Halfords Advanced 6 Drawer Tool Chest

Best tool chest 2022

Which is the best tool cabinet for holding your tools organised and secure?

25 Mar 2022

Work cars for any duration of metre and your tool collection will grow. That means selecting the right spanner or screwdriver at the bottom of a tool box becomes increasingly fractious. The answer is a tool chest, with drawers and compartments to help separate spanners from sockets.

It can also be used to keep flyspeck items like taping, punches and blades together. And, as your kit grows, the chest can be combined with a roller console and mid box to provide extra storage. Then which is the unexcelled one for you? We packed ogdoad to get word.

How we tested them

There's a common design for most tool chests, but it's the slender details that separate the best from the only good.

We sought a chain of draftsman sizes, also as compartments for smaller items. The mountain chain was checked with a selection of common tools, such as sockets, pliers, ratchets, screwdrivers and a malleus, a mallet and boxed kit up like a thread restorer and compressing tester. Ideally, the various types could be stored separately.

We as wel assessed the build quality and looked for features like piano hinges, car drawer locking, lined compartments and smooth runners. At long last, we worked out how much entrepot you got for your money using makers' and online prices.

Verdict

With the top two from our former test absent, the Clarke HD Plus CBB209B (third last metre) takes the victory here, combining versatility with great quality. Runner-prepared is the left-flying field Draper 19566, which provides a huge add up of storehouse for not much cash. Rounding error out the top three is the Draper 14910.

1. Clarke HD Plus CBB209B
2. Draper Occluded Tumbler pigeon Cabinet and Tool Chest 19566
3. Draper 9-drawer Tool Chest 14910

Reviews

Clarke HD Plus CBB209B

Price: around £143.98Valuation: 5/5

At first glance, this is a ringer for the third-arranged Draper 14910, just thither are key differences, not least the keener price. All of the chests in this test have needle bearing drawer runners, yet the Clarke's are the smoothest. This is as wel a stride ahead in quality and a fair bit heavier than the Draper. All of its pants are bordered, although the mat in the top is too small, plus they lock when the lid is closed. The Clarke besides has the desired small drawers so we could keep our tools separate. Overall, a great box.

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Draper Concerted Roller Cabinet and Tool cabinet 19566

Price: around £107.64Rating: 4.5/5

You have to 'free' the chest from behind a English panel in the cabinet, but when you've sized the various fasteners and castors you have a huge amount of storage at a not bad price – less than uncomplete its nearest rivals'. IT doesn't have the bitty drawers we'd like, although there's a skilled immix of deep and fordable storage, as well atomic number 3 space for boxed kit like power tools. You sack realize where costs have been trimmed – there's no auto locking operating theatre facing for the boxershorts – but for light users this unit of measurement is a steal.

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Draper 9-drawer Tool Chest 14910

Monetary value: around £164.09Rating: 4/5

This Draper has many of the same desirable features A our winner – not least the six slender drawers – only it lavatory't match the Clarke along monetary value. The lined drawers carry smoothly, just not with quite the equal ease as the Clarke's. It also lacks the test winner's tote tray, although few users may think over that is a nuisance rather than an asset. The drawers are a trifle deeper than the Clarke's, simply our compression quizzer rubbed on the skin-deep ones. The bureau is also around 6kg flatboat, making it a better option for carrying around.

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Halfords 5-drawer Tool Chest

Price: more or less £179

Rating: 3.5/5

The two Halfords chests here are a step above their rivals, but there is a price to pay – this unit is presently discounted from £250. Still, you perform get plenty for your money, not to the lowest degree deep drawers designed to take Halfords' modular instrument trays. There are three sizes of shorts, but we wish well leastways one of the v had been split up into little units. Atomic number 3 information technology is, different tools have to share the same drawer. Gross, this is bang-up, but if it had small drawers besides as the extant lining and drawer lock, it could be a winner.

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Halfords Civilized 6-draftsman Instrument Chest

Price: around £235Military rank: 3.5/5

This is one monster of a tool chest and one of the biggest in our test. Nobelium surprisal, then, that it was also the virtually costly, even at this price, discounted from £350. Like the other Halfords chest, this gives you plenty for your money. Its features include warmhearted-close drawers that are deep enough to take Halfords' modular tool trays; under the lid is a large area ideal for cordless tools; and there are rubberize-seamed holes in the rear for power cables. Eastern Samoa with the five-drawer version, narrower drawers would have been a cracking addition.

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Sealey American Pro 6-drawer Topchest AP2201BB

Price: some £89.95Rating: 3/5

This is a clone for the Hilka and the prices are and then close that picking between them may seminal fluid retired to simply where you would rather shop. However, buyers Crataegus laevigata prefer the handles connected this unit, as well A the crinkle finish tooth enamel of its drawers, which feel As if they're tougher than the Hilka's painted alternative. Neither has lined drawers, just some curl mechanically when the lid closes; plus the Sealey has the same restricted storage, with just one drawer for bulky tools.

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Hilka Heavy Duty 6-drawer Joyride Chest 19308

Price: around £89.99Military rank: 3/5Supplied for test by Screwfix

If you're on a budget, then your choice is either this surgery the smaller Sealey (above). And that choice is likely to fall in to whether you prefer black or aluminium handles on the drawers. Six-drawer units are always going to struggle against big designs, merely they have the advantage of narrow compartments for elflike items. Sadly, the shallow drawers were too small for some of our bigger kit, leaving a lot to move in the deeper one, but this dresser is abstract for smaller collections.

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Sealey American Pro 5-drawer Topchest AP3505TB

Damage: around £140.17Rating: 3/5

A bit of variety in the depth and width of its drawers would have seen this Sealey fare much fitter. In point of fact, all five are congruent, as they are designed to take Sealey's Siegen instrument trays. Pulverised if you are preparation to fill the chest with trays, just most users will want to conciliate other tools; and, if you have bulky kit, you'll believably be restricted to storing it in the top. On the undeniable side, quality is good and it has the equivalent trio-baked enamel finish as the 6-drawer model.

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Halfords Advanced 6 Drawer Tool Chest

Source: https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/accessories-tyres/35941/best-tool-chest-2019