Stahlwille Rollmaster restoration or conservation

[Marc_F]

I added this Stahlwille Rollmaster to my collection.

Given that it‘s quite attacked by rust, I need to give it some care, but I am not sure whether I should go for the full dismantle, sand blast and paint restoration, or if I should just clean it up an try to stop the rust from spreading.

I have seen some nicely conserved old toolboxes on Ebay and I think this is rather the way to go in order to preserve its originality, but I‘m not fully decided yet.

For those of you who have already completed similar jobs, I would appreciate any advise.

- which paint could I use to match the original colour in the best possible way?
- Any advise on how I could repaint the „Stahlwille“ and „Rollmaster“ Logos?
- for the conservation approach, what is the best method? I suppose that the loose paint needs do be removed and then the rusty spots need to be at least slightly sanded down, before conserving it with some wax?

Thank you in advance for any advise you can provide.

Thanks
Marc

 

[Marc_F]

Here are the photos.

 

[Marc_F]

Here are the photos:

https://imgur.com/a/RpqRdSr

 

[zkling]

I would leave it as is personally it's not in that bad of shape. I also hate painting tool boxes, and really hate poorly repainted boxes.

 

[M6erfan]

To me that's a tough one. I'd probably just try treating the rust and see how it comes out. I would do everything I could to preserve the original paint.

 

[Dave455]

Well firstly, while it’s a decent item, it’s relatively modern so not particularly collectable.

Personally, I’d make it as useable as I could, and for every bit of rust you can see, there’s probably some you can’t. You could spend ages tinkering about cleaning up all those corners, if you don’t do it thoroughly the rust will still spread, and it will never look really good.

I’d strip it apart and have it blasted. After that, probably powder coated, in original colours if you like, or your favourite if you prefer. It’ll be much less work in the long run, and you will have something that will last a long time then!

 

[ricleh]

My Rollmaster was in slightly worse condition than yours when I got it. It wasn't abused, but it was heavily used in a shop for over 25 years. The wheels were very worn so I replaced them all. I sanded the rusty areas down to bare metal and just roughed up the areas where the paint was still good. I used the following paints:
Rustoleum Hammered Deep Green
Rustoleum Hammered Gray
Rustoleum White Primer
Sign Painters 1Shot Fire Red (Rollmaster logo)
Sign Painters 1Shot White (Stahlwille logo)
The logos are the most difficult part. I recommend a good very fine artists brush or pinstriping brush and go slow and be patient.

I also modified my Rollmaster to allow the middle section to open like the top and bottom sections.

Here are some pictures of my cart.

 

[WhoWhatNow]

My Rollmaster was in slightly worse condition than yours when I got it. It wasn't abused, but it was heavily used in a shop for over 25 years. The wheels were very worn so I replaced them all. I sanded the rusty areas down to bare metal and just roughed up the areas where the paint was still good. I used the following paints:
Rustoleum Hammered Deep Green
Rustoleum Hammered Gray
Rustoleum White Primer
Sign Painters 1Shot Fire Red (Rollmaster logo)
Sign Painters 1Shot White (Stahlwille logo)
The logos are the most difficult part. I recommend a good very fine artists brush or pinstriping brush and go slow and be patient.

I also modified my Rollmaster to allow the middle section to open like the top and bottom sections.

Here are some pictures of my cart.

Very nice job. Can you share how you modified the center section to open?

 

[mr.lemons]

Love these things.

I think you lose the character and charm of old items if you completely remove all the history by repainting and making them look like new but if it's too far gone rust wise then you may have no choice.

My Rollmaster was in slightly worse condition than yours when I got it.

Looks awesome.

 

[ricleh]

Very nice job. Can you share how you modified the center section to open?

First you have to remove the hasp of the locking mechanism. The hasp is welded to a steel pin that is pressed into a steel rod. The rod is inside the steel tube that is painted green. The way the locking mechanism works is that there are slots cut into the interior steel rod that allows the locking mechanism on the drawers to slide past the steel rod when you close the drawer. With the drawers closed the steel rod is rotated with the hasp locking mechanism so the slots in the rod are rotated also. The drawer locking mechanism now hits the solid part of the steel rod when you try to open the drawers, preventing movement of the drawers. The middle drawer does not have a slot cut into the steel rod so it cannot be rotated open like the top and bottom drawers. After removing the hasp from the steel rod you need to remove the top which is held on by 3 phillips screws. With the top and bottom drawers holding the steel rod in place you need to mark the rod where the middle drawer lock mechanism hits the steel rod. Now you need to remove the steel rod by either tipping the cart upside down or using a magnet. I used an angle grinder and files to make a new slot just like the slots for the upper and lower drawers. Now when you rotate the steel rod the middle drawer is able to be rotated open just like the top and bottom drawers. It was very difficult for me to get the hasp mechanism removed from the steel rod. In the process I broke the hasp off the steel pin that is pressed into the steel rod. I had to have it tig welded back together, but it is now stronger than it was originally. I finally got the pin out of the steel rod by using a dowel pin puller attached to a very large slide hammer.

 

[1982fxr]

Do they still make that type of cart in Europe?

That and the others are really cool but for practicality I dont get it? They're so small, it's like a glorified roller seat with drawers. Is that used as a main box or would the mechanic have a bigger box and those things hold the tools for jobs done under the car but still on the ground...?

 

[ricleh]

Do they still make that type of cart in Europe?

That and the others are really cool but for practicality I dont get it? They're so small, it's like a glorified roller seat with drawers. Is that used as a main box or would the mechanic have a bigger box and those things hold the tools for jobs done under the car but still on the ground...?

Stahlwille stopped production of the Rollmaster in 1990 according to Monte. It is used the same as an American tool cart. These things are built like a tank. It is much more substantial than any tool truck cart or the Hazet Assistent. I last saw one listed on Ebay about 4 years ago and the guy was asking $2500 for it. I got mine about 2 years ago when I saw it listed on Craigslist for $150. It was filthy dirty and had a lot of rust but was mechanically sound. I had never seen one other than pictures and I was really surprised how much it weighed.

 

[FJ 432]

Stahlwille stopped production of the Rollmaster in 1990 according to Monte. It is used the same as an American tool cart. These things are built like a tank. It is much more substantial than any tool truck cart or the Hazet Assistent. I last saw one listed on Ebay about 4 years ago and the guy was asking $2500 for it. I got mine about 2 years ago when I saw it listed on Craigslist for $150. It was filthy dirty and had a lot of rust but was mechanically sound. I had never seen one other than pictures and I was really surprised how much it weighed.

My compliments on how well you restored yours.

 

[1982fxr]

Stahlwille stopped production of the Rollmaster in 1990 according to Monte. It is used the same as an American tool cart. These things are built like a tank. It is much more substantial than any tool truck cart or the Hazet Assistent. I last saw one listed on Ebay about 4 years ago and the guy was asking $2500 for it. I got mine about 2 years ago when I saw it listed on Craigslist for $150. It was filthy dirty and had a lot of rust but was mechanically sound. I had never seen one other than pictures and I was really surprised how much it weighed.

Ok. Never seen one in person, sound a lot beefier than what I was thinking they would be.

 

[Marc_F]

Thanks a lot for all your feedback so far. The awesome rebuild ricleh has done to his Rollmaster definitely makes me tend towards the full repaint.

I think that in a first step I will completely dismantle it, clean it and remove all loose paint. Unfortunately there seems to be quite a lot of loose paint which it merely lying on the rust without any remaining adhesion. Depending on how I like the look of it then, I will decide if I go for a full repaint or not.

Is it possible that the later models did actually have the middle compartment pivotable as well from factory? If not, mine must have been modified by a previous owner, as on my cart, all three compartments are pivotable.

 

[ricleh]

Is it possible that the later models did actually have the middle compartment pivotable as well from factory? If not, mine must have been modified by a previous owner, as on my cart, all three compartments are pivotable.

If it was pivotable from the factory I would expect that they also would have put a knob on the middle drawer like the top and bottom drawer have. I do not see a knob on your middle drawer so I think it was modified by a previous owner.

 

[Marc_F]

Yes, that definitely makes sense. I will try to find out when I disassemble it.

Even though Rustoleum seems to be available as a brand in Europe, they don’t seem to sell the hammered finish paint. However, Hammerite seems to sell hammered finish paint over here. I will see if I find matching colours to the Stahlwille original colours.

 

[FJ 432]

Marc,

Don't be afraid to make it yours:

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=251010

 

[Monte]

Here are some pictures of my cart.

Very nice restauration !

 

[4xdog]

As a reference point, here's the one Porsche Classic has had on their stand at the Goodwood Revival for the last few years. The project their craftsmen were working on this September was a 356 bodyshell.

Click to open the full-sized image to see details.

 

[ricleh]

Very nice restauration !

Thanks Monte.

 

[Adriangtr]

My Rollmaster was in slightly worse condition than yours when I got it. It wasn't abused, but it was heavily used in a shop for over 25 years. The wheels were very worn so I replaced them all. I sanded the rusty areas down to bare metal and just roughed up the areas where the paint was still good. I used the following paints:
Rustoleum Hammered Deep Green
Rustoleum Hammered Gray
Rustoleum White Primer
Sign Painters 1Shot Fire Red (Rollmaster logo)
Sign Painters 1Shot White (Stahlwille logo)
The logos are the most difficult part. I recommend a good very fine artists brush or pinstriping brush and go slow and be patient.

I also modified my Rollmaster to allow the middle section to open like the top and bottom sections.

Here are some pictures of my cart.

Looks amazing

 

[Yellow zebra]

3+ years later…

anyone know if replacement castors/wheels are easily available, etc? Beginning a restoration after having done 3 or 4 HaZET carts, but the Stahlwille Rollmaster will be needing new castors.
thanks, Chris, Cape Town

 

[Yellow zebra]

My Rollmaster was in slightly worse condition than yours when I got it. It wasn't abused, but it was heavily used in a shop for over 25 years. The wheels were very worn so I replaced them all. I sanded the rusty areas down to bare metal and just roughed up the areas where the paint was still good. I used the following paints:
Rustoleum Hammered Deep Green
Rustoleum Hammered Gray
Rustoleum White Primer
Sign Painters 1Shot Fire Red (Rollmaster logo)
Sign Painters 1Shot White (Stahlwille logo)
The logos are the most difficult part. I recommend a good very fine artists brush or pinstriping brush and go slow and be patient.

I also modified my Rollmaster to allow the middle section to open like the top and bottom sections.

Here are some pictures of my cart.

Lovely job. On my Rollmaster, the Stahlwille ‘spanner’ logo is painted in smooth SILVER (and original, i feel), but your white log loks good, too!

Am trying to find out the year the Stahlwille ‘spanner’ logo changed over the the Stahlwille ‘big block’ logo, if anyone knows?

Cheers
Chris, Cape Town

 

[IndyGarage]

Do they still make that type of cart in Europe?

That and the others are really cool but for practicality I dont get it? They're so small, it's like a glorified roller seat with drawers. Is that used as a main box or would the mechanic have a bigger box and those things hold the tools for jobs done under the car but still on the ground...?

I think it's like the Milwaukee Packout of the day.

I bet they carried everything for a mechanic. 50 years ago, a well equipped mechanic didn't have half the tools we have today. Didn't have power tools, Didn't have as many ratchets or 5 types of wrenches or a hundred specialty tools.

 

[humber2]

Am trying to find out the year the Stahlwille ‘spanner’ logo changed over the the Stahlwille ‘big block’ logo, if anyone knows?

Cheers
Chris, Cape Town

I don’t know the answer to your question but looking back to 1955 the Trolley Tool-Chest was what was offered.

 

[humber2]

Here’s the catalog page from 1982 showing optional factory colours.