jeffmoss26
Well-known member
LL67 is a good code for an old Chicago cylinder.
Let's Hear it for the Old Gray/Red Sears Craftsman Tool Chests and Cabinets (60s/70s)
- Thread starter Ponchoguy
- Start date
LL67 is a good code for an old Chicago cylinder.
I pm'd him
Smokeshow69
Well-known member
I was hinting at something that he has gotten recently.... I was trying to be subtle but my hints weren’t very good [emoji23] I will let him break the news !
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taumac
Well-known member
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taumac
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Ok the cabinet on far right is 1965 9D I was speaking of. The top small drawers where friction slides with clips and big drawers where the roller drawers. One thing to mention that people might not know is that these boxes where slightly smaller. They where 26 not 26.5 wide and can’t remember depth but it was not as deep. Reason I know this is cause a top chest wouldn’t fit in recess. Things that would fit in a normal bottom roller drawer would fit in these. My theory is these where made from heritage series until 1965 with different drawers. I did post on vintage toolbox thread and someone did mention Presteel. This roller was must heavier than other rollers I had.
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honza.vosalik
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txlonghorn1989
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I found the bottom roller on the right to match the top chest
Congrats Honza! A couple of great looking stacks there!
Rileysan
Well-known member
I might have something to say, now that I'm home from work
By now, you've all probably read my lament about missing out on that 5d cabinet yesterday. I made that assumption because the CL ad was deleted shortly after I sent an email (no other means of communication was provided).
When I woke up this morning, I had an email from the seller telling me it was mine for the taking!
I met the "seller" (it was listed for free but I had offered $40) on my way in to work this afternoon. What I wasn't prepared for was the smattering of tools that remained in it, most notably a few OTC 2 and 3 jaw pullers (no pix). I gave the woman an extra $20 (for a total of $60) because that's all I had in my wallet.
As is my wont, I loaded the cabinet into the mighty Toyota Camry, which has carried Plomb and P&C Toolmobiles, vintage Huot and Cornwell rollers, and all manner of Craftsman rolling cabinets dating from pre-war to the end of the gray & red era. After a quick count, I believe this is the 20th roller I have loaded into my Camry!
Needless to say, I'm pretty happy with how the day went!
Brian
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Rileysan
Well-known member
I couldn't have answered any better than Taumac. And as Smokeshow mentioned, these drawers roll in and out effortlessly.
This is my 4th rolling cabinet with roller slides; the first three being 3d cabinets, which are still fairly common (I've passed on several). What I want to point out is how to tell from an ad if these are the ca. 1960-68 cabinets with roller slides.
1) On a roller with a lower cabinet door, look for the location of the lock.
As you can see from the (only) photo in the ad, the lock is located in the door, not the frame below the door. Sears introduced the "I-frame" design some time during 1968, and with that design change, the roller slides were removed and the lock locations moved to below the cabinet door.
2) As I mentioned in the last paragraph, Sears introduced the "I-frame" in 1968, which have the familiar recessed sides and flush aluminum handle. To date, I have not acquired an early 9d rolling cabinet like Taumac's, so I haven't determined a surefire way of determining era without seeing a photo of one side or another. In Taumac's previous post #1926, you can see that the sheet metal side of his 9d is completely flat. If you're fortunate enough for a seller to have that detail photographed, you know what it is. Else all you can do is go look.
Brian
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JoCoSawdust
Well-known member
I might have something to say, now that I'm home from work
By now, you've all probably read my lament about missing out on that 5d cabinet yesterday. I made that assumption because the CL ad was deleted shortly after I sent an email (no other means of communication was provided).
When I woke up this morning, I had an email from the seller telling me it was mine for the taking!
I met the "seller" (it was listed for free but I had offered $40) on my way in to work this afternoon. What I wasn't prepared for was the smattering of tools that remained in it, most notably a few OTC 2 and 3 jaw pullers (no pix). I gave the woman an extra $20 (for a total of $60) because that's all I had in my wallet.
As is my wont, I loaded the cabinet into the mighty Toyota Camry, which has carried Plomb and P&C Toolmobiles, vintage Huot and Cornwell rollers, and all manner of Craftsman rolling cabinets dating from pre-war to the end of the gray & red era. After a quick count, I believe this is the 20th roller I have loaded into my Camry!
Needless to say, I'm pretty happy with how the day went!
Brian
One of the best "find" stories I've heard so far! Win/win all around. You got something you thought you'd missed out on and the seller got money for something she was trying to give away. Congrats on a great find!
Oregon rock crusher
Well-known member
Nice snag and story on the Craftsman roller cab Riley! Very nice of you to leave her with some cash as well. A very considerate gesture. I am curious who made these roller cabinets for Sears. If not Advertising Metal Display company that is. I have two similarly constructed cabinets, one is badged Cornwell and the other completely unmarked. The roller slides look the same on both and are very much like Press steel made cabinet rollers but not as heavy. Ed.
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taumac
Well-known member
Rilaysan, that’s a great find and great story. I would have done same thing.
Rilaysan, was those dates seem about right.
I had a 10/67 bottom roller that was a I beam construction. The odd part was it still had the rounded top corners so thought it was a roller but ended up being a friction slide.
Rilaysan, was those dates seem about right.
I had a 10/67 bottom roller that was a I beam construction. The odd part was it still had the rounded top corners so thought it was a roller but ended up being a friction slide.
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taumac
Well-known member
I was always curious from AMD to Waterloo. In vintage toolbox thread it has been mentioned that there was only few companies that had the tooling to make toolboxes. Another thing that I thought was that companies maybe outsource parts. My example would be on Kennedy and Craftsman (Waterloo) machinist chest that slides where identical. I had chest with what I called Kennedy clips ( friction drawer retainer clips) Even though we found out that Kennedy didn’t make chest for Craftsman (Waterloo) maybe Kennedy supplied the parts? It’s all theory and speculation but when start to compare vintage boxes you do find similar parts.
emeraldcoupe
Well-known member
I found the bottom roller on the right to match the top chest
nice find. i'll run into a 9 drawer one of these days
I started a thread about the history of slides to gather info. I called the Kennedy style clips Style #2. Style #1 was where you need a shim tool for drawer removal.
After the clips it seems the push tab style comes about, which I called style #3. Then finally the basic roller bearing slides of today.
I speculated that it seemed like a new style came out about every 20 years, which is about how long a patent is good. All guesses by me though. Has anyone ever looked up the slide patents?
Rileysan
Well-known member
Based on the drawer slides and handles, I would have said Waterloo but Taumac made an excellent point about outsourced parts that I think gets overlooked all to often. The problem is there are so many variants and cross-breeds, one would have to study every manufacturer for a lifetime before knowing anything for certain.
Brian
Oregon rock crusher
Well-known member
Beach was my first thought on that as well wmb67. I think Beach used those same pulls (and similar colors) on boxes made for other companies including a Proto top box ssdave has. I tried to find out if Beach ever made boxes for Cornwell too as other than the pulls and colors, those two cabinets I pictured are the same. I'm not convinced yet, especially after seeing the craftsman Gray/Red cabinet with what look like the same roller drawer slides. It could be as taumac speculated different cabinet makers were sourcing guides and maybe other parts from the same source. Ed.
As Riley pointed out as I was typing...there is a lot yet to learn as to who made exactly what as far as vintage tool chest and cabinets are concerned. Ed.
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Rileysan
Well-known member
I'm very interested in those transition years but they are very difficult to find. The closest thing I have is a 10/68 9d roller.
Smokeshow69
Well-known member
I have a transition year top chest in case you forgot [emoji51] allow me to point out the intermittently painted black slides, 12/76 date code and the rectangular badge.
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Smokeshow69
Well-known member
Didn’t really need it but couldn’t leave these for $40. It’s cleaning up nicely so far.
For $40 I wouldn’t be leaving that either!
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JoCoSawdust
Well-known member
Yup. I'da paid 40 for that as well. Nice find.
RubiconJK
Well-known member
That cleaned up really nice. Good job!
I know Craftsman Tools and Toolboxes have a place in some peoples hearts but after using them professionally as company issued boxes for years and owning 5 or 6 personally (still have 3) I can't get exited about them. The bottom boxes simply weren't built to hold up to the daily wear and tear of constant use and abuse so in a couple of years they were saggin and draggin pretty bad .Of course in their defense they were used every day and sometimes overloaded which would wear any box out over time. There were definitely other brands of boxes and hand tools much better suited for that environment but the company issued only Craftsman boxes and a lot of Craftsman hand tools which were also built lighter duty than industrial duty tools. Of the 3 Craftsman boxes I still have around the 2 top boxes still function ok but the bottom box that is the same age has seen better days. In comparison I have a Mac Tools bottom box that I got in 1976 that is a little older and has been used a lot more but still functions fine. I have a Stanley Vidmar and a Lyon that are well used and need some work but I get a lot more exited about them. They certainly don't owe me anything but I'm going to eventually phase out the Craftsman's as I acquire more high end boxes.
Smokeshow69
Well-known member
Thanks guys, here it is after a quick spit shine.
Great work! That cleaned up nice
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taumac
Well-known member
taumac
Well-known member
I know Craftsman Tools and Toolboxes have a place in some peoples hearts but after using them professionally as company issued boxes for years and owning 5 or 6 personally (still have 3) I can't get exited about them. The bottom boxes simply weren't built to hold up to the daily wear and tear of constant use and abuse so in a couple of years they were saggin and draggin pretty bad .Of course in their defense they were used every day and sometimes overloaded which would wear any box out over time. There were definitely other brands of boxes and hand tools much better suited for that environment but the company issued only Craftsman boxes and a lot of Craftsman hand tools which were also built lighter duty than industrial duty tools. Of the 3 Craftsman boxes I still have around the 2 top boxes still function ok but the bottom box that is the same age has seen better days. In comparison I have a Mac Tools bottom box that I got in 1976 that is a little older and has been used a lot more but still functions fine. I have a Stanley Vidmar and a Lyon that are well used and need some work but I get a lot more exited about them. They certainly don't owe me anything but I'm going to eventually phase out the Craftsman's as I acquire more high end boxes.
I can agree. When I own the WOC I actually had 2 HF44s. These where my daily boxes with all my tools in. It’s definitely easy to put more in the 44s with BB slides than the Craftsman friction slides. Now Lista and Vidmars are on total different playing field. 400lb drawer capacity is a lot more than even professional truck boxes. All the old vintage boxes might not “perform” as good as newer BB slide toolboxs but what they do bring is the cool factor.
Mooreag47
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Meursault74
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Smokeshow69
Well-known member
Good eyes! I have seen a few red and greys in the background of some American Pickers episodes
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taumac
Well-known member
outofbounds
Well-known member
Making a run across town for this baby tonight, as an upgrade to my base junk accumulator. Posted for a very favorable price, and hoping no one pulls the rug out from under me between now and then.
UPDATE - I just heard from the rat selling this, and true to my concern, he sold it out from underneath me to someone who probably baited him with an extra $20 and the means to beat me there. Guy probably doesn't understand why he lives in the part of town he does.
UPDATE - I just heard from the rat selling this, and true to my concern, he sold it out from underneath me to someone who probably baited him with an extra $20 and the means to beat me there. Guy probably doesn't understand why he lives in the part of town he does.
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Rileysan
Well-known member
Rat? Living on the wrong side of town? Because you didn't get a deal on something too good to be true?!? The seller was polite enough to contact you and tell you it's sold before you drove across town. Sounds like a stand up guy to me.
There are lessons to be learned here.
1) Sellers don't always know what they have.
If you see a deal that's too good to be true, hoping you're first in line is not a good way to ensure you make the deal. In those cases, I tell the seller I'm a collector who would love to add their item to my collection and ALWAYS offer more money than the asking price.
2) Sellers just want to be done with the seller process.
Scammers, flakes, and thieves are just a few of the potential dangers sellers face when selling on CL, et. al. Even if you're the first responder, if you're not the first person available to pick it up, you risk missing out on the deal.
Brian
Someone who makes a deal and then sells out from under the buyer is a *************.
A buyer who agrees to a purchase and flakes out is a *************.
People rearrange their days, take time off work, schedule babysitters, all kinds of **** to make a transaction. People who make a deal and then **** someone over after the fact deserve a punch in the liver.
And yes, I have offered much more than an asking price on things.
A buyer who agrees to a purchase and flakes out is a *************.
People rearrange their days, take time off work, schedule babysitters, all kinds of **** to make a transaction. People who make a deal and then **** someone over after the fact deserve a punch in the liver.
And yes, I have offered much more than an asking price on things.
Smokeshow69
Well-known member
Totally agreed.... if you see something you want you need to jump in the car and go grab it. Asking a seller to hold something greatly reduces your chance of buying the item unless you offer more.
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Rileysan
Well-known member
Bad form and completely uncalled for.
I've been stood up more than once and it pisses me off, too. But a deal isn't a deal just because you got an email response from the seller.
This is clearly a different situation. Read to OG's post, and have a beer or something.
outofbounds
Well-known member
Agreed, 1982fxr,
Some people have jobs. There was a time when one's word meant something. I would have never undermined that deal the way that was done to me.
Honor is a simple and resolute concept.
Some people have jobs. There was a time when one's word meant something. I would have never undermined that deal the way that was done to me.
Honor is a simple and resolute concept.