and their retail prices!

 

[Phill]

Teal, certainly an unusual colour.
Love the KRLs
Have you taken a look at the Snap on website? and their retail prices!

It was a limited edition of 5500, only available in black or teal. The graphics are enamel on steel plate. My other, new box has vinyl graphics and I don’t think the paint is as good but still love it.

 

[Concerto]

JumbleDuck arev you still looking for a cabinet larger than the US Pro Tool one, then this one on eBay is a lot larger and at a higher price.
Job Smart 36" 6 Draw Roller Cabinet Tool Chest On wheels & lockable JS3606B | eBay

 

[JumbleDuck]

JumbleDuck arev you still looking for a cabinet larger than the US Pro Tool one, then this one on eBay is a lot larger and at a higher price.
Job Smart 36" 6 Draw Roller Cabinet Tool Chest On wheels & lockable JS3606B | eBay

Thanks - I'll have a look. Halford are front runners again now, but I don't want to buy until the Clarke has gone back and I haven't had the RMA yet. I shall hassle on Monday.

 

[lynallbel]

It was a limited edition of 5500, only available in black or teal. The graphics are enamel on steel plate. My other, new box has vinyl graphics and I don’t think the paint is as good but still love it.

Sadly lots of Snap On gear aint what it used to be, I still think it is bloody good, but even I have to admit the prices are getting silly!

 

[JumbleDuck]

The saga continues. Without telling me, Clarke sent A Bloke to retrieve the dud chest yesterday. As it wasn't wrapped he came back today and it's now on its way home.

Idly perusing Halford's website, as you do, I was please to see that many tool chests and trolley are 20% off at the moment, so for the same money as the Clarke one, within a few quid, I have just ordered Halford's five-drawer trolley and three-drawer mid box, so although the drawers are slightly smaller I will have, overall, a lot more storage space.

That's if the quality is up to it. We shall see.

PS Remember, no delivery charges from Halford's if you buy from them on eBay.

 

[JumbleDuck]

That's if the quality is up to it. We shall see.

Update. Slightly to my surprise, the Halfords trolley arrived this evening, even though they said it would arrive at the end of next week. With my trusty crew as spanner money I have assembled it and the first impressions are very good. It's just as solidly made as the Clarke, and the runners are held in place by sitting in grooves in the upright instead of just by pop rivets, which are there, but not doing all the work. There is a nice firm detente keeping each drawer in when shut. It's a wee bit smaller (two inches narrower, inch less from front to back), and neither wheels nor handle are as fancily chromed, but overall I would say that it is a significantly superior product at 70% of the price.

The mid box is also due next week. It's a bank holiday here tomorrow, so I expect it really will be next week.

 

[Sticky Fingers]

OK sounds promising

 

[Dino]

I recently bought a Draper 24 in tool chest for €192 delivered. I got the gloss black and it looks very smart. It’s a budget option but I’m very happy with it. 24" Combined Roller Cabinet and Tool Chest (6 Drawer) 19566 RCTC6/G | Draper Tools

 

[xyachtdave]

You can get a trolley, with wheels, from Lidl for a pound.

When I first left school I worked alongside an electrician rewiring a large estate of flats in SE London. The local Sainsbury’s lost quite a few trolley’s to the electricians, some even hacked the pushing handle about to turn it into a cable roll dispenser!

We had one and it was great as you could pile all your tools and electrical fittings, go up in the lift and have everything to hand. We’d leave the not valuable socket boxes etc in the trolley outside the flat while we were working.

At work one day my boss went to get something from our trolley and found someone unloading our stuff out of it.

He went nuts, pinned the guy up against the wall and was about to batter him for theft before realising he worked for Sainsbury’s and had been sent to the estate to get their trolleys back!

 

[Jim@sea]

I bought from the internet a tool trolley "Pro Works" it says on the tin.
Well its OK a bit flimsy. Does hold tools.
I compared it with the Snap On top section I bought in 1975 and there is no comparison in quality and the Snap On one is still working well.
And its possibly worth around £100 now compared to as a guess the £25 it may have cost me.
I enjoy pride of ownership and would rather buy a quality one rather than the cheap one I bought on the internet.
Plus I would go to a Machine Mart shop to look rather than buying something on line.

 

[JumbleDuck]

I recently bought a Draper 24 in tool chest for €192 delivered. I got the gloss black and it looks very smart. It’s a budget option but I’m very happy with it. 24" Combined Roller Cabinet and Tool Chest (6 Drawer) 19566 RCTC6/G | Draper Tools

Thanks. I looked at that one but it's not very deep - front to back - and I had enough room available for something deeper. I generally find Draper tools pretty good - I'l still using most of the Silverline socket set I bought to service my first car in 1985, although I have just thrown out the ratchet handle because it slips at unpredictable intervals and I have manage to acquire four 1/2" Britool ones (bought two, inherited two).

I bought from the internet a tool trolley "Pro Works" it says on the tin.
Well its OK a bit flimsy. Does hold tools.
I compared it with the Snap On top section I bought in 1975 and there is no comparison in quality and the Snap On one is still working well.
And its possibly worth around £100 now compared to as a guess the £25 it may have cost me.

From what I've seen on eBay, probably a fair bit more than that. Snap On secondhand prices are crazy, even at the battered end of the market.

I enjoy pride of ownership and would rather buy a quality one rather than the cheap one I bought on the internet.
Plus I would go to a Machine Mart shop to look rather than buying something on line.

I know the feeling. I hate cheap tools, by which I don't mean "inexpensive" but "junk". I would much rather have gone to shops or showrooms to find a tool chest, but my nearest Machine Mart is fifty miles away and even at the best of times it's a bit of a drag. Still, I'm happy with the situation so far.