Blue Saber Cabinet Install / Review

bdamico · Oct 14, 2012

There appears to be little or no information in this forum about Saber Cabinets. In this thread, I will walk you through my install of a wall of Saber's new blue line of steel cabinets. Saber calls the blue Traffic Blue. It is a bit darker than Lista and much lighter than Kobalt cabinets.

While I am not done installing them, my initial thoughts are they are very well built and thought out. The steel is around 19 gauge and the cabinets are overall well designed and provide a ton of storage. I don't think you can get much better in the price range.

I purchased (2) 48" x 81" x 24 storage cabinets, (1) 30" x 81 x 24" storage cabinet, (2) 6 drawer base cabinets, (1) 90" stainless steel workbench, and (3) upper cabinets.

Update***

This is what it looks like now. As you will see below, I think Saber cabinets are the best deal out there in this price range. Tons of space, well built, well designed, sharp looking, and a great company to deal with.

soffit build here
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=187681&highlight=soffit

bdamico · Oct 14, 2012

I am putting the cabinets along the back wall. I already did my porcelain tile install this summer. Note the step on the right side into the house. The first cabinet is going to clear that step.

The first thing I want to say is don't follow the instructions. They tell you to build the cabinet first and then attach it to the wall. I did some like this and wish I hadn't. I say building them all from the bottom up if you use legs. Or if you just hang them, Start from the back panel and build the cabinet on the wall. You'll see as I write this thread.

Saber cabinets are meant to be hung. I probably should have listened and just anchored the hell out of them but I went ahead and ordered legs. Of course the legs I ordered didn't match the predrilled holes on the bottom so I had to make some more.

In any event, the bottom panel is like a tray. I thought it was a little wimpy for the legs so I added 1x10 pine boards in the tray (it gets hidden as you'll see) and bolted the legs through the wood and the bottom.

So here's the first 48 inch storage cabinet going in over the step to the house.

So after I got the bottom nice and level, I built the back panel. It is made from two pieces that bolt together. I ended up attaching it to the wall with toggler alligator anchors (I have hollow block walls).

Then I attached the side panels. Notice the double walled construction. Really nice.

Then the top, which is a tray construction, which rests on top of the back and sides and bolts in.

Then there is another panel that goes over the bottom tray and covers it. It is really strong and has a channel support.

Then the doors. BTW -- this was one of my first mistakes -- DON'T PUT ON DOORS until you're done with all the cabinets, because it makes them harder to line up and bolt together when you have a bunch in a row.

Door construction is really good and strong. The tall cabinets doors are each attached via 4 euro hinges.

bdamico · Oct 14, 2012

Then I lined up my second storage cabinet and repeated. I'll go back later and take some detail shots of the door handles (which are long chunks of metal) and the locking mechanism and shelves.

I note that the cabinets are predrilled along to top and bottom of the sides, so that you can bolt multiple cabinets together. This really helps keep things level.

The next cabinet I put up was the six drawer base unit. Note that I made it shorter than the storage cabinets (which had to be high to clear the step). It was just too tall especially with the work top, so I made the base cabinets shorter.

It comes prebuilt--the only thing you have to do is attach the handles and legs if applicable.

The construction on these is really nice. All the drawers have liners (not the greatest but better than nada)

Uner the liner you find thoughtful design to make the drawer strong.

Full extension drawers with ball bearings. I rate the slide mechanisms a 7. Not the best but probably about right for this price point. 2 slides on the bigger bottom drawers

bdamico · Oct 14, 2012

Now for the uppers. Essentially same construction as the tall storage cabinets. I lined three across the top.

A nice detail is that these have trays on the underside to put lights. I'll get to that later. And this is essentially where I am now. I still have another cabinet to build, backsplash and electrical. Unfortunately, work and everything else is getting in the way but this will hopefully be done soon. Then soffit cabinets above, minisplit, and sink (where the water heater is)...

jwhcars · Oct 14, 2012

I like the look.

teamacacia · Oct 14, 2012

bdamico, in your last pic is that above the garage door wire grating for storage? If so, where did you find it?

c7fx · Oct 14, 2012

looks good

bdamico · Oct 14, 2012

teamacacia said:
bdamico, in your last pic is that above the garage door wire grating for storage? If so, where did you find it?

Yeah. I hate it. Wish I never did it. Going to tear it down and build a soffit above my new cabinets. You can do a search for overhead garage storage. There's like one or two companies that sell these under different names. Or you can just build it yourself all it is a boltless industrial shelf unit bolted to the ceiling that they charge you tripple for. So go search for boltless shelf components and build one yourself.

Bostonbmw · Oct 14, 2012

I do not see them on the website. What is the pricing like ?

sublimate · Oct 14, 2012

Bostonbmw said:
I do not see them on the website. What is the pricing like ?

http://sabercabinets.com/b_Saber-Magnum.html

Bostonbmw · Oct 15, 2012

Thanks for taking the time to post some photos they look great!

teamacacia · Oct 15, 2012

sublimate said:
http://sabercabinets.com/b_Saber-Magnum.html

Thanks for the link. Their website is interesting.

cdd1 · Oct 15, 2012

teamacacia said:
Thanks for the link. Their website is interesting.

Agreed. They have an interesting comparison that should be helpful for those in the market for cabinets.

http://sabercabinets.com/a_Brand-comparison.html

I have the 18 gauge New Age and am generally pleased with them.

Bostonbmw · Oct 15, 2012

cdd1 which New Age cabinets did you get, do you have any photos?

bdamico · Oct 16, 2012

cdd1 said:
Agreed. They have an interesting comparison that should be helpful for those in the market for cabinets.

http://sabercabinets.com/a_Brand-comparison.html

I have the 18 gauge New Age and am generally pleased with them.

I will say that I very actively looked at all other options in the market in this relative price range--especially because Saber's new product line was delayed for quite some time. I considered Redline, Hercke, and New Age (and a bunch of others I can't recall right now). In the end, I went with Saber because of the pricing, look, and the huge capacity of Saber cabinets. I really don't think there's much competition in this price range.

I also have noted that a lot of people on this forum will say that anything not welded (New Age is) is automatically ****. I couldn't disagree more. This stuff is really strong and like a rock especially when bolted to the wall. For most people, there is little need to have anything stronger or heavier.

c7fx · Oct 16, 2012

They look great so far any finished pictures? I'm still trying to figure out what I want to get but these are in the running for sure

bdamico · Oct 16, 2012

c7fx said:
They look great so far any finished pictures? I'm still trying to figure out what I want to get but these are in the running for sure

probably not for a week or two as work got in the way

cdd1 · Oct 16, 2012

Bostonbmw said:
cdd1 which New Age cabinets did you get, do you have any photos?

I got the 18 gauge Pro Series--they were on sale at Costco, 1499 for six cabinets, I bought 2 sets. Here's the only photo I have with me at work--this was the first day they came in and I hadn't hung the wall cabinets yet. I can take some additional shots (fully installed) when I get home.

bdamico said:
I will say that I very actively looked at all other options in the market in this relative price range--especially because Saber's new product line was delayed for quite some time. I considered Redline, Hercke, and New Age (and a bunch of others I can't recall right now). In the end, I went with Saber because of the pricing, look, and the huge capacity of Saber cabinets. I really don't think there's much competition in this price range.

I also have noted that a lot of people on this forum will say that anything not welded (like New Age) is automatically ****. I couldn't disagree more. This stuff is really strong and like a rock especially when bolted to the wall. For most people, there is little need to have anything stronger or heavier.

Just a quick FYI, the New Age cabinets are welded. IIRC, only the RTA series is not (probably obviously).

jesse72 · Oct 16, 2012

Looking good!

lowheat · Oct 16, 2012

I like those, looks great.

bdamico · Oct 16, 2012

cdd1 said:
Just a quick FYI, the New Age cabinets are welded. IIRC, only the RTA series is not (probably obviously).

that was actually the point i was trying to convey, so i edited

cdd1 · Oct 16, 2012

bostonbmw, here are some shots I got tonight.

c7fx · Oct 16, 2012

Those look really good also

DEEDDUDE · Oct 17, 2012

Thanks for the pics guys. :thumbup:

Now I’m trying to figure out which brand to go with. I started a thread a while back asking about the New Age cabinets and got very little response. Both sets look great. Bdamico, I’ll be looking forward to your review. Thanks again to you and cdd1 for the pictures.

sscustom · Oct 17, 2012

looks awsome!

Bostonbmw · Oct 18, 2012

thanks for the photos they look great.

bdamico · Nov 7, 2012

It's been a while since I was able to make progress. But I finally got back to the garage this weekend. I finished installing the cabinet frames and doors. Still have to level all the doors and add some handles, etc. but almost there.

Someone has asked me how I got the legs lower on the base drawer cabinets. The camar legs come in three pieces: the part that mounts to the cabinet; the leg; and the cap to the leg. All I did was remove the leg part and it worked out to be a good height for me.

A major thing that has held me up is the electric work. I've only got two outlets in my garage so I had lots of fishing to do to put a outlet strip in. I ended up getting the four-foot hardwire outlet strip from x1up.com. I considered tripp lite but didn't want to deal with the almond color.

The other thing I did was to install lights over the work bench. Saber has done a good job leaving about a 1.5 inch tray to recess lights. I decided to get led lights from superbrightleds.com. I got three of their high power rigid light strips

http://www.superbrightleds.com/more...high-power-led-waterproof-light-fixtures/622/

These are only $24 a pop and the power supply was only another $20.

I hotglued them to the bottom of the cabinet and drilled some holes in the cabinets to link the lights. I hardwired the power supply (yes I need to go back and clean this up) and put in an insteon switch to control them (which ties in to my automation system for my entire house).

They throw off something like 350 lumens each, which is quite sufficient, and the light matches my fluorescent tubes nicely. (BTW) the light bands reflecting off the stainless work top are only seen on camera for some reason. The lights are quite even with a good spread.

It's really amazing how thin these fixtures are. They'll be great if they hold up.
That's all for now. I have alligator board to go in next, some remaining pieces for the cabinets, and then I'll be done with this phase of the garage makeover. Once again, I really can't say enough how good these cabinets are.

c7fx · Nov 7, 2012

I like the light will need to check them out

DEEDDUDE · Nov 8, 2012

bdamico said:
Someone has asked me how I got the legs lower on the base drawer cabinets. The camar legs come in three pieces: the part that mounts to the cabinet; the leg; and the cap to the leg. All I did was remove the leg part and it worked out to be a good height for me.

bdamico, Thanks for the pictures and answering the question about the feet. The cabinets look great. :thumbup:

akdiesel · Nov 8, 2012

Those look really good. Nice build.

bdamico · Nov 11, 2012

Save for some small details (like aligning all the upper cabinet doors, I just remembered, and the footboard), I finally finished.

I hardwired power into one of the drawers.

I then installed stainless steel pegboard from alligator board. Stuff is ultra shiny and nice. The first set arrived damaged from shipping I guess. I sent them an email and they shipped out a new set no questions asked. Good quality stuff.

I had forgot to mention the worktop in the past. It's a solid piece of wood (I think 1.25" thick) wrapped all around in stainless. Very strong. Very nicely put together. It is a bit wider than the cabinets so it sticks out a bit. I like that.

In any event, here it is all done. Turned out better than I would have imagined.

I don't think I showed an interior on the cabinets before. Lots of storage.

Overall, I don't think you're going to find a better deal for the money. These are really high quality units that look sharp and were designed well. In addition, the owner of Saber has been really good to deal with. That's all for now--soffit cabinets and sink next...

Geek · Dec 3, 2012

Question about the Saber cabinets - looking at their website the handles are all different on your cabinets than the ones they show.

I need locking cabinets - does every cabinet have a lock including the tall ones?

The newage cabinets I was considering only have a locking tool drawer; nothing else locks.

tia,
Ed

TRWTOW · Dec 6, 2012

thinkin new age or saber also thanks for the pics guys

Dorsey · Dec 23, 2012

bd - Great info. Long time lurker getting ready to do some upgrades to a four car detached garage. I am going to go with two, 30 inch, 7 foot tall cabinets with 2 one drawer, 2 door base units and a knee space on one side of them and 2 six drawer base cabinets on the other side. Five wall cabinets - the whole thing is 17.5 feet long. Blue like yours with the SS countertops. I talked to the owner of Saber (great guy) and he says they are shifting production from China to Mexico and won't have the 6 drawer units until March. Fine with me as I have to build a stud wall to hang them from and hide some wiring. Will take pictures.

bdamico · Dec 23, 2012

Dorsey said:
bd - Great info. Long time lurker getting ready to do some upgrades to a four car detached garage. I am going to go with two, 30 inch, 7 foot tall cabinets with 2 one drawer, 2 door base units and a knee space on one side of them and 2 six drawer base cabinets on the other side. Five wall cabinets - the whole thing is 17.5 feet long. Blue like yours with the SS countertops. I talked to the owner of Saber (great guy) and he says they are shifting production from China to Mexico and won't have the 6 drawer units until March. Fine with me as I have to build a stud wall to hang them from and hide some wiring. Will take pictures.

Yeah. I had to wait quite a long time but well worth it once I got them.

bdamico · Dec 23, 2012

Geek said:
Question about the Saber cabinets - looking at their website the handles are all different on your cabinets than the ones they show.

I need locking cabinets - does every cabinet have a lock including the tall ones?

The newage cabinets I was considering only have a locking tool drawer; nothing else locks.

tia,
Ed

1. The magnum line of red and blue cabinets have these handles unlike in the pictures on the website. Saber has good customer service but should take some time to update its pictures, which would likely help them sell their product in any event.

2. The tall storage cabinets and base cabinets lock-at least the drawer base cabinets lock The upper cabinets do not.

KPSquared · Dec 25, 2012

I just found Titan Cabinets. . . seem to be exactly the same as Sabre but with the proper Canadian price point. . .blah.

http://www.titanstorage.ca/a_Cabinets.html

carbon copy of the sabre site. . . http://www.sabercabinets.com/a_Cabinets.html

Wonder what the deal there is? Made in China, sold to whatever bidder?

fog32 · Mar 5, 2013

Very nice job on the cabinets (and the rest of the garage from your other posts). I'm looking to do a very similar setup and was wondering if you could give the clear inside depth of the large cabinets? The website says the cabinets are 23.62" which I assume to be outside depth, but not inside. My wife and I already have tons of storage totes and hope they will fit the depth. Also, how do you like the tool drawers after they are weighted and worked in a little? You rated them a "7", which seems decent, but does the added weight of tools help the roll better?
Thanks!

bdamico · Mar 29, 2013

fog32 said:
Very nice job on the cabinets (and the rest of the garage from your other posts). I'm looking to do a very similar setup and was wondering if you could give the clear inside depth of the large cabinets? The website says the cabinets are 23.62" which I assume to be outside depth, but not inside. My wife and I already have tons of storage totes and hope they will fit the depth. Also, how do you like the tool drawers after they are weighted and worked in a little? You rated them a "7", which seems decent, but does the added weight of tools help the roll better?
Thanks!

I can take an inside measurement later. Everything rolls great. 7 is a good rating. It is impossible to give anything a 10 at this price point. Vault or Baldhead or something like that better be a 10--but this is way cheaper. I still say this is the best value out there. And I talked to Dean recently--he's coming out with these in black as well soon.

68rustang · Apr 3, 2013

Where is the depth info listed on the website? I must have missed it and just emailed them asking about the Saber Magnum cabinets.

Any idea if the red finish matches the old Harbor Freight pinkish reddish toolbox wrinkle paint?

Blue Saber Cabinet Install / Review

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