Rusty Musket
Well-known member
I just finished up a light restoration of this 70's custom made pit box and I thought I would share some of the details before I put it up for sale locally. I have seen a few requests for ideas about custom toolboxes so I offer this up for inspiration for those of you that are looking for some. It was built by a Deacon in a local church who passed away recently. As you will see, he was quite the craftsman.
The cart is made up of 2 tools cabinets and 2 side boxes. The left side locker has a Snap-on label and the door on the far right seems to be the same. I think the two main boxes are Craftsman and one has a date stamp of 03-75. The handles on all 4 boxes match so I am not sure how he pulled that off.
The box features 23 drawers of various sizes and some large compartments for oversized items. The extra deep boxes in the right side locker appear to be made from scratch as they have no paint on the backs or bottoms.
Here you can see the depth extension to the right side locker and the custom end panel for the left side.
The top is made of heavy stainless and it is equipped with a Float Lock vise.
The backside of the box is where this guy's skills really become apparent.
To be honest, I found this box wedged into the corner of a storage unit with a flat tire which prevented me from moving it around. I owned it for a few weeks before discovering all it's unique compartments.
Notice that there are no visible locks or latches on the backside. It took me a long time to figure out what was going on back here. Eventually, I found a Destaco clamp mechanism handle hidden on the back wall of the left center cabinet mounted high up behind the flip up door. When the handle is moved 90 degrees, it will unlock the rear left door.
After that, you can pull out a few pins which will grant you access to the lower rear hinged door
And finally, you can access a spring loaded lock behind the lower rear door which will release the catch to the rear right door (right door when viewed from the front).
Apparently I was not the only person fooled by this box as these rear compartments were still full of tools and supplies that the seller had not discovered.
Take a look at these sliding doors. They seem to be completely "home made" with some beautiful banding and an intricate profile on the top and bottom.
They engage perfectly into matching tracks on the box.
The door runs on bearings that again seem to have been fabricated from simple wheels and square stock. In the bottom of the bearing reciever, you can see one of the brass shims used to fine tune the door action.
These large adjustable supports can be turned by hand to precisely adjust the fitment of the doors as they pass over the last bearing before closure.
The small tongue visible here is the spring loaded latch for the one of the rear doors. The release for it is located below behind the hinged door.
It even has chrome plated caster covers and a nicely detailed cross.
The cart is made up of 2 tools cabinets and 2 side boxes. The left side locker has a Snap-on label and the door on the far right seems to be the same. I think the two main boxes are Craftsman and one has a date stamp of 03-75. The handles on all 4 boxes match so I am not sure how he pulled that off.
The box features 23 drawers of various sizes and some large compartments for oversized items. The extra deep boxes in the right side locker appear to be made from scratch as they have no paint on the backs or bottoms.
Here you can see the depth extension to the right side locker and the custom end panel for the left side.
The top is made of heavy stainless and it is equipped with a Float Lock vise.
The backside of the box is where this guy's skills really become apparent.
To be honest, I found this box wedged into the corner of a storage unit with a flat tire which prevented me from moving it around. I owned it for a few weeks before discovering all it's unique compartments.
Notice that there are no visible locks or latches on the backside. It took me a long time to figure out what was going on back here. Eventually, I found a Destaco clamp mechanism handle hidden on the back wall of the left center cabinet mounted high up behind the flip up door. When the handle is moved 90 degrees, it will unlock the rear left door.
After that, you can pull out a few pins which will grant you access to the lower rear hinged door
And finally, you can access a spring loaded lock behind the lower rear door which will release the catch to the rear right door (right door when viewed from the front).
Apparently I was not the only person fooled by this box as these rear compartments were still full of tools and supplies that the seller had not discovered.
Take a look at these sliding doors. They seem to be completely "home made" with some beautiful banding and an intricate profile on the top and bottom.
They engage perfectly into matching tracks on the box.
The door runs on bearings that again seem to have been fabricated from simple wheels and square stock. In the bottom of the bearing reciever, you can see one of the brass shims used to fine tune the door action.
These large adjustable supports can be turned by hand to precisely adjust the fitment of the doors as they pass over the last bearing before closure.
The small tongue visible here is the spring loaded latch for the one of the rear doors. The release for it is located below behind the hinged door.
It even has chrome plated caster covers and a nicely detailed cross.
