Blackhawk toolbox

[Shelbylex]

Good afternoon.
I am considering buying another toolbox: blackhaw (if the price is right). The one I am trying to get is similar to the one in the picture (except more rust...)
Does anybody have a similar one? (could not find one in GJ)
Is it well built? Seems that people usually like the quality of Blackhawk...
Is it supposed to have a cover for the bottom?
Is it still possible to get locks for it?
Any weak spots I should be looking for (problems with caster attachment, drawer slides, etc)
And finally, how much did you pay for yours (if no picture - please say how good the condition was)

Thank you

… still trying to get details - it's around 70 miles from me - thus can not just go and look at the condition easily...

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Rare box. Grab it if you can.

 

[Shelbylex]

Thank you, Oldtuleguy
Hopefully will get the price tonight (owner is considering to sell)

 

[y'sguy]

I would jump on it. No issues with that box, I bet. Nothing that couldn't be fixed. THey are quite basic and can be rewelded if need be or reshaped if bent. What kind of price is he asking? Just curious-It wasn't the top of the line but still a sweet one to restore, if that is your thoughts.

 

[Shelbylex]

He wants $85. What do you think?

 

[r_olson_06]

Sounds fair to me.

Looking for the following Plomb Pebbles Wrench 3061

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Sounds good for 85$

 

[Shelbylex]

Thank you, gentlemen. I e-mailed the seller earlier today and will hopefully have no unexpected surprises (missed couple of nice vintage boxes when sellers disappeared last minute...). Hopefully can bring it home within next several days. There were no good images - hopefully nothing is significantly damaged or rusted...

Is there supposed to be a cover for the lower compartment on these boxes?

 

[thehorse13]

You should have a bottom cover for this box. If it's gone, even at the asking price, you're still ahead of the game. It's a rare roller and I would love it just as it sits today.

Keep us updated. You're on the verge of a very nice score.

 

[Shelbylex]

Thank you, thehorse13. I agreed on the price the seller asked and we should meet on the weekend.
... keeping my fingers crossed he does not change his mind last minute and keeps it.

Do you have a picture with the panel down. I wonder if it’s possible to have one made for a decent price...

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Here is a pic from 38 catalog. No panel shown

 

[Shelbylex]

Thank you, Oldtuleguy. It's interesting - it appears that there is opening in the back (not a solid panel)
Unfortunately I have a single very poor quality picture of the cart which is not showing much of the bottom except some rust (I hope a lot of it is just old grime, but will see it soon)
This is a very valuable scan - I need to make sure that interior has black lining.

Now everybody made me very excited - can not wait for it to be home (had couple of "sure" deals before which went south last minute - thus not mine till in the house...)

Does anybody know if I can easily take out the handles (will have to transport it in the trunk of my car - hopefully it fits, but if it's tight, might need to do it)

 

[thehorse13]

How strange. I could have sworn that this Blackhawk roller had a lower door. It will be very easy to tell once you have it in front of you.

Whatever the case, you have a great roller now.

 

[twertsy]

March of 1937 was the first use of that badge so late 30's to 40's box. I'd LOVE to have one of those. Nice find!!

 

[thehorse13]

March of 1937 was the first use of that badge so late 30's to 40's box. I'd LOVE to have one of those. Nice find!!

Imagine the drag race if one of these turns up locally? lol. I would blow the trans trying to get there before you.

 

[Shelbylex]

I am trying a different approach now - there are a lot of people who have those treasures, but they never show them. I started asking some of the people I know well (neighbors, at work, friends, etc) if they know if anybody they know has old tools/toolboxes/etc which they might consider selling. If there is a possibility, I ask them to speak to a person and explain that I enjoy tool restoration and would be interested in buying some tools whenever and if the owner will consider selling.
It's a long shot, but that's how I sometimes find tools.

There is one potential treasure in my neighborhood: an old guy with the basement full of tools. He does not show them often, but once he was in a good mood and gave me 10 minute tour. I wish I could spend an hour there: toolboxes are pretty basic craftsman, not even vintage, but completely filled with SK, Snap On and a lot of brand and high quality tools. He likes fixing things, has several Baldor Grinders (and several for parts), several drills, metal lathe (I think it's a vintage South Bend, but not 100% sure, etc. I am not sure what exactly he did in life (possibly an engineer, assembly of factories or specific machines - does not want to give a straight answer), but he is extremely well familiar with different metals, alloys, etc ) He told me that neither one of his children is interested in tools. May be one day I can get part of that collection...

 

[Oldtuleguy]

They are around. Some of my coolest stuff I have found by just talking to people about my hobby. They will know someone who has stuff they don't want and I will buy it.

 

[thehorse13]

I try anything and everything these days. It's gotten much harder to find cool things at reasonable prices.

 

[Shelbylex]

Agree. Seems like there are too many people buying everything to resell.
A while ago I bought couple of small boxes of a guy in Western Mass. Good price, had extras. Later we crossed again: now he has much higher prices and seems to do it all the time... even on yard sales there are always guys buying everything in huge lots...

Just looked at toolboxes thread: nice Waterloo for 90$ - new member got a great start! Interesting - the moment you think of limitations life shows possibilities!

 

[thehorse13]

Luck has a hand in it half the time. The flippers and resellers have run through this hobby because of the profit margins.

I used to buy cool cars until Mecum/Barrett-Jackson types ruined it. We're headed in that direction with this stuff. It will end up in the, "garage art" auctions that you're seeing more often.

 

[y'sguy]

Without knowing the # 0f the box ? It may also of had two side slide -back doors. That which I have only seen in catalogs. Good luck and let us know soon if you get it. We need to see pics ASAP!

 

[Shelbylex]

Just brought them home. Had to travel to NH to pick them up today.

I would like to thank everybody for information and support!

Some dents, tons of grease, some paint missing, at least one missing roller on the drawer, but overall - VERY HAPPY!!!

$55 final price







….Darn, now I will have to start looking for a top box to match it : )

 

[r_olson_06]

Just brought them home. Had to travel to NH to pick them up today.

I would like to thank everybody for information and support!

Some dents, tons of grease, some paint missing, at least one missing roller on the drawer, but overall - VERY HAPPY!!!

$55 final price







….Darn, now I will have to start looking for a top box to match it : )

You done well.

Looking for the following Plomb Pebbles Wrench 3061

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Nice. Sounds like it worked out great!

 

[FJ 432]

Nice grab Shelbylex. The top drawer and the dividers is really interesting. Based off of oldtuleguy's catalog picture it was a wrench set cabinet. I wondered what it looked like full back in the day.

Also the ad mentioned the drawers are on rollers. Can you snap a picture of the drawer slides/ roller? I wonder if its like Plomb's tool mobile?

 

[Shelbylex]

Thank you, gentlemen!

FJ_432: there are 2 rollers at the distal right and left sides of the drawer (pic 8), 2 rollers on the drawer rails which are at the front end of the box (pic 9).
The third picture isshowing drawer after I removed it (started cleaning the handle, lower part of the image is the front of it): you can see exactly where rollers are (the left one is missing - I guess at some point I will have to take another one out and see if any hardware store might have something similar)

I agree - I wish somebody could share the catalog image or their image of full drawer. The holes in the left proximal side are intriguing - speed driver location?

P.S. All images enlarge when you click on them...

 

[FJ 432]

FJ_432: there are 2 rollers at the distal right and left sides of the drawer (pic 8), 2 rollers on the drawer rails which are at the front end of the box (pic 9).
The third picture isshowing drawer after I removed it (started cleaning the handle, lower part of the image is the front of it): you can see exactly where rollers are (the left one is missing - I guess at some point I will have to take another one out and see if any hardware store might have something similar)
.

Interesting. As you can see my cabinet is around the same time but only has rails and no rollers. Definitely different than a tool mobile from Plomb.

 

[Shelbylex]

Nice one! I do not think you posted it before.
May be your cabinet is a little older. However, may be smaller drawers were not considered for it.
FJ_432, can you check your lower drawer?

 

[thehorse13]

Just brought them home. Had to travel to NH to pick them up today.

I would like to thank everybody for information and support!

Some dents, tons of grease, some paint missing, at least one missing roller on the drawer, but overall - VERY HAPPY!!!

$55 final price

….Darn, now I will have to start looking for a top box to match it : )

You ****.

The box will clean up nicely. Given what I see in the pictures, you can make the original finish look very presentable.

Now that you have this home, once you get it shined up you will have a new and much more expensive problem. You will without a doubt want the tool set that originally came with it.

 

[Shelbylex]

Thank you, thehorse13. : )

I am slowly collecting Snap On, SK, Craftsman and Barcalo (though have some other brands, but try not to buy extra on yard sales). I guess now I need to learn about Blackhawk. Interestingly enough I have only 1 socket from them. Either coincidence or it was not too popular in MA. Will start paying more attention.
... Something tells me I might try flea markets this summer...

Do you have any recommendation about gentle paint cleaning? I was trying to clean off some grease with paper towels to duck tape trunk lid to the box bottom (could not close it) and one one side paint started coming off very easily. The other was just fine.
I am thinking to start with regular car wash soap and soft plastic brush.
Kitchen soap might work better, but I never tried it and wonder if it could damage the paint. Simple green would be too risky here...

 

[DwightS]

Goo Gone has a “Automotive” safe gel that is safe for automotive paint. You can try that. A dishwashing soap like Dawn may also work since it’s formulated to remove grease. To gently remove the grime yet protect the paint, go slow and expect slow results. That grime has had years to accumulate and harden.

I’d start with warm water and dishwashing soap, maybe a squirt of a degreaser and immediately start the wipe down, don’t let it sit.

Also! Expect a little paint transfer regardless of what you use to clean it. Old boxes are not clear coated and those paints dry out and fade.

After you get it clean, try Meguiars Mirror Glaze #7 as directed by Mike Phillips on Autogeek followed by a good coat of wax or sealer.

Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal

 

[thehorse13]

Sound advice above. Always start with warm water and dawn dish soap and see what you get after some elbow grease.


*EDIT*
Getting into Blackhawk stuff can get expensive quickly. For some reason, the 30s-50s stuff turned to solid gold over the last year or so.

 

[DwightS]

Very jealous of the box. I keep hoping that I can get lucky and find something like that.

Sorry I can’t really help you with finding Blackhawk stuff, I only have my dad’s 49945 1/2” ratchet. No idea when he bought it.




Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal

 

[thehorse13]

Very jealous of the box. I keep hoping that I can get lucky and find something like that.

Sorry I can’t really help you with finding Blackhawk stuff, I only have my dad’s 49945 1/2” ratchet. No idea when he bought it.




Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal

That's a post 1955 New Britain made, "Blackhawk" ratchet.

 

[Shelbylex]

Thank you, DeightS and thehorse13

Nice ratchet - I like the handle design!

I guess I will go slow - hopefully prices go down. There are only so many people who collect and use older tools. In my observation younger guys are more into SO, MAC, May be Cornwell. In addition more and more staff is metric. I do not even know if old Blackhawk ever had metric sets...

 

[Shelbylex]

Trying to solve what goes in the drawers...

Found this ad today (from 1937)



… Which also shows one of the possible top boxes to watch out for

 

[Shelbylex]

This is another one I found from Private Lugnutz Post

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=372042&showall=1

 

[DD T/A]

Fantastic find, love that badge.

 

[Shelbylex]

I found more information on internet:
1939 catalog from archive.org


After checking ebay prices I can see how that could quickly get very expensive if I do not find them in the wild. I guess I will have to keep my eyes opened this summer and also learn how to date the tools to make sure I get the age correct ones. I think I am in for a long and interesting journey



Sorry for suboptimal resolution: when switching to the files which can be downloaded I somehow loose resolution...

 

[FJ 432]

Interesting list of items based off of 3 possibilities. Here are just some of my random thoughts on Blackhawk"s boxes.

1. Shelbylex, my bottom drawer (to respond to your earlier question) does not have any rollers, it fits within it's own metal box separated from the 4 upper smaller drawers. Interesting to me that they're both built differently.

2. These boxes are built like earlier SO which is to say they're heavier than hell, empty. So why no handles were added to assist the owner when dragging these around. Only y'sguy cabinet has a version of cabinet handles.

3. Your drawer handles are unique and different than mine. I'm assuming that yours has a threaded nut which allows for their removal.

4. A lock on all of your drawers is also unique.

I paid $600 for my cabinet so I can officially say "you ****" on your purchase.