I think Im going to get a big Snap On box, wich one do you guys have?
I have abox that is probably close to 40 years old, and it is solid! Very impressive, but part time jobs dont exactly pay enough to buy snap on boxes, so Im stuck with craftsmans1985CJ7Laredo said:I've got a snapon box that's at least 10 years old now. It is in excellent condition still. All the sliders are great. I think you get what you pay for with tool boxes.
Here is my take on it:Kartracer55 said:I have abox that is probably close to 40 years old, and it is solid! Very impressive, but part time jobs dont exactly pay enough to buy snap on boxes, so Im stuck with craftsmans
Jim
You are very right, but I buyc heap boxes so I cn buy good tools... besides, Im not a mechanic. how old are you? If your still in liek vo-tech or whatever, as your instructer about "student discounts" on snap on tools.DarkEternal said:Here is my take on it:
I am just starting off my professional career (only part time now as I go through school but will open my own shop in the future) and at first I was going to get a mid level craftsman. After working with the other mechanic for a few months ive decided to not do that and invest in the best box i can afford. Why you ask? Hes got a very nice snapon, and after using it every day and going to sears and playing with even their top of the line ones, there is no comparison. If your actually going to be doing this for a living then look at it as an investment. You will be using this hundreds if not thousands of times a day for the rest of your career. A computer graphics artist will spend 5k+ on a computer every few years, so dont you think its reasonable to even spend 10k or so on a toolbox just once? Also isnt 10k a reasonable price to pay to protect maybe as much as 100k or more of tools you can keep in it that you will aquire over the years? Thats how I see it at least, as soon as I get enough tools to grow out of the roll around I have now ill be investing in a very nice snapon box that will have tons of room to grow into.
No, Buy a repo box that someone else quit making payments on instead. It's not like they wear out overnight.dont you think its reasonable to even spend 10k or so on a toolbox just once?
-You can afford $10K, but you're too friggin cheap to spend ~$300 on a set of Snap-On wrenches that will be in your hands all day? (I read your other post)Also isnt 10k a reasonable price to pay to protect maybe as much as 100k or more of tools you can keep in it that you will aquire over the years?
BumpyDodge said:No, Buy a repo box that someone else quit making payments on instead. It's not like they wear out overnight.
-You can afford $10K, but you're too friggin cheap to spend ~$300 on a set of Snap-On wrenches that will be in your hands all day? (I read your other post)
-You are considering having $100K in tools but they aren't itemized, aren't covered under your employer's insurance and you really expect a tool box lock to protect them? I can crack Snap-On's "theft resistant" lock in about 30 seconds without damage. Why do I waste my time typing?
Let me try to "deprogram" your overly impressionable mind. It sounds like the Snap-On guy's trying to brainwash you into financing because you're quoting their usual sales pitch......
I have all Snap-On boxes and here's my investment: For my top box I've got a small Snap-On flip front style I got years ago when I bought my first Snap-On tools as a VoTech student at a community college that had a Chrysler apprenticeship program. I had the industrial price (51% of retail). I wouldn't have bought it but I pretty much got the box for free by the time you figured out all my discounts and you gotta start somewhere. My middle 3 drawer Snap-On box was fished out of a scrap metal dumpster on an Air Force Base. No, I'm not joking... they chucked it because the lock was broken and it had a small dent on top. My lower Snap-On box is so old is has the 60's style script Snap-On logo and it was a couple hundred bucks from a Matco dealer (Model# KRap? :flipoff2: ). Still works fine. I bought my side cabinet from a guy I worked with for $20 and a case of Budweiser. Customers don't see my boxes, so I could give a fawk less if they look pretty. Whatever you get, don't make the mistake I did - go short and wide, not narrow and tall. Makes work a lot easier and has a nice fringe benefit if you are a professional - it forces "them" (your shop's higher-ups) to give you a bigger chunk of floor space that you can call your own.
That being said, let the trashtalkin' begin!!!!
I have spent a lot of $$$ on Snap-On (tools, not boxes) and have dealt with the B.S. most Snap-On retail dealers spew for many years, so I feel I am both qualified and justified making the following statement:
IMHO Snap-On boxes are like ferraris ... you can lie to yourself all fawkin day rationalizing how they are worth the money and how well they're made BUT.... when it comes to Snap-On boxes, cut the crap it's all about "status" not function. You are flushing money down the toilet buying a Snap-On box new. Want to buy a "collector series"? Congratulations on your fine investment! Let me know how much your box appreciates in value over the next 10 years after it's been in an actual working garage or shop getting sparks thrown at it and grease splatters on a daily basis. If you can actually convince yourself that a blingin' box is actually going to earn you more money, go for it. If you have 15 or 20 grand burning a hole in your pocket, Go buy the biggest baddest Snap-On box there is and quit asking dumb questions - you lucky bastard! I'll opt-out of your dick waving contest.
There is only one possible exception, and it's a stretch at best... If you *own* the shop and *your customers* see your work area they do tend to equate big pretty toolboxes that say Snap-On in big chrome letters with competent professional mechanics (If they only knew the truth ) so I can see how the price might be justifiable. Just like momma always said...."It's what's on the inside that counts", that coincidentally applies to toolboxes as well as people.
I also know what Snap-On's profit is on retail because I bought at Snap-On's industrial price when I was a student so if you're a Snap-On dealer (franchisee) reading this, stfu you motherfawkin crook! However, If you're a Snap-On industrial rep reading this - you sell really nice tools that are indeed reasonably priced considering their extreme high quality and guarantee, thank you. I don't have any prob with Snap-On's tools, but their dealer policies (and most of their *retail* dealers) are stupid.
If you're smart here's a good starter toolbox that may look ghetto, but it's quality and will give you plenty of room to grow:
Buy two older used Snap-On narrow boxes. They are cheap as hell because nobody wants narrow boxes anymore. "Sister" them together with a welded angle iron frame. Add four good industrial casters from Grainger or wherever.
weld a piece of plate over the top for a work surface and make slots in the edge so you can run two bars through the front that you can padlock at night (that will actually slow a thief for more than 30 seconds). The only thing you won't have is an "extra long" drawer for your extensions and ratchets over 3 feet - think you can make the sacrifice?
If you NEED that to fix 99% of shit then yes - that's exactly what I'm saying.Toyota_Jim said:so your saying that me having the biggest box snappy makes is just status?
EVERY drawer is full, not just organized, full. sure is nice to have it all in one place.
Ditto on that. I have all snap on wrenches and precision tools, but carry them in a ball bearing crapsman. Really only because my first tool box was a 1960's roll cab bottom that was given to me for free by a buddy... with old school large drawer sliders that have held up fine over the years. Kind of forced me to get a crapsman top, and then upgrade to an intermediate as well.kpfitz said:I find that a inexpensive craftsman box with snap on tools was good for me. Never felt there was a need for that expensive of a box. You can by alot of tools with the extra money