Does Hon Make The Best File Cabinet by: Grant Mills

Based in Muscatine, Iowa; the Hon Company was originally started in 1944 under the company name of Home-O-Nize Co. In 1955, Home-O-Nize decided to increase it's focus on office supplies and office furniture, so they create a separate department for those products. They also elected to come up with a new name for the new department so this division became known as H-O-N (Home-O-Nize). Since that time, Hon has become an industry leader in the office furniture market.

The Hon company saw a need for office organization so the first Hon file cabinet was produced in 1955 and was then called the "Unifile". The success of this cabinet model led to the development of other various cabinets including a variation of the filing cabinets that are seen still today.

Currently, Hon is the best known filing cabinet manufacturer in the industry. They feature a wide variety of various cabinet models to fit most any need including lateral models, vertical models, and compact pedestal models. As some people may be new to common file cabinet terminology, it's important to go over the various types of cabinet styles.

Lateral filing cabinets - Lateral filing cabinets are also called horizontal filing cabinets. Most lateral filing cabinets are around 20 inches deep, and generally come in widths of 30, 36, or 42 inches. They also come in 2, 3, 4, or 5 drawer versions. The 2 drawer models work best in small spaces like an office cubicle. Hon makes a number of lateral file models to meet any need. All their lateral models have leveling glides, super quiet ball bearings, and a single drawer lock that secures all the drawers. The Hon model 500, 600, or 800 series are excellent choices in this style.

Vertical filing cabinets - Actually designed in 1898 by Edwin Seibels, the vertical filing cabinet has become the most popular filing cabinet style. This style is especially effective for offices or home offices with limited space as they have a smaller footprint compared to a lateral or horizontal model. The Hon models are extremely well made and will last a lifetime. My parents have a Hon vertical in their basement that is over 40 years old. Even after 40 years, it looks and works just almost as well as the day it was produced. If you are shopping for a vertical model, consider the Hon model 310 or 530 as both are a Hon bestseller.

The Hon file cabinets come in a myriad of different finishes like Columbian walnut laminate, Taupe, Putty, black, light gray, charcoal, shaker cherry laminate, shadow Zephyr, cloud zephyr, desert zephyr, canyon zephyr, morro zephyr, muslin, greige, carob, platinum metallic, and champagne metallic.

If you are in the market for a new filing cabinet, give the Hon line a look as they produce great cabinets at reasonable prices with excellent support.

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When you start talking about file cabinets, most people immediately think about the Hon brand of cabinets as they are one of the oldest and most popular file cabinet makers in the industry. Rather than settling for a cheap knockoff, consider going with a Hon file cabinet as you'll be much happier in the long run.