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

[drivesitfar]

TEX: yep it was 30's and raining outside so me just doing something in the garage made points with my bride. that said about 1/2 the stuff on the floor of her garage belongs in my cabinets so i'm moving forward.

yep SHE'S A KEEPER, and hope I don't make my posts next month from one of my job boxes.

since I usually pass on those card holders you found by Cole are you able to pull the cardholders out and maybe use it for sandpaper, punches or other tools or stuff?

 

[DaveT]

I’m on vacation this week and today I visited the U.S.S. North Carolina Battleship. Commissioned in 1941 she was considered the world’s greatest sea weapon. It was amazing to walk the many levels and witness what life might have been like aboard this masterpiece. I thought I would share some pictures of the many metal cabinets aboard this ship in hopes that you might see one that you have in your collection. Enjoy

 

[txlonghorn1989]

TEX: yep it was 30's and raining outside so me just doing something in the garage made points with my bride. that said about 1/2 the stuff on the floor of her garage belongs in my cabinets so i'm moving forward.

yep SHE'S A KEEPER, and hope I don't make my posts next month from one of my job boxes.

since I usually pass on those card holders you found by Cole are you able to pull the cardholders out and maybe use it for sandpaper, punches or other tools or stuff?

Drives: I gave one of the drawers a very quick gander and it looked like the "innards" are not removeable. So removing them means they won't go back. Considering there are no sides on these "drawers" it definitely becomes a less desirable cabinet for me. Before I move them down the road though I will give them a harder look and consider if I could add my own sides & back to create usable drawers.

And your wife certainly sounds like a KEEPER! Glad for you!

 

[drivesitfar]

DT: thanks for taking the time to take and post up those battleship office pics. I see some pieces of my Shaw Walker stackables in a couple pics and man they look shiny.

TEX: did you see the office pics DT posted that show your old Cole card files? thanks and yep I got lucky in picking (or she picked me) my dream girl and even though it's been a long and bumpy ride it's been fun. AND maybe one day i'll really be ORGANIZED and she'll tell me IT'S ABOUT TIME.

ALL: I have a few of those old label makers and I hope all the rolls still have sticky left on them, but until I figure out where I want to put and keep everything green and blue painters tape with sharpies on my metal bins and white duct tape and sharpie on plastic containers is a good temp fix.

 

[drivesitfar]

ALL: for some of you that might buy an old job box and want to put on casters (or remove them in my case) here's one prior owner's fix to stripped threads on his old GREENLEE box.

I removed 3 of the 4 casters just buy unscrewing the bolts and the fourth one didn't seem to work as well. the end of the leg was a bit hokey so I just grabbed a pry bar and took a peek inside. yep old rusted bolts in there holding the bolts on. easy fix and got r done.

if you do need to do this method I'd suggest maybe using galvanized or stainless steel bolts and it might last longer cause these nuts and bolts were in pretty bad shape.

another Greenlee job box I bought the owner tapped new holes and actually only used 7/16's headed stainless screws to hold casters in place and it was doing a nice job. I think the original holes tapped for bigger screws and casters was still like new, but old owner adapted to what he had on hand to make it work.

anybody have a good source of GREENLEE green paint or a close match other than the $20 per can we can buy on Amazon or Ebay?

 

[Jayman17]

Drives, those Shaw Walker cabinets are great! I like the modular design and the small footprint. Nice assortment of drawers and cubbyholes too.

Jay

 

[srvctec]

Waited almost 2 years to get 2 of these 6' tall cabinets, one for myself and one for my dad. They came from a courthouse that finally decided to part with them.

I disassembled them and then cut the pieces into 3 separate cabinets. Painted them hammered silver and used the original tops as bases on the two larger ones and made wooden tops. I used 3/4" copper plated pipe straps as handles and riveted them in place after using a template I made for all the holes.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Wow. I like your aesthetics. The copper straps were an inspired choice, matching the wood, and looking terrific offset against the silver, and the uniformity of the four remnants of the former data plates in each drawer face actually add to the overall attractiveness. Great design, and great execution.

 

[txlonghorn1989]

Nice work with the Art Metal cabinet but there's no way I'd had the heart to cut that cabinet down. :0)

I picked up a 22-drawer Art Metal cabinet a couple of weeks ago at an estate sale. I intended to post pics of it but looks like I forgot. Here we go...

As found...




In my shop and ready to get filled...

 

[Jayman17]

Nice work with the Art Metal cabinet but there's no way I'd had the heart to cut that cabinet down. :0)

I picked up a 22-drawer Art Metal cabinet a couple of weeks ago at an estate sale. I intended to post pics of it but looks like I forgot. Here we go...

As found...




In my shop and ready to get filled...

TX, that is the size drawer I would want, seems to be a handy size. Do they have dividers built into the drawers? Nice find.

Jay

 

[drivesitfar]

Srvctec: were those tall cabinets hard to cut them to more managable sizing? and did you use a sawsall or do tell. while I liked the vintage handles maybe a bit better your restoration really pops and if you like it that's really what counts. so did your dad get that one or the shorter one?

Tex: I own several versions of your cabinet you found and personally I like/love all of them. these old file cabinets are built old school solid and the last one I picked up might have weighed 150 pounds and the seller pulled out a middle drawer of the empty cabinet leaving the drawer in the cabinet and he laid on the drawer with all his weight and not only didn't he tip the cabinet the drawer fully extended held him easily.

ALL: I love all these vintage metal cabinets so even if we've posted up some of the ones own please post pics of yours and also with a few drawers open so we can see how you organize your stuff in them.

 

[txlonghorn1989]

TX, that is the size drawer I would want, seems to be a handy size. Do they have dividers built into the drawers? Nice find.

Jay

Jay,
There is one divider in each drawer (22 dividers) that slides back and forward. One drawer will easily hold a Stanley No 8 jointer plane if it's laying on it's side. I may store my Stanley planes in this. The drawers are a very nice size and having the full extension support is awesome! :0) This cabinet was top on my list when I went to that estate sale. Hope you come across one.

Drives,
You've got some crazy good storage cabinets! Not to mention a few (lots!) other goodies all over your shop(s) and storage!!! I agree the old cabinets are fantastic.

 

[srvctec]

Wow. I like your aesthetics. The copper straps were an inspired choice, matching the wood, and looking terrific offset against the silver, and the uniformity of the four remnants of the former data plates in each drawer face actually add to the overall attractiveness. Great design, and great execution.

Thanks! I love how they turned out. Only took a few months of spare time to complete last year.

 

[srvctec]

Nice work with the Art Metal cabinet but there's no way I'd had the heart to cut that cabinet down. :0)



I picked up a 22-drawer Art Metal cabinet a couple of weeks ago at an estate sale. I intended to post pics of it but looks like I forgot. Here we go...



As found...









In my shop and ready to get filled...

Thanks!

Oh, I love that cabinet you have. I'd just about kill to get one of those for storage since mine is more for small and low profile stuff.

 

[srvctec]

Srvctec: were those tall cabinets hard to cut them to more managable sizing? and did you use a sawsall or do tell. while I liked the vintage handles maybe a bit better your restoration really pops and if you like it that's really what counts. so did your dad get that one or the shorter one?

Not hard at all. I just used my Bosch jigsaw with a metal blade to cut one tall one into those 3 smaller ones. I marked everything all around while it was still assembled and then disassembled the entire thing which was no small feat since there were dozens of super long screws and tiny low profile nuts (see photo) and then cut them. Then reassembled and painted.

Couldn't keep the vintage brass handles because they are pretty bent up (need to sell those to someone who could get some use out of them) and I like the look of the copper better with the silver anyway. Plus, it gives the whole thing more if an industrial look by filling the unused holes with rivets.

My dad actually got an identical 6' cabinet and cut his own down for his shop.

The smallest of my cabinets is for sandpaper storage. The other 2 are in my basement, mostly for storage of EDC stuff but also whatever else.

 

[Jayman17]

Jay,
There is one divider in each drawer (22 dividers) that slides back and forward. One drawer will easily hold a Stanley No 8 jointer plane if it's laying on it's side. I may store my Stanley planes in this. The drawers are a very nice size and having the full extension support is awesome! :0) This cabinet was top on my list when I went to that estate sale. Hope you come across one.

Tx, I live in the same general areas as Drives, and he is retired and always gets all the good cabinets so it's doubtful! .

Isn't that right Drives?

 

[txlonghorn1989]

Jay,
There is one divider in each drawer (22 dividers) that slides back and forward. One drawer will easily hold a Stanley No 8 jointer plane if it's laying on it's side. I may store my Stanley planes in this. The drawers are a very nice size and having the full extension support is awesome! :0) This cabinet was top on my list when I went to that estate sale. Hope you come across one.

Tx, I live in the same general areas as Drives, and he is retired and always gets all the good cabinets so it's doubtful! .

Isn't that right Drives?

I feel your pain! I would NOT wanna be competing for vintage goodies with Drives! But then he's there when you might be looking to make some trades! ;0)

 

[drivesitfar]

SrvcTec: again nicely done!!! that huge cabinet made some nice storage for you and dad that should last you a long long time. I bet somebody could use your old handles.

i like the handles on these 27 drawer cabinets and the drawer size is similar to yours I think.

Jay: well i'm not sure i've got all the area covered and i'm slimming the herd about the time you'll be retired so you can save all the good stuff i won't be looking for. or trades might be an option if I might have something sitting in storage i don't have a space for.

TEX: yep there is always something we all wish we had that another member, friend or person has, but making the best of what we have or can find is life so let's live it and be as happy as we can be.

ALL: so I gutted and remodeled my kitchen in 1993 and after raising 5 kids to be adults here the hinges finally broke off on the pantry door. other hinges were not working right so in my research i found an Ebay seller with good replacement hinges that replaced the broken hinges that the company that made them went out of business. with a youtube video mentioning a centering drill bit and this ruler solution to getting the new hinges on straight in the existing holes i changed 20 hinges yesterday. I thought I'd show this cause some of you might need to change hinges on your cabinets wood or metal and using this ruler method really does work nicely.

 

[drivesitfar]

ALL: Speaking of trades, I know I should probably start a new thread about shipping toolboxes or just heavy tools, but thought i'd ask here first to see if any of you have a preferred method. i used to use Fastenal for big and heavy items, but their prices doubled so really not feasible now.

 

[tym]

^I remember a number of years ago when I was buying/selling spare wheels for my car, some folks would use Greyhound. Dunno if that's still worth it, though.

 

[drivesitfar]

Tym: thanks for the tip and I heard that Greyhound was one way to ship big items a bit cheaper, but ours is downtown Seattle and it might take me an hour roundtrip and parking during the day is about $20 and it most likely wouldn't be very close.

I know Practical Machinist has a MULE TRAIN so to speak at times to move heavy machines and stuff across the country through it's members. I tried to start one here, but those of us with small garages need to almost rent a storage unit to hold items until trips can be planned.

I'll keep you posted on what i find.

BMW: i'm guessing a bottom roller shipped across the country would be close to $200 just for the shipping with FED EX since i've shipped small 50 pound items with my business account that cost $75 that were in a 12x12x12 inch box.

ALL: I know FREE SHIPPING IS COMMON and while i'm not buying or shipping new items there has to be a way to ship our old stuff reasonably so we can avoid having them go to the dump cause we don't have the space. I stopped in at the post office yesterday and saw their pricing for flat rate medium and large boxes up to 70 pounds is $15 & $20 and i've used them years ago to ship gym equipment across the country until i found Fastenal, but like I mentioned Fastenal probably had too many BS claims where guys would strap an engine to a pallet and want a new engine when it got scratched so their prices doubled and you have to crate everything now. I don't mind crating items to make sure they arrive in great shape, but just trying to find a reasonable cost to keep our old stuff in a price range more can afford.

i'm going to remove the dividers on all my Shaw Walker stacking file cabinets that will be a little repetitive pulling the wires from under each divider and wondering if any of you might have a better method?

 

[Odd Job]

Bowman products drawer cabinets. Full of stuff I just can't throw away and a couple from a GM dealership.

 

[txlonghorn1989]

...

i'm going to remove the dividers on all my Shaw Walker stacking file cabinets that will be a little repetitive pulling the wires from under each divider and wondering if any of you might have a better method?

Drives: Care to expound on "remove the dividers on all my Shaw Walker ...cabinets..."? I have the distinct impression that you're not referring to typical drawer dividers that create different compartments within a drawer. Pics included would be nice too.

 

[drivesitfar]

Odd Job: great looking cabinets. yep trying to find a home for the stuff you don't need in these cabinets is an issue and after doing it many many times my suggestion to you is to either do a trade with someone for parts and stuff your need, donate them or if you have time to research how much they are worth and want to sell them that's your call.

Tex: i've already removed a few of the dividers and there is a small gauge wire under the drawer that needs to be removed however you can. i'm slipping a screwdriver under the wire and pulling it out some so I can cut it with nippers and then removing the wire and all the dividers fall out.

just in case I ever want to put the dividers back in i'm saving all the metal dividers in the bottom drawers.

I'll post up a few pics as I do more cause I might have 50 more drawers to do still. it takes about 5 minutes per drawer to remove all the dividers so i've got a few hours work before I can start putting my stuff inside these cabinets, but I do like them a lot.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

A colleague and good buddy of mine sent me this ad and I just have to post it here. As you guys know, I have one of these 41-C-15 type military cabinets with the butcher block top, and other guys pop up with them here in Drives' thread from time to time.

$35?! F.O.B.?! Sure, I'll take five (5) of them immediately!!!!

Just as cool as the ad itself is the source and date: American Rifleman, March 1945. You read that right. March. 1945.

Judging by the reference to "limited quantity", one might safely infer that they were not being manufactured. That points to surplus sales. The “priority” in “(NO PRIORITY NEEDED)” refers to the WPB’s priority system, which points to military sales. No priority needed in a commercial ad also points to surplus sales. Before the war is over! I have not done any deeper research to confirm that, but that is my interpretation and I am sticking with it until proven otherwise.

I found the same or similar ads in several other magazines and trade journals, including a July 1945 Popular Mechanics, linked here.

I am convinced that Parker-Whelen & Co was a re-seller/retailer in this case, not an OEM. They were advertising cameras in 1948 (linked here), from that same address, and rifle stock blanks, walnut only, for 1917 rifles only (linked here, as late as 1963, from that same address.

If you’re not familiar with the Whelen name, it refers to Colonel Townsend Whelen, a famous outdoorsman, rifleman, hunter, and writer. He was the commander of the Army's Frankford Arsenal in the 1920’s. With the shop foreman there, James Howe, he invented the Howe-Whelen gun sight. I don’t know who Parker is, but Parker-Whelen was famous for a bolt-sleeve sight for the Model 1917 Enfield rifle. Parker-Whelen was previously known as the National Target and Supply Company, at the same address.

 

[DaveT]

Super cool Lugz! I saved that photo to put in the album with my 41-C-15 cabinet. Thanks for sharing.

 

[txlonghorn1989]

Lugz: I'll take 5 as well! That is cool and very interesting that these were being offered prior to the end of the war!

 

[Jayman17]

Where's that damn time machine when I need it!?

Jay

 

[Provincial]

Draw-downs were happening early in 1945. The handwriting was on the wall in Europe, and victory there was expected by mid-year. Japan, on the other hand, was expected to take much longer.

The logistics train in Europe was well-established, and pretty much everything needed was already in England, if not France early in 1945. In the Pacific, preparation for the invasion of the Japanese Home Islands was in process, and the equipment was moving that direction. Unlike Europe, there appears to have been no intermediate staging point (the equivalent of England) where supplies were stored, sorted, and forwarded to the front. Stuff appears to have been loaded on ships and sent directly to the front, except for certain assault ships provisioned at Pearl Harbor.

My father was a primary flight instructor for the Army Air Forces at a civilian contract school. He was laid off early in 1945 when it was determined that the need for pilots could be filled "in-house" by the AAF itself. While production continued in many cases, there were cut-backs spreading throughout the procurement process, and the leading edge of contract cancellations had begun.

I suspect that the supplier of these cabinets got stuck with some overstock due to a cut-back in orders for maintenance trucks. Parker-Whelen Company was one of the outfits that had connections with the military supply chain, and took the opportunity to market this surplus. The cabinets probably never entered the government inventory. If they had, it would have taken much longer for them to enter the surplus market.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

All true, Jock. My colleague and I were speculating the same on a more military minded site. But neither he nor I had ever seen a period ad that even hinted at surplus sales prior to VE Day.

 

[Stuart in MN]

$35?! F.O.B.?! Sure, I'll take five (5) of them immediately!!!!

That $35 in 1945 would be equivalent to a little over $500 today, so not necessarily a deal.

 

[txlonghorn1989]

Draw-downs were happening early in 1945. The handwriting was on the wall in Europe, and victory there was expected by mid-year. Japan, on the other hand, was expected to take much longer.

The logistics train in Europe was well-established, and pretty much everything needed was already in England, if not France early in 1945. In the Pacific, preparation for the invasion of the Japanese Home Islands was in process, and the equipment was moving that direction. Unlike Europe, there appears to have been no intermediate staging point (the equivalent of England) where supplies were stored, sorted, and forwarded to the front. Stuff appears to have been loaded on ships and sent directly to the front, except for certain assault ships provisioned at Pearl Harbor.

My father was a primary flight instructor for the Army Air Forces at a civilian contract school. He was laid off early in 1945 when it was determined that the need for pilots could be filled "in-house" by the AAF itself. While production continued in many cases, there were cut-backs spreading throughout the procurement process, and the leading edge of contract cancellations had begun.

I suspect that the supplier of these cabinets got stuck with some overstock due to a cut-back in orders for maintenance trucks. Parker-Whelen Company was one of the outfits that had connections with the military supply chain, and took the opportunity to market this surplus. The cabinets probably never entered the government inventory. If they had, it would have taken much longer for them to enter the surplus market.

Thanks Prov! Good & interesting information!

 

[Mattlt]

Can't believe I haven't seen this thread before!

These are a few of my finds. The large cabinet was acquired at an auction of a postal service employee. Some kind of a mail sorting cabinet from a small-town post office. I made some simple wooden drawers, this is where I store a lot of my fasteners. I think I paid $5 for it. ;-)

I was kind of proud of the bulb cabinet too. Another auction find.

 

[Mattlt]

I should share these too. These came from an auction of a guy who had worked for a lumber yard during his career. Probably took scrap pieces home and made these. There were literally dozens of these organizers on the auction. I want to say they sold for $5 for 3 units. I bought several.

 

[jmarkwolf]

A colleague and good buddy of mine sent me this ad and I just have to post it here. As you guys know, I have one of these 41-C-15 type military cabinets with the butcher block top, and other guys pop up with them here in Drives' thread from time to time.

My dad had one of those. When I was a kid I used to get aggravated by it because the drawers were always real sticky.

Wish I had one now.

 

[Outlawmws]

Waiting for the family to awaken, so:

Merry Christmas Bedford falls!

 

[drivesitfar]

Matt: glad you found the thread and hope to see more of your stuff cause it looks like you might have your stuff so you can find it too.

Jmark: yep I've owned 2 of those old military cabinets and I wish I would have kept them both cause they held a ton. the drawers although heavy especially the way i used them could be difficult to pull in and out, but they really did the job.

ALL: here's to a great 2020 and hope you are all healthy and happier this year and would love to see some more cabinets and with your cool stuff inside even better.

cheers!!

 

[harley jim]

Well its January and I am almost on track. I wanted to get all of my small projects done by December but christmas has a way of derailing the best of us. This month I want to get organized before the next big project, the 64 chevy truck. So I need to finish a couple of walking sticks but the organization has begun. I have been looking for a spot in the main shop to display this cabinet but it is going back into service in the metal shop for grinder and sander storage. My Brother drilled a hole in the top of the door for something but I had a tie tac that filled the hole nicely.

Sent from my SM-A102U using Tapatalk

 

[Dennis Leigh Henry]

One of the early jobs I had when I was an apprentice was to build some custom cabinets for a customer. This is something we did in trade school, but I was watched over by an older Journeyman. This was back in the 1960s.
In more receint times I made a couple of cabinets for myself. The larger twin door cabinet had a retractable power cord for my espresso machine.
I needed a smaller and lockable cabinet for my larger pry bars and punches. This smaller cabinet has a fitted tool tote with a retractable handle.
I was working at the time and there were a few employees I did not trust, thusly, the locking doors.
I built 27 of the larger cabinets for other mechanics. This was nearly 20 years ago. about 1/3 of the cabinets have not been paid for. When I go the retirement events these now retired bums avoid contact with me.
What a BS way to go through life and retirement
BTW. I found and bought a PEXTO box and pan brake on Craigslist. I am sure this brake is the same model as the one I used in the 1960s.

Just getting caught up on GJ and this thread. What did you give for the box and pan brake? I've been wanting one for a while now. I have a 24" DiAcro shear ready for reassembly in my garage...

 

[Dennis Leigh Henry]

Any ideas what this S-K box is for? A GJer in the garage sale thread suggested film reels, but seems an odd product for S-K to make.

View media item 97828
View media item 97826

I've go one of these brown wrinkle film boxes too. IT was surely a film box, as I ditched the films at the estate sale I purchased it at. I'd swear its the same wrinkle color and texture as Kennedy....