SafcoProducts 3962GR Precision Drafting Table Base for Use with 3952, 3953 Table Top, Sold Separately, Gray

I have one of the first generation Safeco metal base drafting tables, that still has wooden drawers and a real wood top. It is 20+ years old now and is still in good shape. However, I needed another drafting table for a second office. I asked around for months trying to find one of the old style tables second hand, without success. I crossed trails with another guy in my town also looking for one. So I finally gave up and ordered one of these new Safeco drafting tables bases and tops. These are sold separately because the tops come in different sizes.This new style base has a fraction of the metal content of my old base. The old style base had solid rectangular metal legs and thicker steel all around. This new base has thinner steel and just has angle iron style legs. It is thin and flimsy. So thin in fact that it was quickly wearing holes in my carpet and I had to buy some coasters to go under it. Safeco skimps so much on materials now that you don't even get a plastic foot or cap at the bottom of the sharp legs. Ridiculous.Unlike the table top (see my separate review for that), this base ships from the factory in Taiwan with some packing material, although it is still inadequate. Due to the flimsy material and the sharp edges of the metal the box was partially destroyed and parts were starting to fall out. My old base had quarter inch hardboard on top and was solid. The new one had some thinner junk that looked like heavy duty cardboard. It had a hole the size of my fist punched in it and another piece broke in my hands when I tried to lift it. That was very disappointing, but this all goes under the drafting table top, and if the top is left flat, this never is exposed to view, so I kept it.Some other observations: 1) the old table base has three rods and big metal hand screws to hold the table top back -- one on each end and one in the middle. This new one has only two rods and dainty plastic hand screws. 2) The old one had wooden drawers. This new one has thin metal drawers that are so flimsy they tend to twist in your hands and jam when you try to use them. 3) The old locking drawer had a solid lock held in place in the drawer with a bolt. This new one has a flimsy lock held in place by a little clip which was missing. Consequently I found the lock barrel laying on the ground outside in the driveway where it had fallen out of the ripped open mangled box. Amazing that it didn't fall out earlier. I couldn't find the clip which had popped off. The lock barrel will not stay in the drawer without the clip, so I just had a hole where the lock was supposed to go.I got this base put together without incident. It really is cheap compared to the old style metal one (and I remember how cheap I thought the old metal one was when I first got it compared to the really old wooden ones I used to use). I found a clip in my local hardware store to put on the end of the lock barrel so that the drawer didn't just have a hole in it where the lock was supposed to go. It promptly popped off again the first time I tried to use it. Totally useless.I thought I was done, but when I called the Safeco Customer Hot Line to request a belly bar replacement for the table top (see my separate review for the table top) I also asked if I could get a new lock barrel or drawer because the one I had gotten was popped out and I couldn't get it to work and it looked really stupid with just a big hole where the lock was supposed to go. I was informed no replacement parts were available, but the agent said they would be happy to send out a whole new base. I decided to accept the offer since the base top had arrived broken as well.I received the new base today. The box appeared undamaged this time, but one of the legs inside had the finish scratched off of one 6 inch section (which faces out). This was obviously damaged at the factory before it went into the box. There was also a big gash on the back on the frame which also obviously happened at the factory before it went into the box.However, the back of the frame was going against a wall and would not be visible and I had enough parts to mix and match to end up with one good base with a drawer with a lock --I thought.Then I found a manufacturing defect in the new frame. It had been cut slightly too long -- about a sixteenth of an inch on each side. This meant that when I tried to attach the legs the holes wouldn't line up to accept the bolts for assembly. Neither the old legs nor the new ones would work. I compared the first frame to the second one and verified what the problem was. I ended tossing the damaged leg, taking one new leg and one old one and bending the edges down with some pliers until I could slightly overlap the top of the legs with the fame and make the holes line up. Bending the tops of the legs with pliers was ridiculously easy, because like I said, these things are cheap and flimsy.Because the frame was a tad too big I also had some trouble getting the brace bar at the bottom to work, but managed to feed the bolts in at an angle and get the nuts on them and force them to flange up with a screwdriver and a wrench.Then I discovered that the big drawer (the one without the lock) was bent on the front and looked bad. This also must have been put in the box this way at the factory. Like I said, these drawers twist when you just try to use them. So I took out the new drawer and put the old one back in.When my assistant and I lifted up the back of the table top off the old base to put it onto the new base, the weight of the table top bent the old frame before we could get the hinges disengaged. This is another difference between the old and new bases. The old ones had heavy duty handles on the front of the base to accept the hinges. This new base just has two slits in the frame that bent like hot butter when we lifted up and tried to remove the table top. And we were very gentle too. What junk!In summary, by cannibalizing two of these and using some brute force, I ended up getting one good table out of two. Oh, I almost forgot, the clip that holds the lock barrel in place is the exact same kind I bought at the hardware store, so I am sure it will pop off if I actually try to use it. At least now I don't have a stupid looking hole in the front of the drawer. The keys for both table bases I received are identical, so these locks really are a total joke.When I take into account the total experience I had with both the base and the worse problems I had with the top (see the separate review for that) I am totally disgusted with Safeco and their products and packing. If there is a next time, and I need another drafting table, I may post ads offering to buy a used table and offering a finder's fee. I hope I never have to buy another one of these new models.While your odds of getting one of these drafting table base and tops sets undamaged is practically nil, the good news is that Safeco will keep sending out replacements (at least they will as of this writing) until you get something you can use. At the end of the day though, the process takes weeks and you still end up with a cheap product.