Craftsman Toolbox Restomod

[Rockett69]

Jimgood, read through your resto, awesome work! I dont want to hijack the thread, but I couldn't help but notice something sorta familiar about the box. I know I've seen one like it before, but I dont own any old school boxes.. until yesterday....

Long story short, went to my parents house yesterday and stumbled across 2 craftsman boxes, buried in a mucky corner in the pole barn. I was told they were my grandpa's. .... now I remember where I saw them. I know nothing of vintage craftsman boxes, but perhaps yall can help identify them. I intend to rescue them this next week. Sorry I only got the one pic. You and the GJ family inspired me to restore those boxes. Just wanted to share with you, keep up the great work!!!

 

[jimgood]

Jimgood, read through your resto, awesome work! I dont want to hijack the thread, but I couldn't help but notice something sorta familiar about the box. I know I've seen one like it before, but I dont own any old school boxes.. until yesterday....

Long story short, went to my parents house yesterday and stumbled across 2 craftsman boxes, buried in a mucky corner in the pole barn. I was told they were my grandpa's. .... now I remember where I saw them. I know nothing of vintage craftsman boxes, but perhaps yall can help identify them. I intend to rescue them this next week. Sorry I only got the one pic. You and the GJ family inspired me to restore those boxes. Just wanted to share with you, keep up the great work!!!

Rockett, you might want to open that box and remove the contents before you pick it up. Otherwise you might be picking up the contents out of the muck when they fall through the bottom.

That box looks like one of the ones posted here as it has the poly handle: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=5617946#post5617946

 

[Rockett69]

Haha, ya, I am afraid of what the bottom of that bigger one looks like. I don't think there's anything in them, but after who knows how long, its a **** shoot... may have critters falling out the bottom instead of tools

 

[jimgood]

Ok. Gotta share the progress...warts and all. Here's the botch job I did trying to patch the holes in the bottom of the tool tray.

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[jimgood]

Let's start fresh. I only have sheet aluminum on hand so that's what I'm going to use. I know it's not good to mix metal and aluminum. But it will be good enough.

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Folding the edges first.

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[jimgood]

Now we bend the sides.

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Looks good from this perspective.

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Uh, oh! I only measured one end of the tool tray. I guess it was the small end. ****!

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[nine4gmc]

You lose dimensions on the bends. Always try a scrap piece first to work out width. Hindsight is 20/20, only reason i know is from making the same mistake.[emoji481]

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[jimgood]

You lose dimensions on the bends.[emoji481]

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Yes, but not THAT much. One end was 3/4" too narrow. You're right though. I should have tried a piece of scrap to see.

What I also didn't do was double check the distance between my bend marks. That would just be typical. I'm really trying to develop the habit of measuring twice but...

I'll check it later this morning to see if both ends of the new piece are the same. I'm pretty sure I compared the two old end pieces a while back and found them to be identical but I'll check again.

Edit: Yep. Marked the bend lines wrong on one end. 1/8" off.

 

[jimgood]

I think I have all of 2 hours into this tool tray so far and it's coming out pretty good; maybe a C+. I'm still getting a feel for my air hammer. I think the one I have is not really good for riveting. Stroke is too long.

The original handle fits this new tray but I don't like it that much so I think I'm going to get a piece of 1" aluminum tubing and make a new one.

I used the same design for the end pieces as the old ones but I used measurements off the new tray, since it's a wee bit narrower on one end. So I drew the pattern a new sheet for the tabs and bends then used one of the old pieces to trace the top where it arches.

As for the bends, I did the long bottom one on the brake and did the shorter bends for the sides using a hammer and dolly.

Here's what's left of the old one next to the new one.

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These rivets came out okay. A little smiley face.

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Here's another smiley face and one that really got away from me. Got a case o' the yips on that one.

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[OxJaw]

Try using a piece of copper as a backing plate next time you have holes to weld up. The weld won't stick to the copper and the copper will help to keep from blowing a hole or making the hole larger.

 

[davidhansen]

Try using a piece of copper as a backing plate next time you have holes to weld up. The weld won't stick to the copper and the copper will help to keep from blowing a hole or making the hole larger.

That is a really good idea!

 

[G_P]

Try using a piece of copper as a backing plate next time you have holes to weld up. The weld won't stick to the copper and the copper will help to keep from blowing a hole or making the hole larger.

A man twice my age taught me that trick and gave me a small piece of 3/8" thick copper plate. It works great.

 

[no704]

I'm new here, but quite the project to restore a tool box. I use al blocks instead of copper for filling holes. Looks like a media blaster would come in handy for a lot of that cleaning.

 

[jimgood]

Try using a piece of copper as a backing plate next time you have holes to weld up. The weld won't stick to the copper and the copper will help to keep from blowing a hole or making the hole larger.

That is a really good idea!

A man twice my age taught me that trick and gave me a small piece of 3/8" thick copper plate. It works great.

I'm new here, but quite the project to restore a tool box. I use al blocks instead of copper for filling holes. Looks like a media blaster would come in handy for a lot of that cleaning.

Actually, I did use a copper backer: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=323799&p=5644269

Success was mixed but the really botched tool tray I now realize may be due to the fact that I did not make any adjustments to the welder settings. That piece is about half the thickness of the full 20 gauge pieces I started plugging holes in.

 

[Divcod]

During dis-assembly of the tool box did you use a spot weld cutter? While not 100% effective they do minimize the number of through holes. Also we use a cut off wheel and grind out spots welds which turn a blue color when ground down. Limiting the amount of welding required is a good thing when working on lighter gauge materials. Good luck looking forward to seeing the final product.

I have several similar tool boxes which have been given to me by family members over the years. Generally used to hold specialty tools.

 

[jimgood]

During dis-assembly of the tool box did you use a spot weld cutter? While not 100% effective they do minimize the number of through holes. Also we use a cut off wheel and grind out spots welds which turn a blue color when ground down. Limiting the amount of welding required is a good thing when working on lighter gauge materials. Good luck looking forward to seeing the final product.

I have several similar tool boxes which have been given to me by family members over the years. Generally used to hold specialty tools.

No. I thought about using a spot weld cutter but didn't want to spend the money on a tool at the time. I didn't do to bad in that respect. I only drilled through a couple of times and I could live with the divots that were left on the lower pieces.

I have to say, with this project, I've been bitten by the bug to make more custom stuff. I have no idea how, given my time and space limitations, but it's sure fun to think about it. But I figure I can learn by making mistakes on things I build for myself and maybe I'll develop my skills enough to make stuff I can sell.

 

[burnedonice]

How's the progress going?


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[vintagespeed1956]

...Success was mixed but the really botched tool tray I now realize may be due to the fact that I did not make any adjustments to the welder settings....

i dont see that original tray as "botched". clean up the spot welds carefully, dont remove any more metal from the tray, then spot it again to fill the new holes.

sometimes it just takes a few tries to get them solid. but it's not botched or beyond repair. you'll be good at filling holes by the time you get done with this project.

edit: you need the practice anyway for all those spot welds you gotta weld back together.

 

[jimgood]

How's the progress going?


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i dont see that original tray as "botched". clean up the spot welds carefully, dont remove any more metal from the tray, then spot it again to fill the new holes.

sometimes it just takes a few tries to get them solid. but it's not botched or beyond repair. you'll be good at filling holes by the time you get done with this project.

edit: you need the practice anyway for all those spot welds you gotta weld back together.

Thanks for checking in and commenting.

I've had a lot on my plate for the last few weeks. I finally just decided to get this thing back together and move on. It's as good as it's going to get.

I have one thing left to do and that's to finish the handle for the tool tray. I went around and around on what to do with it. I finally decided on using a piece of aluminum round tube. I ordered a piece of 3/4" 6061 with an ID of .634". I'm going to use concrete anchors (5/8") inside each end. So the tube will fit between sides of the tray, bolts will go through the sides into the anchors and, when tightened will expand the anchors into the tubes.

I would weld the tubes to the sides but I'm not set up for welding aluminum.

So here it is; warts and all.

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[jimgood]

Threw together a before and after pic. I think it looks better but beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I can say one thing for sure...it doesn't smell like it did before! It used to smell like a cross between axle grease and BO. Now, nothing.

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[WoodsTruck]

Clear coat it now!!

 

[jimgood]

Clear coat it now!!

I coated it with Boeshield T-9. I run a dehumidifier in my shop so rust is not much of an issue any more. If I ever move to a bigger shop, I may have to do that.

 

[jimgood]

Ok. Final pictures. I promise.

I got the right size tube for the handle for the tray. Its inside diameter is .634" which is just barely bigger than my 5/8" concrete anchors (.625"). A snug fit would have been ideal but this worked really well. I just had to be careful not to push the anchors deeper into the tube ends when trying to thread the screws. If you've never seen or used these anchors before, you insert them into a 5/8" hole threaded end first. Then they expand as you tighten the screw.

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Riveting tools in their new home.

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Done.

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[RickP]

Looks great!
I've been following along since you started working on it and your progress on it is impressive. And I really like the new tool tray you made - that was a great solution.

 

[jimgood]

Looks great!
I've been following along since you started working on it and your progress on it is impressive. And I really like the new tool tray you made - that was a great solution.

Well, thanks. I wish I'd had more patience with the rust removal, grinding and polishing. But having the imperfections gives it some personality.

 

[bonneyman]

Nice job!

 

[ckadams00]

Wow great finished box, and thanks for sharing all the steps you took!

 

[nine4gmc]

That came out well!

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[jimgood]

Nice job!

Wow great finished box, and thanks for sharing all the steps you took!

If nothing else, people can learn from my mistakes.

That came out well!

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Thanks, all, for following along.

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.

Twisting! Damn. That would have the been the smart way rather than prying it off the way I did! I was just reading through this thread again and I realized I missed this small detail the first time I read it. I didn't even think to try that. Good tip. Should be common sense but...

 

[KMinAF]

Awesome idea using the concrete anchors in the handle tube. I'll have to make sure too remember that one.

 

[jimgood]

Awesome idea using the concrete anchors in the handle tube. I'll have to make sure too remember that one.

Thanks. A very, very rare stroke of genius.