Brent, since my brothers used to be Matco Tool distributors, and I also went to Matco's training class in Ohio, and since I've seen, repaired, delivered, etc. a few toolboxes, I can tell you that I don't know of a better quality toolbox than Matco; one of the few items they actually build themselves instead of having them built by someone else with their name on them. I can also tell you that I don't know how or why anyone, except a professional mechanic, would buy one because of the high price. My brother used to say that they cost about the same as a good steak; about $5.95 a pound /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif and I delivered a few for him that weighed 800 or more pounds empty. I can also tell you that the toolboxes are a
major profit item for the distributors, whether Matco, MAC, or Snap-on, so they'll take trade-ins and/or negotiate on the price. Now I don't know who builds Craftsman boxes for Sears, but I've seen a lot of their cheaper boxes broken down by more tool weight being put into them than they were designed for.
However, you know Sears now sells some pretty darned good boxes, as well as the cheap ones. When I was living in the country and had a 40' x 60' shop building, I didn't use a toolbox; I had my tools laid out on workbenches where I used them and/or hanging on pegboards above the benches. But when I moved back to town, temporarily in an apartment, I had to have a small box that would hold a few tools. So just as one example of the current mid-priced Craftsman, I bought
this one. Now I'm certainly not recommending any particular brand or box; only using it as an example of a box that only weighs 100 pounds, but has ball bearing drawer guides and a weight capacity of 600 pounds. Not bad for a little box. I don't know how much weight I've got in it, but it's held up good as new for well over 2 years.
