Metal Cabinets vintage or homemade and no name toolboxes. got any to show please do

[drivesitfar]

MERC: i still think you and i are brothers from another mother. i picked up another Safco 5 drawer flat file yesterday and found a spot up high on one of my racks for it. at least i can tell you one thing. we are not getting WEAKER moving these things around are we? WELL DONE!!

Mac: yep i've used the Paperclip to post pictures almost since i joined cause i bailed on PB when they made a bunch of changes and wanted me to re learn how to post their links. good thing cause i do tend to post a fair amount of pictures to help other members and lurkers (last count was over 1G worth here on GJ). i kinda like that look, but i don't think i'd use small shelves much.

 

[FJ 432]

I think your right.

Macgee

A theory I have on that cabinet is based off of seeing a newer one that we use at work. Uniform companies uses cabinets like these so that they can open one door and stock each employee's work shirts, pants, etc. They are the only ones that can get to every shelf whereas each employee can only open their box.

 

[drivesitfar]

ORC: instead of getting that small Lyon workbench you might like their bigger version (I think these are Lyon or as good of quality) that i have in my 9x15 portion of my two car garage. if they were actually both cleaned off i'd snap a current picture, but that's not likely so here's one clean as i moved it inside.

cheers and i have always liked the stuff you like and probably a good thing we live a few miles apart.

 

[Oregon rock crusher]

That is a pretty good looking table/bench you have there Drives and it has a neat tag. Of course as space gets tighter bigger isn't always better. I'm not rushing out to buy the smaller one though and definitely not interested in it at full retail. I am making a lot of progress on a certain welder project since it quit raining though...a trip South might not be a bad thing to start planning. Steam up is last weekend in July. Ed.

 

[drivesitfar]

ORC: sounds interesting, but i'm in the middle of a full on outside house update and not in the cards maybe for this year's STEAM UP. we do need to go to the coast for a few days to just sit and watch the waves though and seeing you on the way down or way back might be nice.

shoot me an email with pictures or if you have time or i started a thread about those and would love to see your pictures and comments on it. here's the link:

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=6610349#post6610349

i hear you about bigger isn't always better and didn't know you knew about these old government desks or benches made probably by LYON years ago.

 

[daddycadi]

Cool thread! I was given an old HEAVY rusted up file cabinet many years ago. Couldn't bring myself to toss it so I fixed it up for car detailing stuff

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

 

[macgee]

It's not mine but thought it interesting enough to post. It's made by Yawman & Erbe and the drawers slide out with interesting trigger drawer locks. Not sure how strong or smooth the sliders are or how useful it would be in the shop with the way the drawers pull out but thought it was cool looking.

 

[Outlawmws]

Sandpaper dispensary!

Edit: Actually that would work well for abrasives in general:

Top drawer mini grinders belt and palm sanders
Mid for Sandpaper, and sanding belts, the if space, disks and wire wheel cups
Bottom Grinding wheels for bench grinders...

Pretty sure I could come close to filling it completely...

 

[Mark in Indiana]

All,
Just picked up a home made (made from scratch) tool cabinet with a Wilton Bullet today. It was made with 1/8" plate steel, and has a hitch that can be hooked onto the back of a forklift to tow around the plant. Of all of the homemade cabinets, from scratch, that I've seen, I believe that this one is the best. BTW: The Wilton is a 4"vise, made in 1974.

 

[Provincial]

I picked up a roller cabinet that originally supported an Atlas engine analyzer at an estate sale Saturday. It is pretty beat up, but kind of cool. I am now using it to support my plasma cutter and Lincoln LN-25 wire feed unit.

It has access from all four sides. One long side has a wide door to a large compartment with two shelves. The opposite side has a drawer (currently missing the handle) just under the top. The two short sides have several shallow shelve with dividers that used to hold ignition parts boxes.

I pulled a photo of a complete unit off the internet to show what it looked like complete.

It was part of a lot sale. I got the cabinet, some heavy rectangular tubing, and everything I have piled on top of it for $11.00.

 

[08er]

When I had my parts store, we used to sell these to automotive repair shops thru various Champion promotions some 35+ years ago.
I picked these up at a recent yard sale.They are pristine except for the masking tape that the lady had them tagged with.
They'll look better once I get them hung up.
I've got some vintage champion items to display in the as well.
I'll update pictures once I get them up.
08er.

 

[markbugno]

When I had my parts store, we used to sell these to automotive repair shops thru various Champion promotions some 35+ years ago.

I picked these up at a recent yard sale.They are pristine except for the masking tape that the lady had them tagged with.

They'll look better once I get them hung up.

I've got some vintage champion items to display in the as well.

I'll update pictures once I get them up.

08er.

Those are sweet! Nice find!

Mark


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[poppinjohnnies]

Here are some that I painted for the new shop

 

[drivesitfar]

ALL: great finds and thanks for posting them up.

these are not really tool boxes, but they'll probably end up holding a few tool boxes and they are made of metal so thought while i was posting i'd put up a few pictures and ask if any of you own some of these or have you seen them and how were they used?

i'm thinking of just wiping the rust off with WD 40 and keeping the patina and before i put them together maybe giving them a shot of TriFlo lubrication so if i need to move them again they will come apart easier. they are built like a tank.

 

[tombell572]

Those look heavy duty, Drives--could hold your vise collection plus future acquisitions.

Tom B.

 

[Catfishdan]

I modified this one one rainy Sunday when I was feeling creative. It's covered in burlap and fiberglass resin.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mike_paxton]

Bought the below pictured metal and wood cabinet, with info from owner that it was military.

All the pull out drawers have box/finger joints. Each drawer had a metal lock that is missing, with only the outline and color showing inside where they used to hang.

Breaks down into two pieces, when two end bolts on each end side are removed.

Each of the two pieces have a pair of carrying canvas straps, which turned out helpful in moving it to my basement.

Probably had an attachable top that is missing, but someone put a plywood top which in last picture, was temporarily removed for a picture.

Private Lugnutz feels from color of interior of drawer, that it was Army and around 1940/1950 era.

Mike

 

[Outlawmws]

I agree with Lugz. Army origins. VERY cool find!

 

[drivesitfar]

Mike: I agree that the green sort of gives it away that it was originally made for the ARMY. the picture with 2 cabinets and the straps is that drawers or do tell?

what are the dimensions?

nice find and thanks for posting them over here after posting them on the garage sale thread. did you see any other cabinets on this thread that were close to yours cause i've posted a few, but yours seem smaller and in a lot better shape?

 

[Outlawmws]

Mike I have a couple of cabinets that are painted Army OD. I kind of like it that color. (one I repainted that color as it had been painted badly a color I didn't like on the outside, so I matched the insides...)

 

[mike_paxton]

Mike: I agree that the green sort of gives it away that it was originally made for the ARMY. the picture with 2 cabinets and the straps is that drawers or do tell?

what are the dimensions?

nice find and thanks for posting them over here after posting them on the garage sale thread. did you see any other cabinets on this thread that were close to yours cause i've posted a few, but yours seem smaller and in a lot better shape?

drivesitfar:

What you see in picture with 2 cabinets and the straps in Pic 1 is the bottom of each cabinet with the carrying straps and on top, is the open end side panels which allow you to see the drawers on the ends being open/closed. To show that more clearly, pic 2 shows the side with gray drawers peaking out, which was because I didn't have the drawers arranged so that the outside blue ones were showing out on the ends.

As to dimensions, the 2 cabinets when fastened together like they are in pic 3 are 33 inches wide, 41 inches high and 14 inches deep. Those dimensions don't include the non-oem plywood top.

Pic 4-6 show a pull and other two pics show inside of drawer plus outline of where the missing locks would have hung.

I actually did go through pics posted in this thread. Did see some amazing items, but couldn't find an exact match to one I picked up.

Mike

 

[Fishingfoolemjak]

Love this thread! I’m on the hunt for metal cabinets too, I need to redo my garage.

 

[drivesitfar]

FF: glad you like the thread and pictures and hope you find a few of these old cabinets to bring home and use yourself.

Mike: how much of your cabinet is actually made of metal and how much is wood? yep yours is a bit smaller than most of the military cabinets i've owned and own and I can't recall seeing any made of wood. so maybe pre WWII? i guess the handles were so the soldiers could carry supplies off their trucks and jeeps into their tents or shops?

nice find!

ALL: anybody have a favorite brand and color of paint for the Army green cause it's growing on me as i find more of these old cabinets? where do you buy it or could maybe i just go to a good paint store and have them make me some?

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I obviously don't track this thread enough. I came over here to see more pics of mike paxton's terrific field cabinets, only to find another awesome WWII era desk/workbench on the same page!

(I predict and hope that Drives is going to explain to me one more time how to "subscribe" to a thread so that I don't have to go hunt-and-pecking for subjects I am interested in, since I can't remember where he described it the last time! )

ORC: instead of getting that small Lyon workbench you might like their bigger version (I think these are Lyon or as good of quality) that i have in my 9x15 portion of my two car garage.

That is a pretty good looking table/bench you have there Drives and it has a neat tag.

Holy ****! I would be in WWII Collector's Heaven if I ever found one of those heavy duty steel desks/workbenches with a Defense Plant Corporation data plate, Drives! You do know that it is wartime, right? Likely used in an office area in a nearby wartime production facility. The DPC built factories, converted existing factories into war production factories, and furnished them with equipment, including machines (lathes, mills, etc), vises (we've seen several with the DPC tag), etc. I would set it up down my basement and use it for the tail end of my collecting process - sorting, final cleaning, photos, cataloging, etc. Seriously. That thing would make my whole life as a WWII collector complete. Please don't tell me you're pounding on it. I will have to come out there and perform a B&E!

I modified this one one rainy Sunday when I was feeling creative. It's covered in burlap and fiberglass resin.

I like it, Dan! Not that it was your original goal, but you could probably turn a bunch of those out for sale. Different patterns, different advertising on the slats. I could easily see that in Boulder or Brooklyn.

how much of your cabinet is actually made of metal and how much is wood? yep yours is a bit smaller than most of the military cabinets i've owned and own and I can't recall seeing any made of wood. so maybe pre WWII?

There was no hard cut-off from wood to metal in WWII. Army station and field furnishings, including cabinets and certain boxes, used both materials right up through Vietnam. It depends on the piece.

i guess the handles were so the soldiers could carry supplies off their trucks and jeeps into their tents or shops?

I'm pretty sure it was for carrying the cabinets themselves on and off trucks. I think these are field cabinets.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

ALL: anybody have a favorite brand and color of paint for the Army green cause it's growing on me as i find more of these old cabinets? where do you buy it or could maybe i just go to a good paint store and have them make me some?

Are you ready for a data dump? With lots of pics?

 

[drivesitfar]

Lug: Sure if you have a ton of good stuff please dump away. Thanks in advance!!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I'll break this up into several posts so it's not all one long post...

First of all, it depends on which "Army green" you're talking about, Drives.

For example, every ammo box, tool box, case, or cabinet you see in this picture is original, all WWII, and you can see how many different shades there are. Some of that has to do with age and weathering, but most of it has to do with different paint specs.

View media item 75995
Since the topic is cabinets, here is a standard Army tool cabinet with butcher block top (Federal Stock Number 41-C-15 from late 1930's to 1953). This one is WWII era.

View media item 76009
Here is one from 1952. Not quite the same green.

View media item 76005
View media item 76006
And here is another one, owned by GJ member Tin Medic from the same era, different stock number, a little later in the 50's. It looks a little grayer.

View media item 76007
View media item 76008
You see the same thing with these toolboxes, numbered for a sales ad. (#5 is not original. Ignore it.) The others are all original.

Looks at the difference between these two, #2 and #4 from above.

Box

Bottom of removable tray

Box

Bottom of removable tray

 

[Private Lugnutz]

That is all a prelude for the point that there is no one good answer. It depends on preference and my advice is to experiment on corners and junk metal, etc until you find the shade you like or more than one shade for variety. Frankly, there are so many shades of OD (as you can see, some more yellow, some darker, etc), that you really can't go wrong in affecting a vintage era look.

Another factor is your goal. Are you going for protection, looks, or a little of both?

If a little of both, I do have some recommendations. they reflect my preferences, which may not be your own. Some guys like a NOS look. I don't.

Now, as a warning, I am not a paint snob when it comes to toolboxes and cabinets and such, so you'll have to excuse me for citing 'rattle cans' to you, which would paint me persona non grata in certain forums.

I have had very good results with the following:
- Rustoleum Specialty Camouflage "Army Green" 1970830
- Rustoleum Specialty Camouflage "Deep Forest Green" 621128
- Krylon Satin Touch "Italian Olive" 53522 (I know, seems unpatriotic somehow, but it really is a nice Army OD. Be careful with this product, though - it's very runny!)

All of the above have a flat finish that I usually buff with a wax. I don't like semi-gloss.

I know this is a cabinets thread, not a toolbox thread, but I've never restored a cabinet. I have "restored" a toolbox. Restored is in quotes because my goal was a preserved look. I prefer preservation over restoration if at all reasonably possible.

The particular toolbox I am about to use as an example was too far gone to preserve. It had to be completely blasted, brazed in places, and primed. The first coat after the primer was the Krylon "Italian Olive" I cited above. Then I applied some techniques over the top, cutting the Rustoleum "DFG" with turpentine, almost 3 to 1. Sopped up in a rag, I dabbed and swabbed and swirled that on in select places. The thin extremely turp-infused mixture reacts with the first layer and then re-dries almost immediately into a "used" authentic appearance.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

If you want to get more serious than that, the identification of the "correct" OD paint color is actually a common source of heated arguments in the WWII vehicle restoration hobby. And I mean heated!

The two largest competing camps are TM-9 Paint Shade 8 and Gillespie 33070.

TM-9 is a company that caters to the WWII MV hobby and has dedicated a lot of time and effort into duplicating the WWII OD spec, which they call Shade 8.

Gillespie Coatings Inc, or GCI, often just referred to as Gillespie, had been supplying spec paint to the US Army for many years, and they also make a product aimed at the WWII restoration hobby numbered 33070.

From experience I can tell you TM-9 Shade 8 is darker than Gillespie 33070, which has more olive in it.

Personally, I actually prefer Gillespie 34087. It has a lighter shade that gives a vehicle a faded, more authentic or preserved look, in my opinion.

Here is a Willys MB I did in Gillespie 34087. (Yeah, I did manage to show off! )

View media item 76003
View media item 76004
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View media item 76001
You can buy TM-9 Shade 8 direct from the source here.

You can buy Gillespie 33070 or 34087 from MV shops, such as this one.

 

[macgee]

Hey Private,

You should have you the location where you live below your avatar. Who knows, someone could be near you who may have something you're looking for.

Drivesitfar maybe living right around the corner from you.


EDIT: Did you figure how to subscribe?

Then:

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Did you figure how to subscribe?

I did now, thanks. Not really what I was thinking it was going to be. I subscribed but selected 'no emails.' I guess I'll see how it works. Basically, I like to scan new topics on page 1, and then visit a handful of threads I am interested in. When they go to page 2 or 3 or 4 etc, I have to go looking for them. Is there no way to "filter" the forum to stack those and just those threads somewhere else, like a customized sub-forum? You'd think with 2,000 posts I'd know this, but I've been doing it the crude way for years.

 

[Outlawmws]

I did now, thanks. Not really what I was thinking it was going to be. I subscribed but selected 'no emails.' I guess I'll see how it works. Basically, I like to scan new topics on page 1, and then visit a handful of threads I am interested in. When they go to page 2 or 3 or 4 etc, I have to go looking for them. Is there no way to "filter" the forum to stack those and just those threads somewhere else, like a customized sub-forum? You'd think with 2,000 posts I'd know this, but I've been doing it the crude way for years.

Lugz,. when I want to have a link ot a thread I'm not interested in subscribing to, I copy that link to an Excel spreadsheet index I keep. I can have a description next to it, and keep then organized h=fairly simply.

Could I do that with book marks? Yes, but over the years I've decided bookmarks are more work than they are worth generally...

 

[drivesitfar]

Lug: thanks for all the information and pictures!!

it will take me a bit to absorb and comment on all that information, but i think somewhere in there is the answers i'm looking for. speaking of drab green stuff i think i have a few things i could take a few pictures of to let you and others see. mostly cabinets, but i've got a few steel desk/benches that are army green with government tags on them too.

as far as making it easy to follow some of the threads you like all i do is click on CP and it shows the threads that i subscribe too which was at around 5,000 before i deleted some of the old ones. i welcome a lot of new members and maybe make one or two posts on a thread a member starts asking some questions that i might be able to help, but for the most part i have about 30 to 50 threads or maybe 100 that i like to comment on and see what's going on either at the member's garage or about certain types of items like vises and this thread about cabinets.

if you need any help just PM me and ask.

MAC: i don't think LUG lives near me cause he's always finding cool stuff and mentions FLEA MARKETS and other sales i've never heard of around here. i'm not sure i've got anything he needs, but i bet he's got a lot of stuff i'd like to own either it or it's close cousins.

cheers

 

[Private Lugnutz]

but i think somewhere in there is the answers i'm looking for.

Here's the Reader's Digest version (everything else is just pictures and examples):

Rattle cans

- Rustoleum Specialty Camouflage "Army Green" 1970830
- Rustoleum Specialty Camouflage "Deep Forest Green" 621128
- Krylon Satin Touch "Italian Olive" 53522

Professional mix

- TM-9 Paint Shade 8
- Gillespie 33070

as far as making it easy to follow some of the threads you like all i do is click on CP and it shows the threads that i subscribe to

Aha! I just did that and I see this thread, which I just subscribed to. Now I just need to subscribe to the handful of more or less permanent threads I regularly participate in! Thanks. That's easy.

 

[drivesitfar]

LUG: thanks for all the pics and information and the great SUMMARY too.

happy you like the method i chose to keep track of my threads i like to read and post on. if you might need any other tips like how to have your threads do 100 posts at a time, open to the last post first instead of the very first one and so on just PM me or check out your settings and there area few helpful ones that work well.

ALL: anybody move one of these big 133 addressOgraph cabinets by themselves in a Honda Pilot? well i did (AGAIN) cause i'm still trying to find out how to best GET ORGANIZED. i thought it would fit in my storage where i had it last year, but found out i moved that shelf down 4 inches and it was a half inch short. So i moved the vintage fridge i had in the back to the front and look at how well it fit under the back rack. some days i feel like i live right and wasn't looking forward to emptying either shelf. just guessing on the weight, but think the AddressOgraph cabinets weight about 500 pounds empty and can't fathom how much they weighed when full of metal credit and ID cards back in the day when carbon copy reciepts at stores were common.

cheers

 

[smschriefer]

You're making subscribed threads too difficult. I go in each day and any of my subscribed threads that haven't been viewed have the title in a bold font. I then start from the bottom up. Sometimes one won't be highlighted, but since they are in chronological order, I can see the date stamp of the last post and know if I read it. I think I subscribe to 74 threads and it is easy to keep up with. Many only post once, or twice a year.

Now if I could get it to jump to the first unread post like every other forum I am on, I'd be in heaven.

 

[mike_paxton]

Mike: how much of your cabinet is actually made of metal and how much is wood? yep yours is a bit smaller than most of the military cabinets i've owned and own and I can't recall seeing any made of wood. so maybe pre WWII? i guess the handles were so the soldiers could carry supplies off their trucks and jeeps into their tents or shops?

nice find!

[/QUOTE]

Drivesitfar:

Mostly wood, with exception of the metal hardware and the metal cross pieces which run across the front bottom of each of the drawer openings with exception of the bottom one, whose cross piece there is wood.


Lug:

Thanks for both info and pics on your collection. It is a great addition to this thread!!!

 

[Mooreag47]

look what i found at my shop today i asked whats the deal with these and they said they are going in the scrap bin tomorrow i said nope ill be back tomorrow with my truck they are kitchen cabinets but ill fix that they will be garage cabinets

 

[thehorse13]

Now that the flea market season is winding down, I need something to occupy my time in the garage. I picked up two metal cabinets lately.

The first one is a 1950s Westinghouse cabinet that looks like it was made by Stewart Warner. If any of you looked over my Alemite gas station table thread, you'll eventually see this little guy painted up to match. Right now it's getting much needed metal work as you can see.

The second cabinet is a Sears product. I got it for 4 bucks and when I got it home I found the Sears tag inside. I cannot locate any info on manufacturer 491 though.

Within the next few months, these cabinets will be transformed. I will post pictures when they are complete.

 

[Stuart in MN]

look what i found at my shop today i asked whats the deal with these and they said they are going in the scrap bin tomorrow i said nope ill be back tomorrow with my truck they are kitchen cabinets but ill fix that they will be garage cabinets

Since they're Crosley cabinets, they should be just fine in the garage. Good score.