Craftsman Toolbox Restomod

[jimgood]

I inherited a Craftsman toolbox from my father and I'm pretty sure he inherited it from his father. I'm guessing this thing was made in the 40's or 50's. It came with an assortment of sockets, a 3/4" drive ratchet and some other odds and ends, none of which I need. Everything was pretty filthy. It looks to have been repainted at some point with the original mint green hammer finish paint covered with some half-assed green paint.

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I'm going to restore it, modify it and put it to use for my riveting tools as my current box is tiny and the tools and rivets don't fit in it any more. The modifications will really just be using copper rivets instead of spot welds. I'm going for that bare metal and copper look.

I'm doing it the hard way since the rust is really bad and I can't wrap my head around how to remove it from deep in the corners and in the seams. I'm not fond of using chemicals though I did try some spray stuff I got at Tractor Supply. It's acid based and turns the rust to zinc oxide (?). Whatever. Did I mention I don't like chemicals? It did this but that's as far as I got.

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I started disassembly by drilling out the riveted hardware. Some of the rivets were 1/8", like these and others were 3/16". The handle was relatively easy to clean up with a wire wheel.

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The latches are going to require some work to get them cleaned up. They hinge on a rivet but I'm not sure I want to risk taking them apart. The rivet looks specialized.

The placard is very thin stamped aluminum. I'm hoping I can just remove the paint with acetone.

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I could tell that there was still a lot of gunk and rust in the seams where parts are spot welded together. So, I decided that if they could assemble it with spot welds, I could disassemble it by drilling them out. Finding them is the tricky part.

Sometimes I could see them through the paint. Sometimes a little wire brushing would reveal them. I could also guess their approximate location by how tight the seam was. There's usually a slight gap between the welds so the seam will be tight at the welds. Even then, there were a couple of places where the only thing I had to go on was a slight anomaly. Once I found them, I circled them then went back and center punched them. I drilled them out with a standard 3/16" HSS bit.

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This was removed from the back side of the above. It's the rest for the tool tray. It was spot welded on the side and at the front and back of the box. This shows just how much gunk and rust was in the seams.

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I did the same with the tool tray. The handle is just bent sheet metal with 2 tabs on each end. Each tab had one spot weld.

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The socket divider was a ***** but I found that, if I wiggled it back and forth, I could see where it would and wouldn't move. Where it didn't move was the approximate location of the welds. Once I figured out the approximate location, I flipped it over and wire brushed the area to find the spot weld.

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That's all for now. The main box is still intact, other than the tool tray rests and the hardware. But it's going to get the same treatment, though I haven't decided if I'm going to detach the lid from the box yet. I'm a little leery of messing up the alignment of the hinge but it will depend on how frustrated I get trying to clean up the box. Who knows, I may end up trashing the whole thing if I bungle it up too bad.

 

[flyingblind]

Cool I did a rehab on a Parker tool box a few years back. Well worth it

 

[jimgood]

The bottom welds were super hard to find. I missed a couple and just went after the flange with a chisel. So, I'll have some patching to do. This should be good experience.

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At least now there aren't any more crevices for the rust to hide except for in the lid. Haven't decided on that yet. But I can get power tools in here to remove rust and smooth out surfaces. I hope.

 

[AZ Pete]

Subscribed

 

[DemoFly]

Nice. I have a similar box like this.

 

[8man]

That is a lot of work. I bet it'll be a beauty!

 

[bonneyman]

Two C-man boxes I did came out surprisingly well, but weren't as bad as yours and not as old. Looking forward to seeing how yours comes out.

 

[jimgood]

bonneyman, those look great. Apart from the placard, the one on the right is very similar to mine. Are the handles plastic or painted metal?

 

[stanleyrleonard]

Subscribed--looking forward to the completion--Stan

 

[PelicanPines]

I'm in...

 

[jimgood]

Oh, boy. Subscribers! I hope I don't disappoint you guys! I'm just feeling my way through this.

 

[DemoFly]

Oh, boy. Subscribers! I hope I don't disappoint you guys! I'm just feeling my way through this.

If anything, we'll motivate you just like you're motivating us.

Get a move on! Haha

 

[jimgood]

Thanks. I'll try but it's spring now so between full time job and mowing, progress may be a tad slow.

Yesterday I did break out a sander and worked on the bottom of the box. It has the worst rust. I've got it down to bare metal over most of it with a few stubborn spots where it's pitted. I'm not sure I want to work it down much more as it could get too thin.

It's kind of funny to me that I keep working on projects that will store some of the tools that I use to work on the very projects I'm working on.

 

[softailgarage]

Man, I've restored many boxes, from small to Taco carts and never got into it like this. Popping welds and drilling out rivits (rivits yes, but not to unfold a box) is intense. I'll be following as well.

 

[jimgood]

Man, I've restored many boxes, from small to Taco carts and never got into it like this. Popping welds and drilling out rivits (rivits yes, but not to unfold a box) is intense. I'll be following as well.

I probably just don't know how to do it the right way. I'm known for executing $25 solutions to 25 cent problems.

After several applications of Naval Jelly, I wasn't making much progress on the bottom of the box. That's where the heaviest rust is. So today I took to the power tools; using the angle grinder with a fiber disk and then a wire wheel in the stamped grooves and corners. The bottom still needs some work.

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Looks like Waterloo made the tool box for Craftsman. I looked at the company's history on their website (they are still in business making tool boxes). It's not clear from the summary on that page but it looks like they started making toolboxes in the late 50s. So this box is from the 50s or maybe early 60s.

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[jimgood]

I decided to try my hand at doing a "patch panel". If you read my earlier posts, you may have noticed that I had to tear out the edge of the bottom because I missed the spot weld I was trying to drill out. So it looked like this...

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I went after it with the angle grinder and cut the area so it was a nice rectangle, about 3/4" x 1/2". Then I cut a piece of sheet out of an old sunroof I had which is the same gauge (or close to it). I filed it to fit perfectly into the cut out on the bottom of the tool box. I used a magnet behind a piece of 1/8" copper to hold it in place then tack welded it in position. The initial tack welds went perfectly. But when I got to the edges it all went to hell in a handbasket! I blew through and the edge was shrinking away from the weld pool.

So I got creative. I built the weld up away from the edge using overlapping tack welds, then slowly advanced it toward the edge. I focused the weld on the built up area and allowed only the very edge of the weld pool to touch the edge. It's ugly and it's going to require a bit of grinding and filing. But it's solid and I don't see any significant distortion.

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The little tiny notches that are left at the edges are going to remain. I don't want to risk trying to fill them in. It's not worth the risk.

 

[nine4gmc]

In for this one!

 

[Zeeman]

Oh yeah, that's a lot of work. It's going to look great.

 

[brucew]

I'm in also

 

[FJ 432]

Cool project.

I'm currently completing a Snap On k21w carry box in brushed metal. Curious to see the copper rivet look.

 

[bonneyman]

bonneyman, those look great. Apart from the placard, the one on the right is very similar to mine. Are the handles plastic or painted metal?

The handles on both are plastic-coated steel. The blue one belongs to my apprentice, the silver one is an oldie I restored for personal use.

 

[jimgood]

I'm currently completing a Snap On k21w carry box in brushed metal.

Got pics?

Curious to see the copper rivet look.

Me too!

Given the amount of rust, I may have to give up on the bare steel look. I might try for a two-tone look, with the top half bare metal and the bottom painted. I have a way to go before I decide but the rivets are definitely happening regardless.

 

[jimgood]

This is another corner I patched. I should have cut it out and tacked in a new piece like the other one above. The hole was jagged and about 3/8" long by about 3/16" wide at its widest point. I was trying too hard to get metal in there and the existing metal kept shrinking away from the welds. I think I did a little more grinding after this pic so it actually looks better now but still missing a couple of notches. Good enough.

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Compare that to the previous corner where I replaced it with a patch. A good deal better I think.

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These holes were 3/16" so they came out a little better.

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Here's the back side of one of those two above.

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[jimgood]

I know this is a little tedious but I thought I'd show my process on one of the 3/16" holes. I screwed up on this one because I did not have the copper backer flush against the metal. It took nine individual spot welds to fill it completely. On subsequent attempts on similar holes, I was able to get it down to four welds. I'm sure if I knew what I was doing, it might be possible to do this with one weld. Regardless, the key for me to improving from nine down to four was ensuring the copper was flush and keeping the trigger pulled for no longer than about a quarter of a second for each tack.

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Back side:

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[jimgood]

Here's one of the holes I did in four welds. Looks like three but the first one is kind of hidden.

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Back side:

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After grinding.

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[hemifalcon]

just as a point of comment.. Some people wanting to get into metal working and body work on cars should start small with something like this.. Much more manageable when it comes to dealing with frustrations and in reality--much less of a hazard if someone gives up on said "project".. Looks like she's gonna be pretty when its done!!

 

[FJ 432]

Got pics?

I did this for my nephew.

 

[NUTTSGT]

You're doing great Jim, nice work.

This is a awesome thread. I just passed along two boxes that I acquired from the hoarder house to 2 young lads during a swap meet this past weekend. Those boxes needed some work like yours does.

 

[jimgood]

FJ, that's a beautiful box. That's the look I'm going for. Remains to be seen if I have the patience to get there.

NUTTS, thanks. I hope the young lads enjoy them.

I have one spot weld that oil-canned a little in the bottom. I'm going to try heat shrinking the area to see if I can pull it down. It's not too bad but I think it might cause problems when I go to attach the sides again.

The main shell is almost done; a few spots of paint and some small dents to bang out. But it's getting there. I still have a lot of paint and rust removal to do on the sides and tool tray.

 

[jimgood]

Got a little more work done on the toolbox today. Used some paint stripper to remove some of the paint in hard to get to places. I also used it on the badge, which came out pretty good. The rest of the box (apart from the underside of the lid) I used an abrasive pad on the angle grinder and got 99% of the rust and paint off. There are corners that I can't get to and I'm not sure how I'm going to clean them up. I almost bought a needle scaler today but it said that it was for one particular model of IR air hammer so I wasn't sure it would fit mine. But I don't think that would even get all the way into the corners.

Main box, box sides, tool tray, tool tray sides and badge.

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Here's what the badge looked like before:

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And now. I just rubbed paint stripper over it and worked it in with my fingers until the green was gone (I was wearing Nitrile gloves).

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[taumac]

Great work! I don't like Ive ever seen a box taken down this far.

I have a question for the group following. Would E tanking the whole box be easier in removing rust and paint other than stripping and sanding? I know we do it for our vises but would it work for a toolbox? I ask because he is going for bare metal look.

 

[jimgood]

Great work! I don't like Ive ever seen a box taken down this far.

And you probably never will again!

I have a question for the group following. Would E tanking the whole box be easier in removing rust and paint other than stripping and sanding? I know we do it for our vises but would it work for a toolbox? I ask because he is going for bare metal look.

I'm sure there are better processes. One thing I have not really shown is that in some areas the rust was very thick and had a lot of grease embedded in it. Leads me to believe that simply sitting in a solution, no matter how caustic, would not have gotten down to the bare metal in those places. When I used Naval Jelly on it for a couple of hours, I would come back and scrape a thick layer of sludge off and there would be fresh rust under it.

The big risk with using the angle grinder is that it heats up the metal and causes distortion. So far, it's been minimal and this isn't a car body. I can live with it.

 

[crab]

It's going to be nice.

 

[countryroad82]

You're doing far more than I would! Looking great! For filling the holes using a copper backer, it's like plug welding. Start in the middle of the hole, in the case of using the copper backer you're starting on the copper. Then as you strike an arc, work your way in a circle. It should, in most cases, fill in the hole in one strike. Keep us posted!

 

[jimgood]

You're doing far more than I would! Looking great! For filling the holes using a copper backer, it's like plug welding. Start in the middle of the hole, in the case of using the copper backer you're starting on the copper. Then as you strike an arc, work your way in a circle. It should, in most cases, fill in the hole in one strike. Keep us posted!

Thanks! I'll give that a try. I have about 25 holes to fill so I'll get plenty of practice. Having the copper tight against the hole makes a big difference too.

 

[jimgood]

I finally found something to get at the rust in the corners. It's still tedious but these little bits for my die grinder seem to work pretty well; especially the one in the foreground. I wasted a bunch of time trying emery cloth by hand (fingertip more specifically). That was slow going. Then I tried one of those drum sanding discs on the die grinder. That was marginally better but they don't last long. I'm not sure what these bits are (either carbide or diamond) but this worked much better. Had to wear a dust mask as it was puffing fine dust all over the place.

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It's still not ideal as it vibrates a lot and leaves a very rough surface. I still have some traces of rust to contend with but nowhere near as bad as it was (forgot to take before pics but it was thick).

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[jimgood]

Did about as much rust removal as I can stand. The little diamond bit worked pretty well but it still took about two hours to finish up four corners and all of the flanges.

Started filling the rest of the holes. After a few holes, my copper backer started sticking to the welds. I had to chisel it off one of them. I finally hit it with some 320, 400, 600, 800 and 1000 grit sand paper and that seemed to help. I had to do this three times.

Here's the top side (opposite the copper) of some welds. I still had to use two welds as the hole would run away from the first weld a little, leaving a tiny pin hole remaining. I did finally measure this metal and it's 20 ga.

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Here's the copper side. You can see a dot of copper in the middle where it stuck. Except for a couple welds near the edges of some pieces, they all came out pretty much like this.

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[rickhigginshtbr]

subscribed! Awesome work man!

 

[countryroad82]

That worked out well! I forgot to mention the copper will sometimes stick, keep it cleaned off and it will not stick as bad. I normally don't worry much but I'm working with a little thicker gauge metal, a simple twist and it pops off most of the time.

 

[jimgood]

Thanks, guys.

The one time I had to chisel off the copper backer was on a hole next to the edge of a flange. I had to keep building the weld out toward the edge and probably got it too hot. I did find that after a couple of holes, it seemed to help if I cooled off the copper in water before using it again; also cleaning it periodically to keep it shiny.

After the success above, I totally ruined the tool tray. The holes were just too big and I was being impatient. I'll get a pic of it later. The tray had 3/16" holes on a diagonal line down the middle. I made a mess of it. I should have tried to make some plugs but I couldn't think of any way to do it. Anything probably would have been better than nothing; even a tiny square. Ah, well. Live and learn.

Thankfully, it's the simplest piece on the whole box so I'm going to just make a new one.