Let's Hear it for the Old Gray/Red Sears Craftsman Tool Chests and Cabinets (60s/70s)

Rileysan said:

Jaydb, You have pre date code gray/red boxes (ca. 1962-1966).



The giveaway on the years of manufacture for the top chest is the position of the drawer pull on the middle "whiskey" drawer. The 3 drawer roller has the lock located on the cabinet door (as opposed to the bottom frame rail) which identifies it as early. Your roller also has the best drawer slides ever used on Craftsman boxes - I wish all of them used that style!



I'm interested in your middle chest. Is it a 2 drawer box? I own a 2 drawer middle box myself, and the only obvious thing that sets it apart is the color of the cabinet door (gray instead of red).



Brian

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Rileysan said:

Jaydb, You have pre date code gray/red boxes (ca. 1962-1966).



The giveaway on the years of manufacture for the top chest is the position of the drawer pull on the middle "whiskey" drawer. The 3 drawer roller has the lock located on the cabinet door (as opposed to the bottom frame rail) which identifies it as early. Your roller also has the best drawer slides ever used on Craftsman boxes - I wish all of them used that style!



I'm interested in your middle chest. Is it a 2 drawer box? I own a 2 drawer middle box myself, and the only obvious thing that sets it apart is the color of the cabinet door (gray instead of red).



Brian

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Jaydb07 said:

Recently I’ve been ordering keys for my several boxes. Excellent product. Seller is “Moses-the-locksmith” on eBay. Excellent service and price and quality.


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Jaydb07 said:

Recently I’ve been ordering keys for my several boxes. Excellent product. Seller is “Moses-the-locksmith” on eBay. Excellent service and price and quality.


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Rileysan said:

I have the same question. That, and do you have a link? Searching eBay on my phone is less than ideal!






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Rileysan said:

I have the same question. That, and do you have a link? Searching eBay on my phone is less than ideal!



Brian

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Cruzan80 said:

Are they generic blanks, or crowntop keys?

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jeffmoss26 said:

4.95 for 2 keys is cheap, even if he is just making duplicates. We charge 6.75 in shop for a key by code and copies start at 2.55

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Rileysan said:

I ordered 4 pairs of keys today. I'll let you all know how it works out!



Brian

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Jaydb07 said:

Any news?


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Jaydb07 said:

Just bought this. Top drawer stuck. No clips anywhere. What is proper way to uninstall and reinstall these drawers?


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Zrxrunner said:

Got this set fairly cheap, but obviously some things missing. Havent been able to track down a replacement drawer yet. Anyone scrapping a damaged top with some spare drawers to sell or trade? Might jus make a new post if that's the way everyone thinks I shud go, too. Missing about 4 retainer clips too.

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TRSRHNTR said:

Good news: found a 3 drawer mid-box
Bad news: it’s not gray/red
Worse news: it’s missing it’s drop front.

Has anyone encountered this?

Any chance I can harvest a drop front from a tall roller with a small “cabinet space” on the bottom?

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Zrxrunner said:

Hey, I'll attach a few pics of the clips my box uses. What u think ur want outta the drawer n a few clips? Acquired a pretty decent stack of all different old tools if there's anything else you're looking for too.

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Rileysan said:

AMD (Advertising Metal Display Co) made the bulk of the Heritage era boxes. They later turned into (or were purchased by) Remline, whom I opine made the transition boxes (those with the Crowntop logo, not the Chevron. I believe the first gray & red boxes with the Chevron logo were Waterloo). Pressteel was rumored to have made the early and pre-Heritage boxes, but I have owned both and see no similarities - not even close!

Brian

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Rileysan said:

I prefer trading. It will be a couple days before I can look over the drawers I salvaged. As for the clips, I definitely do not have spares of this style. I'm missing a couple myself.

Brian

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6PTsocket said:

You can get them from Sears or Waterloo or ebay. There was also a link here to some guy that makes replicas of all the Sears clips and for several other brands, too.
The earliest red and gray box clips had an extra fold so you could pull them out bare handed, without a screwdriver. That was replaced by a simpler, interchangable clip that needed a screw driver.

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Jaydb07 said:

Yeah a nice guy named Craig Steen



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WagonHo! said:

From Los Angeles craigslist. Guy says it has roller slides and all the attributes of early60’s box,lock on door right side emblems. He can’t find any dates or made in USA marks.it’s a beauty except for the vise drill holes on the roller.

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bubinga said:

Did you buy it, or still looking at it?
Piece of mud flap cut to size or a thin piece of plywood, would cover the top nicely.plywood could even be sealed/primed and painted, A glossy color to match the box,
looks like A nice unit.

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WagonHo! said:

Nope, I’m in Albuquerque he’s in The City of angels so whoever get’s there first..

First off he said just so you know “I’m not interested in shipping!”,(like i was gonna ask - I was.

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Jnmario said:

Got this a few weeks back. In the process of restoring it now.

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Zrxrunner said:

Hey, I'll attach a few pics of the clips my box uses. What u think ur want outta the drawer n a few clips? Acquired a pretty decent stack of all different old tools if there's anything else you're looking for too.

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tool_scrounge said:

Got a new (to me) Craftsman Crown Top red and grey 2 drawer chest today. Looks like the 1964 catalog shows it to be part number 65027. It cost $21.99 then, with the equivalent now being $174. It is not the 1966 model as the logo moved to the left side of the box that year from what I see from the online catalogs.



One odd thing I noticed when cleaning it up is the drawer slides and associated clips are a bit different than the next step up Waterloo made 65302 3 drawer roller cabinet of the same vintage. The drawer slides are black in color and the drawer clip is straight on one end as shown in the photos. Can anyone confirm Waterloo made this tool box also? I presume the slides and clips could have been replaced at some point.



I scrambled fast to get it within an hour of it being posted forsale . It will go nicely on my 3 roller drawer 65302 as shown in the photo below. They are both the same width. I figured for $10 I could not go wrong in buying the two drawer chest.



This some what makes up for the 9 drawer grey and red roller tool box I missed in the LA area for $100. It looked totally mint from the photos. I hope someone on the GJ got it.

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tool_scrounge said:

Got a new (to me) Craftsman Crown Top red and grey 2 drawer chest today. Looks like the 1964 catalog shows it to be part number 65027. It cost $21.99 then, with the equivalent now being $174. It is not the 1966 model as the logo moved to the left side of the box that year from what I see from the online catalogs.

One odd thing I noticed when cleaning it up is the drawer slides and associated clips are a bit different than the next step up Waterloo made 65302 3 drawer roller cabinet of the same vintage. The drawer slides are black in color and the drawer clip is straight on one end as shown in the photos. Can anyone confirm Waterloo made this tool box also? I presume the slides and clips could have been replaced at some point.

I scrambled fast to get it within an hour of it being posted forsale . It will go nicely on my 3 roller drawer 65302 as shown in the photo below. They are both the same width. I figured for $10 I could not go wrong in buying the two drawer chest.

This some what makes up for the 9 drawer grey and red roller tool box I missed in the LA area for $100. It looked totally mint from the photos. I hope someone on the GJ got it.

Click to expand...

tool_scrounge said:

Got a new (to me) Craftsman Crown Top red and grey 2 drawer chest today. Looks like the 1964 catalog shows it to be part number 65027. It cost $21.99 then, with the equivalent now being $174. It is not the 1966 model as the logo moved to the left side of the box that year from what I see from the online catalogs.

One odd thing I noticed when cleaning it up is the drawer slides and associated clips are a bit different than the next step up Waterloo made 65302 3 drawer roller cabinet of the same vintage. The drawer slides are black in color and the drawer clip is straight on one end as shown in the photos. Can anyone confirm Waterloo made this tool box also? I presume the slides and clips could have been replaced at some point.

I scrambled fast to get it within an hour of it being posted for sale . It will go nicely on my 3 roller drawer 65302 as shown in the photo below. They are both the same width. I figured for $10 I could not go wrong in buying the two drawer chest.

This some what makes up for the 9 drawer grey and red roller tool box I missed in the LA area for $100. It looked totally mint from the photos. I hope someone on the GJ got it.

Click to expand...