Craftsman 8' Workbench Frame - Red

Well made but....................... February 26, 2012
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The base(bench) was good -only missing one nut - several tries to contact someone at Sears to get it were fruitless - ended up at ***** for the nut.

The top was another story - butcher block was made in Vietnam and did not have the good "USA packaging *(foam, pressboard, etc.) only cardboard box and strapping - it was split lengthwise almost 3/4 thru  and  not along the seams of the individual pieces in the blocks - must have been dropped or bent - it was 110 lbs. or so.

Attempting to assemble the Craftsman corner shelf was a horror - drawings not clear and what they show (choices) is not necessartily possible -finally someone at Sears help line (?) gave me the name of the manufactuerer in MO, USA who was helpful....

.All the USA made stuff - cornet shelf, drawers,bench and backstand - were very well made and packaged as noted above.

One minor problem with the bench is that, after assembling the bench, I looked at the instructions for the drawers and then learned that I had to take off  2 braces (this was on a sheet attached to the parts drawing, not on the instructions, for the drawers - nothing about it on the assembly instructions for the bench.

All in all,  good stuff at a reasonable price but the instructions could use some improvement including a sentence or two on how to "square" something. And the Vietnamese need to learn how to properly package the butcher block top.

Nice and Solid workbench for the price. December 24, 2011
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I purchased the workbench frame, Butcher block top, and back wall. The frame does come completely dissembled in the box. Slight small damage to one of the outside side pieces, but on the inside and was able to bend it back. No big deal breaker for me. Missing about 2-3 screws for the wood top surface. Directions: **** The instructions are good ?IF? you are ONLY putting together just the frame and wood top ?ONLY? If you are adding the back-wall, the instructions say nothing about the installation of the back wall. The instructions for the workbench frame and wood top only are good ONLY by themselves. I put the workbench in this order, Frame, top then back wall. The instructions for the frame do tell you to install the top and back-splash and you are done. Then I opened the box for the back wall only to find out it tells you to remove the top, set it aside and remove the back-splash. Then, remove all of the bolts form the back to the bracing and frame to install the two back wall posts to hold the back wall pegboard and light bar. NOTE to Sears/Craftsman: Please place a ?STOP? note in the Workbench frame instructions just before the installation of the top surface to inform the customer that if he/she purchased the optional back-wall to start that installation of the back-wall before the installation of the top wood surface. It was a pain to unscrew the top, which the 8? wood butch block top is pretty heavy. OR place those back-wall instructions were need be, BUT please make a note in the instructions. My only complaint is the instructions and some of the bolts/screws were missing. OVERALL: I give is 4 stars. Because, once all put together, this is a very much sold workbench, especially if you can catch Sears/Craftsman on sale as I did for the price and I almost bought two of them at the same time. I would still recommend this to friends and family and also inform them of the proper steps that the instructions don?t tell you as mentioned above.

Third world quality August 29, 2011
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Brought this along with two draw modules and a top. Whoever designed this was clueless. The supplied hardware for assembly is just wrong, as there needs to be a difference between the thickness of the coach bolts nut depth for the three panel thickness and the two panel, which there isn't. There are also lots of unnecessary holes punched in most of the pieces. The stringer is just plain made wrong on the basis of being made (for reasons that elude me) to interchange with the top sections. Thus the only way it 'works' is to install it outside in, as it would require additional notching to clear the panel for the draw modules and function properly.

I have several workbenches from various suppliers, and this one is far and away the lowest quality in every respect. Nor is it reasonably priced when all the 'add ons' are factored in. Craftsman normally makes a fair product, but this one is something that is best described as 'third world quality'. America can do much better than this.

Top quality at a fair price, but tricky assembly. June 07, 2011
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I recv'd the frame, along with 2 5-drawer pedestals, butcher block top, along with the backboard hanging panel. I read the instructions and assembled the frame first. Then I mounted the butcher block top, as directed. Then I assembled the 5-drawer pedestal - seems like it makes sense, doesn't it? Well, it doesn't. Due to the way the pieces eventually mount together, I had to disassemble the top and bench. There was no mention made in the instructions on how to mount the top if you were going to mount the drawers, and the back board. Everything has to be put together as a unit at the same time, due to the interlocking of the various pieces. Bench becomes integral with drawer modules. The pieces need to be bolted in an interlocking manner as you assemble them all as a unit. It's very frustrating having to start over due to incomplete instructions. Sears could do a much better job. But, the quality is topflight and worth it, equal to units costing much more.