Mastercraft Storage Solutions

SVT4MT · May 6, 2012

Been pretty impressed lately with some of the Mastercraft goodies I've scooped up, thought I'd throw in a $.02 review.

This shit's on sale at Canadian Tire every other week, and meets some pretty basic criteria for my purposes.

I was always a Craftsman guy, but lately I've been disappointed with the quality of their stuff, so gave Mastercraft a try.

(Also doesn't hurt having over $100 in free CTC money on my credit card from buying gas on a regular basis, so it's like free money)

It's reasonably priced, decent quality, and assembles and fits together well with decently sturdy hardware.

Parts look to be a powder coat type finish, it's definitely too durable to be straight paint.

The workspace tops on the workbenches are solid wood, an inch and a half thick.

Casters are beefy as hell, and the locking mechanism is not flimsy in the least.

Use the larger work bench ($270) in the garage, and a storage cabinet ($99) for my detailing stuff.

(Bottem unit is a good spot for a ford tough.ca decal too...lol)

Got the five foot Storage Cabinet waiting in the wings...

Smaller workbench ($225 I think), went in the basement...

Lag bolted the bench grinder and vise directly on the tabletop...spins around to allow access to both.

Two thumbs up, recommend it for general around the house use.

herbz · May 6, 2012

I don't have a ton of tools but for anything I need I buy it at Canadian Tire. Mastercraft stuff holds up to what I need it for and the prices you really can't beat.

BlairTruck · May 6, 2012

i need some cabinets and shelves in my garage its empty.
ill look into this.

the one you have on the wall, there was one very similar to that at prncess auto for reg 100$ on sale for 25$ i should have got some.

b4000 · May 6, 2012

I like those cabinets. I guess it all depends what you do in your garage. Mine doubles as my workshop, so I couldn't afford all the nice Mastercraft ones I think I'd need. They're ideal if you only need one or two, though, and they look good. I may buy one for paints and chemicals for fire safety, since they're steel.

For the most part I've been building my own benches and cabinets. I've already built my workbench just the way I like it, with three really big drawers, and taller than the kind you can buy (no more stooping!). If you guys have the tools, building solid benches and cabinets is one of the easiest woodworking projects around, and you get it built exactly the way you want for very low cost.

But if I ever win the lottery ...

b4000 · May 11, 2012

@ SVT4MT,
Well, based on your review I picked up the medium size upright storage cabinet with the 2 doors. It was $249.

I bought it for work, to keep my tools and sundry other crap, because I find the mechanic's tool chests with all the drawers don't really cut it for me. We also have ZERO space at our shop now. For a lot less money, this has enough room to store my tool bags, a file box, hard hat, and bigger 36" wrenches, which you can't do with a regular tool chest. Smaller items can go in bins on the shelves.

I've only taken the parts out of the box to inspect them, but I have to say I'm pretty impressed with the quality, especially for the low price. I thought it would be cheaply screwed together with self-tapping sheet metal screws, but it's actually made with machine screws and threaded inserts. Overall, they seem to have put a lot of thought into designing these.

I'm going to replace the levelling feet (also very heavy duty) with some swivelling wheels, so it'll be my refrigerator-size mobile tool cabinet. And if I ever get fired, it'll look good in my garage!

Thanks for posting your review, this really has solved an on-going hassle for me.

SVT4MT · May 11, 2012

b4000 said:
......I've only taken the parts out of the box to inspect them, but I have to say I'm pretty impressed with the quality, especially for the low price. I thought it would be cheaply screwed together with self-tapping sheet metal screws, but it's actually made with machine screws and threaded inserts. Overall, they seem to have put a lot of thought into designing these.

No problem b , glad it helped you out and that you're happy with your purchase.

I still have to put mine together, but if it's like any of the others, assembly is easy and likely will take less than an hour.

Good point with the machine screws and threaded inserts feature...forgot to mention that in my review.

The parts are well labelled, taking out a lot of guesswork in the assembly process, even to the point as to indicating orientation (top/front etc)

Just for clarification, the rolling unit I have in the basement (vise and bench grinder mounted) has a 3/4 inch top, as opposed to the garage unit, which is inch and a half.

Lone Ranger · May 11, 2012

Pretty much all of my tools are Mastercrap or PA stuff, with a few other scatterings in there. I've never had any real complaints with them at all. LR

b4000 · May 12, 2012

I've got a question about the casters on your benches. My cabinet has levelling feet that screw into what seems to be a 14mm threaded hole underneath. How do the casters on your benches attach? Would it be the same type of 14mm threaded hole, and the casters have a threaded stem?

If so, I could just try and get some from CT. Seems like that particular type of caster isn't to be found elsewhere. Saving that, I'd have to weld some regular casters on, I suppose.

SVT4MT · May 12, 2012

Casters attach to the benches the same way as the feet...screw them in place, level them, and then tighten up the locking nut.

14 mm (1/2 inch) sounds about right, can't tell 100% because the threaded portion on the casters is hidden in the frame of the box. (Another nice finishing touch)

Shouldn't be too difficult to find a set.....wouldn't surprise me if they had them in stock.

Let me know how you make out....that's a great idea, might have to do it myself if I ever get the time to put it together !!!

b4000 · May 12, 2012

Thanks for the info.

I haven't seen these available as an accessory at CT. I went to a place called Caster Town. They're an industrial supplier of casters, figuring if any place would have such an an item it would be them. I didn't even realize a super-specialized business like that even existed. It reminded me of the old Scotch Tape Store skit from SNL.

The rep tried hard to find a caster that would just thread in, but no luck. He said anything metric for Chinese stuff is almost impossible to get. So apparently those are a specialty item specific to those Mastercraft units.

I'll phone the CT replacement parts number and see if they'll sell me a set. They've been really good about sending me parts for my drill press, etc. Otherwise, it's time to dust off the old Power Fist mig welder and do a bit of surgery.

b4000 · May 15, 2012

CT is coming through with some casters for me, which once again makes me glad I shop there.

Thanks again for your information.

b4000 · May 31, 2012

Just an update on adding casters to the tall storage cabinet, in case anyone reads this and wants to do the same thing.

Turns out the casters CT sent me (that are actually for one of the benches) have a 12mm threaded stem. The levelling feet that came with my cabinet have a 14mm threaded insert flush with the bottom. Therefore, the casters will not simply thread into the inserts where the levelling feet go.

After considering a number of different solutions, I decided the easiest thing was just to weld some 12mm nuts concentric with the levelling feet holes. Now the casters simply thread in where the levelling feet would go.

If I ever have any reason to use the levelling feet again, it's just a matter of using a zip disc and cutting the welds off the nuts.

The cabinet seems pretty stable (the 2 front casters have brakes) and is easily movable. I also used a some more 12mm nuts on the caster stems so that the cabinet can be levelled (by using the 'double-nut' technique) once you decide where you want to park it. That's important to make the doors square-up, since any large box like this will be inevitably a little floppy.

SVT4MT · May 31, 2012

That's a little disappointing (12mm caster vs 14mm levelling feet).

One of these days I'm going to have to see it there's a difference between the diameter of the threaded stem on the garage unit casters and the basement unit casters.

The wheels are different, so I'm wondering out loud if the stems would be as well.

Maybe CTC sent you the wrong ones...... one of these days I'll check.

Great solution with welding the 12mm nuts on though.

b4000 · May 31, 2012

I'm pretty sure they were the right casters. The lady on the phone seemed to know what she was talking about, and she referred to the parts list for one of the benches. And the casters look the same as on a display model of a bench I saw in a store.

I'm not really that disappointed, since the casters cost me $0, and the 12mm nuts cost me 39 cents each at Home Depot.

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