Sunday, November 24, 2013

Stalwart 75-5186 Bench Top Parts Rack, 15 Piece

Stalwart 75-5186 Bench Top Parts Rack, 15 PieceI actually purchased three of these kits and they arrived today. All three of mine came with instructions (so might be an addition since the last reviewer) and took probably 2-3 minutes each to put together.

While the dimensions given for each of the trays might hold true for the top of each bin, I measured the dimensions at the bottom and they are in fact, 5.5 inch in length x 3 inch in width x 2.75 inch in height (though there is 5 inches between the tray levels). While only slightly smaller than the stated top of bin dimensions, keep it in mind if you have items which are size specific.

I will agree that the system is a tad 'wobbly', but it's really not too big of an issue. Worse case, I can always drill holes through the legs and attach them to my tabletop or even put some non-stick pads at the bottom of the legs and that should solve the problem.

One question that I had was whether the bins could hold weight, so I loaded them down with some lead weights (well, ammunition rounds) at the front of the bin. The first thing I tried was to take an empty tray system and put 57.1 oz (3.6 lbs) on the top/center bin for 20 minutes and neither did it tip over nor did the bin fail (which I sort of wondered might happen since the bins are only held onto the trap with a pretty thin lip of hard plastic). I then loaded up all the top bins with a total weight of 187.9 oz (or 11.75 lbs) and it not only didn't tip over (the legs are longer than the end of the tray, so physically it's impossible on a level surface...but figured I would check since the previous reviewer thought it might), it seems to still be holding strong after another 30 minutes (50 minutes total for the weight test). The feet are splaying apart a bit, so maybe if I loaded down the rest of the trays with that much weight, the problem would be exacerbated...but I really wouldn't see myself (nor any other user) using this item to store 30+ lbs of stuff in these trays.

Now for the negatives:

1) The plastic plugs that they use on the legs are incredibly loose. Of the 12 plugs on my three sets, one was totally missing and 9 of the others are loose enough to pull out by hand. I will be using glue to fix them in place, but since they are really just cosmetic, it's not that big of a deal.

2) Also, on one of my kits I was missing what they call the, "upright support" which helps keep the center of the tray straight and give it some backbone. This kit was the same one which was also missing one of the leg plugs and appeared to have been a returned item also.

3) If you need to move this tray system, you MUST move it from the legs. If you try and pick it up by the trays, the legs will fall off (not too big a deal, but wanted to mention it).

4) There isn't much room to place a label on each bin. They have a slot to insert a label on each bin (.5 inch by 2.5 inch for the readable area), but I had sort of hoped I could put a label sticker on the front to denote what each bin held.

My overall impressions are pretty positive though. The price is really cheap for what we get IMO. I do wish instead of purchasing these I had purchased some with larger bins, but I can't fault this item for that. The trays are pretty easy to take off and put on and from my semi-scientific studies they obviously can carry quite a bit of weight.

I wanted something to store electronic components and don't really favor the tiny drawers of most parts storage units (I think I'm not very nimble-fingered). I liked that this one is not only bins, but will sit on the worktable top.

It arrived unassembled and without any instructions for putting it together. Even still, it's simple and only took about twenty minutes to get it done.

I have been using it for a couple of weeks now and do find that the bins are more convenient than the tiny drawers. I usually take a bin off the rack and set it down next to my work. Once I'm done it/they go back in place fairly easily.

The only complaint so far is that it's feet are a bit wobbly; they tend to splay and twist with the least amount of sideways pressure. Of course, electronics components are not heavy and so this isn't a big problem for me. If you want something to hold anything even the slightest bit heavier, however, you might find it annoying and it might actually end up tipping over.

WayFair (thru Amazon) had the best price; they even beat Sears' special "Labor Day" sale.

All in all, if I could spare the space, I would probably get the same Trademark Tools system, but in the wall-mounted unit: more bins and likely much sturdier.

Buy Stalwart 75-5186 Bench Top Parts Rack, 15 Piece Now

Poor design with absolutely no quality control. Usually products arrive with damage due to shipping abuse. Seldom the problem with UPS. No, the problem in this case was because one of the parts was partially melted! I'd return it if it were not for the fact that I got quite a bit of satisfaction by throwing this in the garbage.

Read Best Reviews of Stalwart 75-5186 Bench Top Parts Rack, 15 Piece Here

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