Lately, I’ve been on a quest to find a decent rolling mechanic’s stool as I wanted to upgrade from my old WEN Rolling Mechanic Stool. It was a simple, cheap, rolling stool that did the job just fine, but I wanted to see if there was something out there that would roll a bit better and had a higher seat height. And of course, it would be nice to step up the quality a bit, which I’m totally willing to pay a bit more extra for.
I tried looking online and found this market littered with all kinds of cheap rolling mechanic stools that all looked the same. I was willing to pay up to $100 or even $150 if I could find a decent rolling stool, but I had trouble finding one. After getting frustrated looking at traditional mechanic’s rolling stools, I expanded my search to look at any kind of rolling stool that might do the job.
I came across this one called the KKTONER Rolling Stool, that seems to be marketed towards salonists in the beauty industry. I think you can imagine nail techs sitting on these stools working in a nail salon. I figured it was worth a shot to see if this type of stool could double up as decent rolling stool for work in the shop.
As soon as I took these parts out of the box, I immediately felt some parts were pretty cheap. The seat and pneumatic piston didn’t feel bad, but the base and other parts were cheap feeling and had an rough-around-the-edges look to them.
The seat cushion was actually pretty thick and comfortable, which I’d imagine would be extremely important for people sitting on these stools all day long. The casters were made out of plastic, which was disappointing to me. It also didn’t have very large wheels, so it didn’t check the box for me for being able to roll around easily around the garage.
And although I was mainly looking for a high-performing rolling stool for my garage that rolled around well and had a higher seat height so that I could sit at my counter-level workbench, I still wanted a good-looking rolling stool that doesn’t look cheap. Unfortunately, the KKTONER Rolling Stool just looks so freaking ugly. The miniature size of the base compared to the seat is just comical.
Aside from the looks, the other issue associated with the small base is the instability of the stool itself. This is a common complaint on this stool, which is the higher likelihood of you tipping over if the wheels hit something on the floor. Even if the KKTONER PU Rolling Stool was really nicely made and had the nicer casters that I was looking for, the super-small base would be a deal killer for me.
