Provincial
Well-known member
Thursday night I saw an ad on Offerup for a Plomb Toolmobile for $60.00. I responded, and Friday morning the seller texted that he was available for me to come look at it. It was 30 miles away, and it was almost 11AM before I pulled in to his parking lot. I was expecting that someone else who lived closer would beat me to this "gem", but I was there first!
The photos in the ad made it look pretty good, but upon inspection, it was very beat up. After a close inspection, the seller and I agreed that $45.00 would be a fair price. We put it into the back of my rig and I got it home, but have had too much else going on to do more than unload it.
Since then, I've only had a few times I could take a few minutes to inspect it and develop a plan to deal with the issues it has. Last night I took some time to do some repairs and get it up on its casters and all the drawers to work.
For starters, every weak point on the Toolmobile/Pressteel cabinets had failed. Someone had used an Oxy/Acetylene torch to weld up failed spot welds, which burned the paint over some fairly large areas. Whoever it was, they were pretty good with laying a bead, and I decided to just leave the welds as is.
Many of the spot welds on the drawer rails had failed, and one of the rails was lying loose in a drawer. This was all on the right side (facing) of the unit, and it was the center drawer rail that was completely gone. The other broken spot welds were all in the rear of the cabinet. I drilled holes and plug welded them with my MIG.
Two of the casters were damaged, with one welded up because the ball thrust bearing had failed. The two locking casters were in better shape, but not by much. Both of the non-locking casters had bent the stems, one severely. I was able to straighten them enough to use for now, but I don't want to load any drawers until I can repair or replace all the casters. They are Colson brand, but Colson no longer makes a caster that will match the dimensions, much less the appearance.
The whole thing was very dirty and has some bad dents. The old description "rode hard and put away wet" seems appropriate. I think the guy that tried to repair this cabinet was an experienced welder, perhaps a body man or aircraft structural welder. I don't know if he gave up, lost interest, or passed away before he got it finished. The seller got it in an estate clean-out, so any of those alternatives is plausible.
The only real clean-up I have done is vacuum out the dust and cobwebs inside and clean the face of the lower bin door with soap and water. The bin door was nearly black when I started, and I did not attempt to clean off the remaining dark spots, fearing I might damage what remains of the paint.
The bottom drawer face is bent badly, and I will have to develop a plan on dealing with it. It opens and closes fine, as do the other two. The middle drawer is the best, and the top drawer is pretty good except someone rivetted in some home-made dividers made from galvanized steel sheet.
I'm including photos of the front and one side after I got it up on its "feet" so you can see what it is like. I'll post more photos in following entries.
The photos in the ad made it look pretty good, but upon inspection, it was very beat up. After a close inspection, the seller and I agreed that $45.00 would be a fair price. We put it into the back of my rig and I got it home, but have had too much else going on to do more than unload it.
Since then, I've only had a few times I could take a few minutes to inspect it and develop a plan to deal with the issues it has. Last night I took some time to do some repairs and get it up on its casters and all the drawers to work.
For starters, every weak point on the Toolmobile/Pressteel cabinets had failed. Someone had used an Oxy/Acetylene torch to weld up failed spot welds, which burned the paint over some fairly large areas. Whoever it was, they were pretty good with laying a bead, and I decided to just leave the welds as is.
Many of the spot welds on the drawer rails had failed, and one of the rails was lying loose in a drawer. This was all on the right side (facing) of the unit, and it was the center drawer rail that was completely gone. The other broken spot welds were all in the rear of the cabinet. I drilled holes and plug welded them with my MIG.
Two of the casters were damaged, with one welded up because the ball thrust bearing had failed. The two locking casters were in better shape, but not by much. Both of the non-locking casters had bent the stems, one severely. I was able to straighten them enough to use for now, but I don't want to load any drawers until I can repair or replace all the casters. They are Colson brand, but Colson no longer makes a caster that will match the dimensions, much less the appearance.
The whole thing was very dirty and has some bad dents. The old description "rode hard and put away wet" seems appropriate. I think the guy that tried to repair this cabinet was an experienced welder, perhaps a body man or aircraft structural welder. I don't know if he gave up, lost interest, or passed away before he got it finished. The seller got it in an estate clean-out, so any of those alternatives is plausible.
The only real clean-up I have done is vacuum out the dust and cobwebs inside and clean the face of the lower bin door with soap and water. The bin door was nearly black when I started, and I did not attempt to clean off the remaining dark spots, fearing I might damage what remains of the paint.
The bottom drawer face is bent badly, and I will have to develop a plan on dealing with it. It opens and closes fine, as do the other two. The middle drawer is the best, and the top drawer is pretty good except someone rivetted in some home-made dividers made from galvanized steel sheet.
I'm including photos of the front and one side after I got it up on its "feet" so you can see what it is like. I'll post more photos in following entries.
