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machinist boxes metal vs wood

gearheadglen

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Wanted to get some insight on metal machinists boxes vs wooden ones

Is there any advantage to wood?

I currently have a nice union wooden one and am quickly running out of room

Metal ones seem to be pretty cheap and plentyful at local sales
Was thinking of getting a couple and refinishing them

Attached is a pic of my current box
 

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gtermini

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No advantage, they are just nicer. I have a couple nice Gerstners for home and keep the Kennedys at work.

Greyson
 
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gearheadglen

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Thanks the wood ones are works of art
I noticed on my union which was my grandfathers that the drawer bottoms are actually metal
 

zkling

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Actually there is an advantage to the wood ones, or let me say a properly designed wood one. Humidity control, lack of sweating and stability of the wood boxes are / were their benefits to prevent tools from rusting. Plus the softer wood, would be less damaging on precision tools if they were to bang around.

Now with that said, as cool as the wood ones are I just don't find them practical. The lack of drawer stops on the majority of them is just too much for my little brain to remember. Most of the gerstners and the like are down right beautiful works of art, but not very practical in a working shop IMHO. Back back back in the day, a budding machinist was expected to build their own wooden box as a sort of right of passage. The kennedy 520 is popular IMHO due to size, drawer dimensions and availability at cost. :beer:
 

davethorik

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gerstners are super nice boxes, and yours looks nice as well. i wouldn't wanna keep that in a shop environment, but that is mostly because i only trust my coworkers as far as i could throw them. They have already dinged my Kennedy (it has been hit by towmotors like 3-4 times) I wouldn't wanna subject a nice wood box to that.
 

Steve from Socal

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I have 2 Union and 2 Gerstner wood boxes, I like the wood drawers better for loose instruments and tools. No machinist boxes are very efficient storage methods due to the small drawers and overall size. I also have several Lista and Vidmar cabinets with inserts for inspection and measuring tools.

My wooden chests are in my main shop now and they do get dirty, they will be going in my clean room when it is finished shortly.

The metal chests are OK and I have a couple for small tooling but, they just don't seem to be as comforting for individual tools, for sets in cases they work very well.

Steve
 

Packard V8

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No machinist boxes are very efficient storage methods due to the small drawers and overall size.

Your opinions may differ. I've got five of the 520 and three larger machinist boxes. The only precision tools they don't hold well are those such as the micrometer sets which have their own wooden cases.

My dilemma is since I'm not making hourly wages out of the boxes, I keep the dial caliper, inside micrometers, depth micrometers and so on in their original cases. These are space hogs, but they do protect the instruments.

OT, but the 520 boxes are also wonderful for holding drill bits, punches, chisels, reamers, hole saws, taps, dies.



jack vines
 
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mtnwalton

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The most common machinist boxes were small partly because a lot of job shop machinists moved frequently from one shop to another. Especially in the auto plants many years ago. They were designed to be very efficient. Most shops had tool rooms with large mics etc. to be checked out with a tool chip or numbered tag. You weren't expected to have a huge rolling cabinet that is more popular today. I have a small Craftsman wooden machinist box and also made a larger one in maple during my apprenticeship.
 

crewchief888

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when i was working in machine shops, it seemed like most of the real "oldtimers" had gerstner boxes.

all us "younger" guys went with metal kennedy or CM.

:beer:
 
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gearheadglen

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Bought four well used metal boxes today
$35 total
$5 for the pretty rough sk box
$10 each for the other 3
One Fleet, a Craftsman and an unknown
These will be good candidates for a spring restoration
Any good ideas for refelting them? Or just keep it simple with drawer liners
 

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zkling

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Good deal gearheadglen :beer:

How many drawers do the fleet and craftsman have? That SK box is cool.
Can we get some clearer specific pics? Looks like once each, kennedy, craftsman, fleet, SK. :thumbup:
 
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gearheadglen

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The craftsman and fleet are standard 7 drawers
Will take some better pics tomorrow and post them
It was getting dark and I didnt want to bring them in from the garage
Thanks
 

Maui

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To prevent tools that are stored in your Gerstner or Kennedy tool box from rusting, use this method.
 

qdvuu

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Norcal
Bought four well used metal boxes today
$35 total
$5 for the pretty rough sk box
$10 each for the other 3
One Fleet, a Craftsman and an unknown
These will be good candidates for a spring restoration
Any good ideas for refelting them? Or just keep it simple with drawer liners
Nice, they look great!

I have a few 520s in various stages of being shopworn. I'd just clean them up and get the rust to look like patina (as is popular with some classic car guys).
 
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RoninB4

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Wood tool chests look great and help control humidity/corrosion but they don't stand up to frequent moves, they loosen up at the joints as can be expected, Back in the day many toolmakers only worked at 2-3 places (near home) their entire career so the nice looking wooden chests were as much a statement of trade skill as seniority at a facility. That association faded about 40 years ago and the wooden chests are now regarded mostly as an extravagant purchase, an heirloom inheritance from a relative, or a remnant from another era still in use by a senior toolmaker near retirement.

If you choose to use metal chests/toolboxes for precision instruments do try to find the camphor blocks for anti-corrosion. I've been using them for decades with good results, a diaper pail deodorizer may also contain camphor.

For the record I've got at least a half dozen uppers/lowers sets and several roll-arounds, all metal. I've only got one wooden chest and that was a sale. An expensive chest may improve your image but not your skill or knowledge, The speculators that buy up the wooden chests to flip for profit usually aren't even in the trade that drive prices up deserve every splinter they get. Not that I wish them any harm...
 

ecotec

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I have yet to find a wooden machinist box in the condition I would want to live with and at the price I would want to pay.

As far as Kennedy boxes go… in my area of the Midwest, you could fill your house with cheap and near mint Kennedy boxes if you were so inclined. I have paid an average of $20 each for four near mint Kennedy boxes with keys. I have had my chances to buy many others at in this condition and price range.

I really want to run into some clean wooden machinist boxes.
 

Steve_P

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I'm not a machinist but have been in a lot of machine shops over the decades. The vast majority of what I see are the brown metal Kennedy boxes. I don't recall ever seeing a smaller wood box like in the OP, but it'd be easy to miss, or forget, given the size. It's so small that it doesn't seem like it'd be very useful other than maybe to keep a few of your most commonly used items in, and the rest in a main box; even I have way more measuring tools than I could fit in that.
 

ecotec

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I'm not a machinist but have been in a lot of machine shops over the decades. The vast majority of what I see are the brown metal Kennedy boxes. I don't recall ever seeing a smaller wood box like in the OP, but it'd be easy to miss, or forget, given the size. It's so small that it doesn't seem like it'd be very useful other than maybe to keep a few of your most commonly used items in, and the rest in a main box; even I have way more measuring tools than I could fit in that.

It is about the same size and layout as a Kennedy 520.
 

RoninB4

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It's so small that it doesn't seem like it'd be very useful other than maybe to keep a few of your most commonly used items in, and the rest in a main box; even I have way more measuring tools than I could fit in that.
-The idea is to keep the instruments in the wooden chest that are the most affected by corrosion, namely the watch movements of the indicators. Other instruments like calipers, mics, and such that use an outside reference surface can be lightly oiled, the delicate movement of an indicator cannot. Grinding vises, angle plates, and spin fixtures fall into the same "outer reference surface" category.

The small drawers are usually for gauge pins/blocks, setting rings, toolmaker chairs/buttons, etc. where corrosions will greatly affect the accuracy. The type of wood is important as well, oak in contact with steel will promote corrosion. That's one reason (besides stability) why cherry was the preferred wood for instrument cases, Oak chests have the felt lining to prevent this contact corrosion on steel, that's what I've read anyway,

It's really a personal choice what to use, Whenever I had the extra $500 to spend for work items I always chose to spend it on measuring instruments instead of a Gerstner. I changed shops every 1-3 years, too often to expect a wooden chest to stay tight and scuff free.
 

Jgaz

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AZ
I have yet to find a wooden machinist box in the condition I would want to live with and at the price I would want to pay.

As far as Kennedy boxes go… in my area of the Midwest, you could fill your house with cheap and near mint Kennedy boxes if you were so inclined. I have paid an average of $20 each for four near mint Kennedy boxes with keys. I have had my chances to buy many others at in this condition and price range.

I really want to run into some clean wooden machinist boxes.
I agree with finding Kennedys in the Midwest. I lived north of Detroit for a lot of my working life.
I had several Kennedy 520s and in fact just sold my last one when I made the riser box shown in the picture below.

IMG_4036_Original.jpeg
I made the top box in 2011 and the riser chest a year ago.
 

ecotec

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I agree with finding Kennedys in the Midwest. I lived north of Detroit for a lot of my working life.
I had several Kennedy 520s and in fact just sold my last one when I made the riser box shown in the picture below.

IMG_4036_Original.jpeg
I made the top box in 2011 and the riser chest a year ago.

That is terrific.
 
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