Snap On KR-1000A Restoration/Transformation

[Darby9]

UPS guy came today carrying a long box with my drawer liner material on his shoulder like a bazooka. Asked me, "Did you order a bazooka?"

So, it's pretty much "finished", at least on the exterior. The GF is away so my Friday night is beer and drawer liner cutting until I finish it or lose a finger. Either way, tools are going in it tomorrow.

It'll never be this clean again.

 

[crasher98]

That turned out great, nice job

 

[MJK]

Looks fantastic. Nice work!

 

[Shelbylex]

This is beautiful. I do not like SO green that much but your choice of dark green really makes this box stand out.

Great job!!!

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

This one doesn't have the 3rd claw, but it does have a rivet near the front edge. Drill that, and then whack the slide with a block of wood.

Curious, what year was your box made? I'm guessing '87 or older. Those boxes had the slides attached by rivet, then Snap On wised up and changed it to a screw.

 

[Wamsutta]

This one doesn't have the 3rd claw, but it does have a rivet near the front edge. Drill that, and then whack the slide with a block of wood.

Yes I know that. The claw started showing up in the KRL boxes. This one is a KR box.

 

[Mr_B]

Good job ... looks better than when came out the snappy factory ...

 

[930dreamer]

Very nice work.

 

[16again]

Amazing! Great job on that box!

 

[jeffmoss26]

wooow

 

[Wamsutta]

Curious, what year was your box made? I'm guessing '87 or older. Those boxes had the slides attached by rivet, then Snap On wised up and changed it to a screw.

They had that box in the 1990 catalog, but in 1992 it was gone.

 

[Darby9]

Thanks everybody!

@Lookin4'67Galaxieconv--don't know what year. There were some numbers on the back but I think it must have been been stamped on a Friday afternoon.

Drawer liners are in. Do you guys glue them down? I put some spray adhesive on the top mats, and there was some kind of long-ago-crystallized something under the solid-surface drawer liners i took out, but this style seems to be staying down ok, even without tools on them.

 

[Wamsutta]

Don't glue the liners down if you can help it. That spray adhesive is a mess to remove if the time ever comes. If they're the PVC impregnated fabric liners, they should stick on their own just fine.

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

Another vote for not gluing in the drawer liners. They should sit in there fine.

 

[ScooterFL]

Looks incredibly good and professional. As someone who has used a KR1000 75th anniversary edition for 25 years and still use it daily, I have to say your box looks great. Very nice job!!

 

[njride]

Same as @Ohmthis--I contacted them direct.

I emailed Snap On directly and got slides for my older box. I was honest in that I was not the original owner and needed some slides and could you hey help me with the correct ones. I gave them any info they needed from the box. They asked me how many I needed and sent them for free. That is great customer service.

Ok thanks

 

[Pziddy29]

Yes snap on warranties slides for all their boxes lifetime.


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[1982fxr]

Yes snap on warranties slides for all their boxes lifetime.


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For the original owner. Guys on here say they are fairly generous even if you're not though.

 

[ryanx0r]

That looks fantastic, great work. You brought it back to looking brand new.

 

[Cgw1984]

Older thread, i know. But i had to bring it back to say NICE JOB. that looks AMAZING!

 

[M635_Guy]

Older thread, i know. But i had to bring it back to say NICE JOB. that looks AMAZING!

I don't generally love bumping old threads...

...except threads like this one. Very awesome!

 

[Stuntmonkey]

Absolutely love this. Slightly brighter than my favourite colour; british racing green.

 

[tool_scrounge]

For the original owner. Guys on here say they are fairly generous even if you're not though.

Some guys have luck but I have always gotten charged for every pair of slides when I called.

 

[PugetDude]

Wow, that box turned out fantastic! Love your choice of green.
I had forgotten about this thread, thanks to whoever gave it CPR.

 

[Kid B]

Just picked up a KR1000a for $350. It's well used, but I just spent a few hours cleaning it with some Simple Green and greasing the slides. Now the drawers all open smoothly. Will wax it later this week and I'll need to get some drawer liners in.

My question for you is what drawer liner material did you go with and how much was the cost for it?

 

[Darby9]

Thanks for all the kind words everyone--I'm still pretty stoked with how it came out. It's so nice having most of my tools in one place. I'll find a couple more-recent pics of it with the hutch filled out.

My question for you is what drawer liner material did you go with and how much was the cost for it?

I did the drawers with this and the top with this.

 

[Darby9]

Here it is with the tool holder finished and the Akro bins semi-organized.

I usually have a clipboard hung behind the tool holder cataloguing what I have in the toolchanger and to remind me what my options are...

And the long view of the working area of the shop. It's a strip of garage about 6' x 20', with a single bay behind me for either parking or bigger projects. Mill is in the back, drill press and bandsaw behind me, and a couple 3D printers now live on the side of the workbench over the drawers. Laundry and a slop sink are tucked to the right of the mill, and I usually have curtains across there to minimize the amount of aluminum chips my girlfriend finds in her laundry.

 

[jeffmoss26]

drooool

 

[hobby_guy]

Drawer liners are in. Do you guys glue them down? I put some spray adhesive on the top mats, and there was some kind of long-ago-crystallized something under the solid-surface drawer liners i took out, but this style seems to be staying down ok, even without tools on them.

What drawer liners did you go with? Link?

 

[fatfillup]

wow, that turned out great!!!

Money well spent and really digging the custom hutch

 

[Darby9]

What drawer liners did you go with? Link?

Links in post #66.

 

[fishsalt69@]

My GJ posting is running slightly behind reality, but here's the return of the Green Monster and start of its re-assembly. The color was a solid decision.

Paint quality: I'm really happy with what I got. I did minimal prep, and took this to a shop that does industrial powder coating. They media blasted and powdercoated everything with a Cardinal-brand color they stock. If it was a Ferrari and I spent $20K, I'd be annoyed. But it's not and I did not, so I'm juiced by how well it turned out.

I mounted a single 3' LED tube from Home Depot in the top of the "hutch", and the rotary switches operate the light and the outlet independently, so I can either leave the bench live to charge something, or shut it all down without unplugging a bunch of stuff.

Very nice work!

 

[fishsalt69@]

I'm re-organizing my shop and got hooked on the idea of consolidating my various toolboxes into one big boy. I don't go to the track any more, but I still keep my tools in various small-ish boxes (top chests, an army surplus hip roof, a few Rubbermaid totes) and my new mill came with a cheap-o rolling cart that's taking up valuable floor space in my tiny shop.

I started looking for a Matco or Mac box on CL, but then my cheapskate self found a cruelly used Snap On and I talked myself into believing a $600 beatup Snappy was better than a well-cared-for $1500 Matco, so here we go...



Supposedly it was owned by a diesel mechanic who then left it in a body shop to collect overspray in all its drawer slides. And I'm assuming he also had a goat that liked to gnaw on aluminum drawer trim.



My goal is to get this looking "good-enough" by toolbox standards, and also make it into a workstation for my mill.

Where did you get the top mat. I found the drawer liners from Eppco , they make the material for Mac and Snapon. I can't find the top mat.

Thank you!

 

[Darby9]

Where did you get the top mat. I found the drawer liners from Eppco , they make the material for Mac and Snapon. I can't find the top mat.

Thank you!

Thanks fishsalt69. Top material is ribbed, no name stuff off Amazon--see link in post #66.

After using it for a couple years, I think a smoother texture would be better. The ribs collect chips and cutting fluid, so I end up wiping or Shop Vac'ing them out every couple of months. When I'm using the top to organize parts coming off the mill, I put down a couple squares of Pig mat first, to minimize the mess.

 

[Black94ta]

Question for you guys, I recently Purchased a older ( what I believe is an 80's) KR1000. how do you remove the badge? gently tap with a hammer on the badge pins from inside the of the box? Thanks in advance!

 

[fishsalt69@]

Re-assembly progress... The back is 3/8" plywood, painted to match a bin rack I already had. Put new stopper/detent thingees on the slides, and got the lock mechanisms back together before starting on drawers.

I numbered everything as it came apart and the painters preserved my numbers, so it's gone back together pretty well. Current Me is grateful to Previous Me for that. But I wish Previous Me had taken better pictures of the locking linkage...

I called snap on customer service and after a couple of tries got new slides for all the drawers including the matching top box. And new wheels.

 

[fishsalt69@]

Question for you guys, I recently Purchased a older ( what I believe is an 80's) KR1000. how do you remove the badge? gently tap with a hammer on the badge pins from inside the of the box? Thanks in advance!

I believe they are barrel nuts, if you find the correct size socket and push it on the backside of the pin it will compress and the emblem and barrel nuts comes out.

 

[Black94ta]

Phenomenal job on the tool box restoration/Transformation!!! What did you use as a lubricant for the sliders?

 

[AEAdam]

That’s a great drawer layout/size for what looks to be a machine shop. A kennedy would have had thinner drawers. These look to be perfectly sized

 

[Frankie156]

I'm re-organizing my shop and got hooked on the idea of consolidating my various toolboxes into one big boy. I don't go to the track any more, but I still keep my tools in various small-ish boxes (top chests, an army surplus hip roof, a few Rubbermaid totes) and my new mill came with a cheap-o rolling cart that's taking up valuable floor space in my tiny shop.

I started looking for a Matco or Mac box on CL, but then my cheapskate self found a cruelly used Snap On and I talked myself into believing a $600 beatup Snappy was better than a well-cared-for $1500 Matco, so here we go...



Supposedly it was owned by a diesel mechanic who then left it in a body shop to collect overspray in all its drawer slides. And I'm assuming he also had a goat that liked to gnaw on aluminum drawer trim.



My goal is to get this looking "good-enough" by toolbox standards, and also make it into a workstation for my mill.

You made the right choice in getting the Snap-On Rolling Box, specially this model. This model wad discontinued in 1998 according to Snap-On Company. This box was one of the few that the walls are thicker then most of their other boxes, and it's a very sort after box. So you truly made the right choice.
I too bought a used one and restored it. The company itself send me a lot of the parts that I needed for free under the Lifetime Warranty, which they are great at honoring it, ( depending on the part ) .
So thanks for sharing your photos.
Until then, stay safe, stay strong, good luck, & Godspeed always Sir.