Husky came out with a new ball bearing tool storage combo a few months ago, and it featured see-through glass drawer fronts so that you can see what’s in a drawer without first opening it.
Like the 8-drawer combo, Husky’s new 52-inch 10-drawer mobile workcenter (HTBX10) also features see-through glass drawer fronts. But with this unit, each drawer is built with rear-mounted rows of LEDs to help users better view drawer contents when the drawers are closed. A switch at the top left of the cabinet turns the LEDs on and off.
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In order to power the LEDs, users will have to plug the power cable into a wall outlet.
The new workcenter also features a wood worksurface, 5″ casters, ball bearing drawer slides rated to 75 pounds per pair, and a keyed drawer lock.
The product page says that the 10-drawer ball bearing tool cabinet is made in the USA, but one of the first reviews cautions about severe quality issues.
Price: $329
Buy Now(via Home Depot)
First Thoughts
While the idea of putting LEDs at the back of toolbox drawers that have glass fronts seems like a great idea, what happens when a heavily loaded drawer contains too many tools that block the light? To better illuminate the contents of a drawer, LED light sources should ideally be above the tools, or perhaps at the sides. It doesn’t seem like it would be very effective to put the LEDs at the very back of a drawer.
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Additionally, it’s not very optimistic to see an early adopter using words like weak, too thin, easily flexes, light duty, packaged poorly, and cheap plastic in their review. If this toolbox looks like the perfect fit for your garage or workshop, you should probably test out a demo unit in-store before you buy one.
Matthew Fant
I’ve been very disappointed with the quality of toolboxes in general lately. Looks like a cool concept though. For what it’s worth, my dad bought a big tool box from depot, and he’s very happy with the fit and finish. Was not this model though.
Jonathan miller
I concur Matthew. Unfortunately for those of us who appreciate great quality tools the majority of consumers drive the market, not the minority of us. Since the majority want an acceptable tool or tool box we get Chinese created junk. Warranties used to not be necessary, but now the warranties are just insurance policies hidden into the cost of the item your purchasing. Knowing that they are still making a profit really leads me to wonder just how much these tools cost to produce.
fred
For what it is worth – the Home Depot web page says that this cart is made in the USA
Stuart
As Fred mentioned, and as is written in the post, this is listed as a USA-made product. Maybe that means it’s only assembled or finished in the USA, or made in the USA with global materials, but this is not “Chinese created junk.”
Ian
I completely agree. I sold much of my Snap-on when I switched careers, but the toolbox is one of the pieces I kept. When I bought it, I wanted a wide width bottom cabinet with all full width drawers, royal blue, USA made. Snap-on had the cheapest price of any that were available. The boxes nowadays are almost comically flimsy, for the most part. My snap on cost just under 2k when I finished adding the stainless top and added a second pair of slides on every drawer I could, but I will have that box most likely until the day I die, and I use it every day in my shop.
Ian
I wanted to add, this box is sort of cool, but if I did pick it up it I think it would be best suited for parts storage with work surface. With how much I use my main box, anything less than pro grade for the drawers would just not hold up.
Blammo !
A “mechanic” that can not bend up and weld up his own box is nothing more than a parts changer with computerized instructions.
It’s stupid simple to create something Like Mac-Off, Krunchman, Snapper Freight,Harboring Stupidity.
Prolly can’t lay block, do roofing or wire an electrical system either.
Sad story guys, turn off the TV.
KING BENJAMIN
My time is worth $500.00 an hour, I bought my 4 boxes for $800.00 I paid my teenage son $100 to pickup the boxes and install them. That’s 1.8 hours do you really think it is worth my time to fabricate boxes like these? Don’t be stupid! Even if I paid full price for these boxes it still would be stupid to try and fabricare boxes like these. Any shop that has the capability to build boxes like this would be losing money to fabricate boxes such as these unless they have a huge order for them and have the ability to mass produce them on an assembly line.
Omar
I’m glad there’s still common sense out there. I read his comment and thought, wtf?
I make 300 an hour. There’s nooo way I’d spend my time, “fabricating my own box.”
Come on man…
That guy is a try hard for that comment. I wonder what he’s doing today, because he doesn’t seem like real mechanic material, just based off how he talks..
(In his world, either you make your own box, or you’re just a glorified parts changer..) *facepalm
I’m a high horsepower engine assembler… I have a feeling he’d get smoked.
Real mechanic my foot!
*Back to the topic at hand-This glass box is my favorite one. Its not flimsy, I have it loaded with over 650 pounds in tools, and I’ve never even broke the glass when my tools hit the windows. The light flows right out of the box, regardless of how full the drawers are, and when you have all your sockets in the box sleeves, sat in the drawers nicely polished up, that tool box looks beautiful when all those polished chrome sockets pop, off the light, through the glass windows. Makes for a very very clean workspace. All my customers love it when they see it.
It’s a cool box to have. You can buy more than one kind of box. I kind of collect toolboxes.. No, I wouldn’t use this as my only toolbox. It’s more of a show piece, for my tools, that nobody else is allowed to touch, and it puts off a nice custom glow.
And nothing says you’re a good and cautious mechanic, like having a glass tool box in your work bay, that’s still in perfect condition👍🏼
Jonathan miller
I know for a fact you could make this out of quality wood for essentially half the price, maybe less.
Mike
Seems a bit gimmicky to me.
Ill stick to my Kennedy setup. USA made and quality. Just got my model 305xb mid chest this week. It sits on top of a model 315xb roller cabinet. My machinist chest sits on top. Now I have more room for tools I see on Toolguyd 🙂
Jordan
This looks kinda cool and could be very helpful for people who aren’t in and out of their toolboxes all the time. My concern is that it may be a little too gimmicky. I’d wager that most of us can navigate through our toolboxes blindfolded if we had to.
And I agree with you about the lights in the back. That’s a little weird.
On the other hand, the price is definitely pretty low. It’s actually cheaper and larger than Harbor Freight’s 44″ roller cabinet (although it looks like the Home Depot toolbox is lighter duty).
For a toolbox that you’re not using often and that’s not overly filled, this may be nice.
mike
Another thing i noticed about this box that bothers me at least is all those drawers seem super tall.
They should have added some more thinner drawers on one side of it Seems like space can be better utilized that way,in a sense that pliers and wrenches and such arent overly thick a not so tall drawer is better for such tools.
Jordan
My guess is that the drawers are so tall so the light can shine over the tools.
I totally agree with you, I’d prefer shorter drawers and maybe a long top drawer too.
Omar
And that’s a super good point. I fully agree with you, the tall drawers do help the light get out, when the box is loaded.
Omar
No you want tall drawers, so you can store vehicle parts while in the middle of a job, and cases of tools can also fit.
We don’t just use a toolbox for wrenches. It’ll hold big stuff too.
Chris Kruger
I love all the comments and hope to get more feedback from everyone as we launch our new products. Let me assure everyone this is made in the USA. Actually it is made by a 50+ year old US company established in the heart of the Rust Belt of America, Franklin Park,IL. The steel is from US mills and the forming, welding, finish and assembly is done in IL with US employees. The factory is Metal Box International (part of Edsal Mfg. Inc. also a Chicago based company). This factory used to make tool chests 30+ years ago before the business mostly went to competition overseas. We wanted to make something innovative with higher quality than what is available to most consumers. We used 75 lbs. full extension, steel ball bearing drawer glides for all our drawers (most units are 50 lbs). We used heavier gauges of steel , 20, 22 & 24 gauge throughout the unit. The tempered glass came about as a result of consumer feedback that many people could not find the tools in their tool chest. After reading a lot of the comments on Toolguyd I can tell that this group is into their tools more than most (and you should be proud of that). We are a company really trying to bring back innovation and made is the USA. Hope that has cleared up some of the questions around our unit. Thanks and look forward to more feedback.
mary
this box was purchased by a customer ,the lock mec broke and the drawers wont open the key turns the lock but the bars wont move ,how to get open without damage to the box?
Omar
Lift the right top drawer glass up manually, reach in there and turn the entire mechanism rod. It’ll unlock.
Steve Wells
I just got this toolbox about 2 weeks ago. I would agree that at first it seemed a bit of a gimmick – glass drawers, leds… I never needed them before. I have 6 cars and I am constantly working on them so I have put this box to a lot of use so far. I have to say, that it has been much more useful than I originally thought. I can easily see into each drawer so it has cut down on my search time. Construction was solid – drawers have excellent glides and I do really like the way the glass moves up and out of the way when the drawer is opened. The drawers don’t have the “snap back” like in some other boxes – that would be a good additional feature that this box is missing.
I am proud that finally there is a cool toolbox that is made in the USA. I misplaced the keys so I contacted Home Depot who put me in contact with the manufacturer and I was shocked to get a call back from the manufacturer the same day I called them. It is a company in Franklin Park, IL called Metal Box. I guess they are a owned by Edsal Manufacturing. Anyway, I actually talked to Tommy who runs the company and I asked him if it is made or assembled in the USA and how they do it. He said that with the exception of the drawer slides and LED lights, all of the steel, glass, paint and all of the manufacturing is done right there in his facility.
Proud to have an American made product after so many years of seeing nothing but Chinese products.
KL
No good for hot works; I spray grinding sparks at my box more than I should admit. Like windows in your house, one more thing to clean or it looks like s***. I’d prefer to learn my box the old-fashioned way, but I do label my drawers. I have not handled these boxes in person but if the glass is easy to replace then I can’t complain too much. I’d even consider replacing with acrylic ’cause its dirt cheap and easy to cut; then every 1-2 years replace all fronts, kinda like lenses on a welding hood.
Omar
Yea 2 times a year, I wipe my box down, and have to clean the glass. It is strange doing windows on a toolbox, but the outcome is worth it. Brings the brightness and clarity back. Greasy finger prints do happen on this unit. I feel like this box symbolizes a very clean o c d mechanic, so you deff want to keep it clean, or it won’t look as good.
Old auto mech.
Well this tool storage unit is not worth the money at all!!!!!!
Saw this today at the local hd and well lets say plastic is the new metal.
If it had better draws glides, better built draw handles..feel like plastic ..oh they are, and of course the clear draw fronts are so weak I would not like to bump into them with a tool in my hand and then into this tool storage unit.
So in the long run buy something else…… and this was on sale? for 357.00 still not worth the money…….
Omar
I actually bought 10 of them for $4k and mounted them all together, 5 in a row, 1 on each side of my homes garage.
I have the best looking home garage. Looks custom buily into the home. Deff not a cheap unit, and it really is made in the United States by Americans.
Omar
And they have been steady lit up, since 2016. Not a single issue.
That’s 5 years later and climbing.
Older people are used to rivets and welds, they don’t understand that when something serviceable, it could come off feeling a little bit more flimsy I guess… take care of it. It’s really not just going to fall apart for no reason.
Pat Cameron
I was looking for a toolbox in which to store my camera equipment. Most of my equipment is stored in camera bags, but I don’t always need every lens or flash every time I go on a photo shoot. The equipment I didn’t use usually ended up sitting on a table, chair, or in drawer, and I worried about losing or damaging it or having it get dusty. I also wanted something I could lock and that would have large enough drawers to store all of my stuff.
I saw this toolbox at The Home Depot and really liked the idea of the glass doors (not sure how practical they are for tools) so I could see the cameras and lenses, and loved the lights. The toolbox is almost too big for my use, though I’ve managed to fill almost all of the drawers. So, while this may not be a practical toolbox for a contractor, it works out well for my purposes.
I think the build quality is pretty good, and it’s quite a handsome storage unit. This toolbox may be more useful for the weekend handyman than for the serious carpenter or mechanic. I could see this being very easy for a burglar to break the glass to gain access, but I don’t have any other negative attributes to say about this unique toolbox. Overall. I’m quite happy with my purchase.
Mark
Most of the Husky black tool chest/cabinets at HD looked great and offered a lot of value for the home garage. The decision to use thin metal for the drawers, or minimal rivets for the drawer slides was discouraging as the drawers flexed or deformed with minimal effort. Some of the display units had broken slides or big dents indicative of the thin metal used throughout the box. IMO Husky’s new line of tool cabinets with glass front is an improvement over the older all metal boxes. The open-face of each drawer probably necessitated improved drawer structure to maintain a reasonable amount of stiffness. Coupled with 75lb drawer slides, this new Husky could offer even better value and durability to the weekend mechanic or home garage. I probably would not use the LED lights unless I was storing non-tool items in the tool box.
Jeff Kincaid
Went together easily, but guide didn’t say anything about the plug. It plugs into the bottom RH corner when looking from the back.
Russ Baker
This product is low quality and sucks to put it frankly. It hasn’t worked right since I got it. Now I’m locked out because the locking mechanism was never install (by the manufacture, as it came to me) properly. I can’t even get to my tools at this point.
Stay away from this tool box.
Omar
After reading all these comments in here, it’s crazy to me that ALL these mechanics are having trouble, and struggling with a simple tool box. It’s not a bad unit at all. This is crazy. Every toolbox looks the same. You buy this one, for its unique features… not to compare it to the strength of snap ons 4,000 dollar box, at huskies price of 360dollars
*Laughing my butt off rightnow
Patti
Anyone know where I can get this cabinet now? (March 2018)
Home Depot says they are no longer available. I am hoping someone has one in a corner somewhere they don’t want.
Omar
You gotta get lucky and find one used… To me, it’s more of a collector item. Last i saw l, the price increased from $360 to $800, if you can find it new nowdays.
Omar
See patti knows what good is…
It’s a nice unit. One of the best looking boxes ever made. Hands down. It’s a shame people can’t maintence a box, but act like they can fix a car…
That part, and those comments, doesn’t make any sense.
Roc
The lock fell out and the bar dropped to the bottom. I can’t open any draws on this tool box. Help!!
Omar
I just wanted to take a second and thank whoever made this box. Its my favorite one, I’m proud to take it into the future with me. No one is allowed to touch it.
Only my best tools go in there. I love it. Thankyou