Dayton tool chest - how rare?

[Shelbylex]

I am currently trying to clean a Snap On 56.

However, when I was looking for it I came across this tool chest. I have no information: the owner can not make good pictures due to camera issues, information is very limited and this is located 2.5h away from me... Per description it has no dents, repainted by owner (the quality unclear as you can see by the resolution of the picture). There is one rust spot but it is not big. Lock is missing, but could be recovered.

How common are those boxes? What would you pay for it?

If it was close, I would have driven already. The box looks interesting.
Otherwise, am still thinking...

Please see the image attached.

P.S. Random questions: does anybody live near Old Lyme CT? Is anybody planning to travel from this direction to Boston?

 

[thehorse13]

My old man has the complete Dayton stack, including that same top box. They are well made and look nice. I don't see Daytons very often. They are as scarce around here.

I would pay $35-$40 for that top box.

 

[Shelbylex]

Thank you. They person wants more than twice that price...

 

[Oldtuleguy]

The condition appears good. Maybe offer 60$. Looks like a nice box. Probably better quality than many newer boxes.

 

[Tynee]

Depends on what other boxes are available in your area. I believe that box is avaialable with other brands on the nameplate. They are well built boxes, and it would likely serve you well. 2.5 hours is farther than I’d drive for it, unless it was free.

 

[thehorse13]

Around here, 80 bucks gets you into vintage Snap-On top box territory. Sometimes people start high when they have no idea what something is worth. Keep an eye on it and eventually reality will set in. The price should then drop.

Of course the wild card you have to always consider is that there is someone out there who is willing to overpay and/or wants it more than you.

$40 is the most I'd go for that top box and I surely wouldn't drive 2.5 hours out of my way even at 40 bucks.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Ya 2.5 hours is far.

 

[Shelbylex]

Thank you for input. I guess it's a new hobby kicking in - you want everything : )

This summer I will also start attending yard sales and possibly swaps (need to figure out where they are in MA) - I want to slowly start building a tool collection. I have regular tools - Husky, Duralast, no brands. Reading this board I realized that I can slowly build the collection by finding deals on tools, keeping some and reselling the rest to offset the purchase cost (yes, I know, this would take a while. However, it's like fishing and makes one learn about tools, prices,+ satisfies some hunter-gatherer instincts). I recently saw couple of good deals on Craigslist on Snap Ons, but somebody beat me to them
My only Snap On tool is a small screwdriver which I got for free years ago (mechanics working on my old car left it in the engine. I guess I got lucky it did not slip into the mechanism...). Recently I figured out what it is and after some extensive work with alcohol managed to clean it up...

 

[thehorse13]

The chase is half the fun until you lose something you really want. lol I'm still not over that Blackhawk Master Machanic roller that went for 80 bucks a few weeks ago.

Here is a picture for reference.

 

[Shelbylex]

True, here is just hard to say how much I want it without seeing it well. If it was in perfect condition, may be I could have bitten the bullet and driven. Well, I assume they made more than one.
There are some boxes/chests which I let go due to condition, would like to get but do not see. There was a 6 draw MAC chest box in RI, but it had a significant dent on one of the draws which rusted out. I could not find a replacement (even called MAC). Well, it went. If I see another one, will probably go for it...
Too many toys, not enough money, time or space...

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Yes, sometimes patience is neccessary. Eventually the stuff you are looking for turns up.

 

[6PTsocket]

I have the top and bottom chests in very good condition. I am the original owner. It was made by Waterloo. Side by side with my red and gray Craftsman, they are very similar. The handles vs the CM top lip is different but the drawers are otherwise the same and are interchangable. On the bottom cabinet the side panels are reversed.. They both have a box frame covered by sheet metal. On the Dayton, the sheet metal faces out so the drawer rails span the empty space between the front and rear box sections. The side handle, on the outside sticks out beyond the cabinet. The CM just puts a bar handle between the box sections. and the draw slides are mounted on the sheet metal.This allows the CM to fit in a little narrower space. It is obvious that they are made from basically the same parts. The shade of red Is not quite the same as the CM red, used in the red and gray. Dayton is the WW Grainger house brand but their stuff was often for sale from other sources. I don't remember who I bought it from. Variations of those cabinets were made with a lot of different brand names on them.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[Shelbylex]

thehourse13 or 6PTsocket (or both), please post the images of both upper and lower parts. It would be very interesting to see - I could not find one on the internet for some reason.
Thank you

 

[thehorse13]

I will take a picture of the stack when I go visit my parents.

 

[larryq]

That box looks like a Waterloo for sure. I have a top and bottom set from 1982, very solid units. If it were close to me, $75 wouldn't be out of the question by any means, as it looks nice from the (admittedly small) picture. But 2.5 hours away? Whew, that's a long drive just to see.

If you can find out what year it is, all the better. After the early 1980s Waterloo started cutting corners on them-- I had a 1987 Waterloo that used push-in tabs on the drawer slides, so you had to use a screwdriver to bend them before you could remove the drawers, then had to bend them back out to lock the slides in. The older slides had the classic tangs you could easily lift with a screwdriver to put the drawers in and out.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

I only have one waterloo, not sure how old.

 

[driftpin]

I was helping a friend's widow get plumbing repairs accomplished, and when they were done, she took me out to the shed, and inside was a stack, a Craftsman bottom and a Dayton top. "Can you use any of this?" she asked. Realistically, I don't need either, but some of the tools I would accept. The Dayton looks like this Matco top-box in its layout. Smaller drawers on either side above, one deep-drawer separating them, and several drawers, full-width below. Looks-like original paint, no rust perforations, it's in dry storage. The Craftsman bottom box is in good shape too, other-than being dirty/dusty. He put himself through college doing body-work, so he had air tools and body-hammers, spoons, etc.

I told her, I'd stop-by one day, and go through the toolboxes, getting rid of the bits and pieces, and organizing the tools. I said I'd make her up a box for around the house use, and help her liquidate the tools and the boxes. She worked as a machine shop equipment operator after she was in college, before she went into agricultural research for the U of Florida, from-which she's retired. There's no 'mother-lode' of Snap-On or Proto, but most of the hand tools are name-brand.

 

[bmwrd0]

With that drawer layout, I would put it way above any Snap-on 26" box, and be willing to spend more. I have a RemLine with a similar layout and number of drawers, the only thing I miss is the deep drawer, which I like for my Fluke.

Would I drive two and a half hours for it? Depends on if I can make something else out of the drive; is there a used tool shop or junk shop on the way, is it a backroad or an interstate, and so on. It is all relative.

 

[1982fxr]

I was helping a friend's widow get plumbing repairs accomplished, and when they were done, she took me out to the shed, and inside was a stack, a Craftsman bottom and a Dayton top. "Can you use any of this?" she asked. Realistically, I don't need either, but some of the tools I would accept. The Dayton looks like this Matco top-box in its layout. Smaller drawers on either side above, one deep-drawer separating them, and several drawers, full-width below. Looks-like original paint, no rust perforations, it's in dry storage. The Craftsman bottom box is in good shape too, other-than being dirty/dusty. He put himself through college doing body-work, so he had air tools and body-hammers, spoons, etc.

I told her, I'd stop-by one day, and go through the toolboxes, getting rid of the bits and pieces, and organizing the tools. I said I'd make her up a box for around the house use, and help her liquidate the tools and the boxes. She worked as a machine shop equipment operator after she was in college, before she went into agricultural research for the U of Florida, from-which she's retired. There's no 'mother-lode' of Snap-On or Proto, but most of the hand tools are name-brand.

So going off my SK box thread recently, that's a Remline right?

And the Dayton in the OP looks Waterloo to me...?

 

[driftpin]

So going off my SK box thread recently, that's a Remline right? And the Dayton in the OP looks Waterloo to me...?

Yes, I believe the widow's Dayton box is just-like this one, the second from the top, on the left. Pretty-sure it had a carry-tray.

The Dayton metal badge I believe was on the right, but I may-be wrong.

 

[406Rich]

here is a pic I saved from years back, its in the vintage toolbox thread, its a Dayton badged waterloo/kennedy we believe.

 

[Provincial]

I see the middle and upper boxes have the dimples on each side of the lock. That is generally understood to not be Kennedy.