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50's metal kitchen cabinets?

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Viriiguy

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Feb 5, 2012
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Knoxville Tennessee
Is anyone here using those old Metal kitchen cabinets in their garages?
The stuff they used in the 50's? Like St. Charles or GE?

I would love to see pics.
 
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GirlnAgarage

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Viriiguy said:
Is anyone here using those old Metal kitchen cabinets in their garages?
The stuff they used in the 50's? Like St. Charles or GE?

I would love to see pics.
Click to expand...

rickairmedic has some metal cabinets. They're pretty neat and I kick myself for overlooking them when I stumbled across a set on CL.
 
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Ric in Richmond

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Richmond...duh
I am.

But I'd have to clean the garage to take pics.

I rolled them with gray rustoleum. Tough as nails.

I made a drill press stand out of one base and some countertop. Handy!
 
W

what have i done

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Illinois
i have 15 of them I got froma laboratory when they were remodeling. they are plain white, often thought of giving them a facelift with a fresh coat of paint but havent gotten around to it.

I got 15 of them for $10 each. I just got base cabinets. I could kick myself for not getting the uppers. Had i known then what a i know now.......

Someday I will have the shop clean enough to post pictures
 
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boo coo tracks

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Jan 13, 2007
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The only problem I have is sticking drawer!!! I just can't seem to get cabinet to expand properly!!!
Tracks
 
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V

Viriiguy

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Knoxville Tennessee
You could replace the tracks with modern roller bearing tracks...
Given that they are steel, you should have no trouble affixing them!
 
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Torque1st

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I have bunch of free St Charles units from a lab. 18 wall cabinets and 18 base units. I am using all but a couple base units in my workshops.
 
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1steve

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Tennessee
I have two base cabinets welded together with original metal top and backslash. Left side is four drawers and right has one drawer above double doors with one shelf. Painted red with tractor paint and made a metal frame with casters on it.
 
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azgarage1

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Apr 11, 2009
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When I was a kid my Grandfather had a nice set he took out of his bldg. in Chicago and used them as shop cabinets in his shed. After he died we sold his house, and of all of the things that weren't taken from the house those cabinets, and the approx, 10'x15' cobblestone (salvaged when the city replaced with concrete) patio are thje 2 things I regret getting. If ever given a similar opportunity I won't make that mistake again. Maybe that explains why my garage looks like a self store locker instead of a shop/garage.
 
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DynoDave

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My Dad took these out of my Grandmothers (his Mother's) house when redecorating it. He saved them for me to use in the shop. I cleaned them, covered them in an off white vinyl contact paper, polished the chrome handles, and have been using them for the past 20 years. Her are a couple of pictures of some of them.

Admiral Metal Products, Inc, Chicago, ILL

GarageCabinets001.jpg


GarageCabinets002.jpg


GarageCabinets003.jpg
 
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AndyL

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Omg you guys are bad influences... I had never seen these before, now I must have them... gah, I gotta stop coming here. Ya'll are making my wallet hurt...
 
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V

Viriiguy

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Knoxville Tennessee
AndyL said:
Omg you guys are bad influences... I had never seen these before, now I must have them... gah, I gotta stop coming here. Ya'll are making my wallet hurt...
Click to expand...

LOL!!!

I hear you!My garage budget has had to grow exponentially since finding this place last month!!!
 
J

Johnson

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Sep 17, 2009
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Central IL
DSC04270.JPG
I'm refinishing a partial set from a 1950's National Home. My old neighborhood was full of these. When I redid the kitchen, I put the metal ones in the garage. When I moved I took a few with me and left the rest. If I would have known they were so in demand I would have grabbed the rest.

My lowers are all steel with the 2 3/4" boomerang pulls. I only have 3 original pulls and have ordered 5 replacements online (similar style but not original). The upper cabs have wooden doors. I stripped the paint off of them to reveal the original wood. Not sure what species though. I've primed and repainted the bottoms with Rustoleum black (handles are chrome). The uppers will be the same.

Pics are prior to finishing. Multi colors!

DSC04269.JPG
 
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AndyL

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Ok gotta ask :)

Found one with a kinda cool but massive cast iron/porcelain countertop (sink & drainboard inlaid). I was going to pass on it... But I'm starting to think parts washer :D Think I could convert it safely?
 
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DynoDave

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AndyL said:
Ok gotta ask :)

Found one with a kinda cool but massive cast iron/porcelain countertop (sink & drainboard inlaid). I was going to pass on it... But I'm starting to think parts washer :D Think I could convert it safely?
Click to expand...

What I did not include photos of are the Maple kitchen cabinets that I have for the new shop. They were made for my parents first new home c1959/1960 by a family member. Nothing fancy, but super solid. Those I have a more complete set of, including vintage gold fleck counter top.

I have an old stainless sink that I had thought about dropping into the sink opening, and making a parts washer out of.
 
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Torque1st

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Andy that would make an excellent parts washer. There are many old threads here on making parts washers that may be of interest to you. Good luck, and let us know how it turns out.
 
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DynoDave

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Torque1st said:
Andy that would make an excellent parts washer. There are many old threads here on making parts washers that may be of interest to you. Good luck, and let us know how it turns out.
Click to expand...

I read through a few old threads I found on this subject. Seems like one of the biggest hurdles is designing a lid for it.
 
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ErickForest

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Minnesota
I have some upper cabinets. I believe they are Youngstown. I would love to find some more to match.
 

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n2ocamaro

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Clarksville, IN
AndyL said:
773163i_20.jpg

I'm just seeing parts washer... and beats trying to replace it :)
Click to expand...
I have some Youngstown white metal cabinets that I pulled out of an upperstairs kitchen that was in our house when we bought it (Old couple owned the house previous and had rented out the upstairs many years ago). The bottom cabinet looked like this but longer (4ft). I removed the sink top in preparation for a wood work top. The are are 2 upper cabinets as well. I have been searching CL for some tall cabinets like this
 
H

Higgins

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Shepheardsville, KY
When I built our 2nd garage yrs. ago, I furnished it with St. Charles cabinets.!!

Now 10 yrs latter, I'm looking at redoing it! The metal cabinets from the 50's / 60's are great for a garage, and in most cases, are in very good shape!

I was able to get my cabinets for a song! So I configured the garage based upon the cabinets that were available!

The upper cabinet configuration is great, and will not be changed! The issue I have is the base cabinets!!!! My lower cabinets are one 42" base cabinet with doors (OK), then I have a 18" cabinet this has a lift for a mixer. I placed a grinder on it. Looks good, but functionally, it wastes to much space. So I would like to replace it with a Drawer Unit. Then the next cabinet is a 42" in-line lazy susan. Looks cool, but it's a total waist of storage space. So I would love to replace it with a drawer unit for my use!

The problem with all the kitchen cabinet configurations of the 50's / 60's they had lots of overhead cabinets. But they really don't have a lot of base storage cabinets. So you may have to purchase a couple of kitchens to get all the base cabinets that you need!!!!

Curently CL in my area, has several complete kitchens cabinets and they want a fortune for them. One lady wants $8,000. The next one is $1,700 it has a lot of speciality cabinets, but again few base cabinets.

I'll take a picture once I find where the grandson put my camera! If I don't find it before Christmas, it goes on the list!

So happy hunting, and keep your eyes open. As a generality, a good price for a typical 50's kitchen would be between $350 on the low side, and $750 on the upper side. The good news is people are not breaking the sellers door down, so you should be able to dicker them down!

AL
 
M

Mossmilo

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Liberty, ohio
This is the first time I've posted any pictures so not sure how they will come out. I bought these off Craigslist for 75$ but they sure needed ALOT of work. These are Youngstown kitchen cabinets.
 

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