Gerrstner W52 put smile on my face

[Tarnished]

Browsing through an antique mall today and spotted this Gerstner W52 with the WB62 base. It's rare to see the walnut box around here, and exceptional to find one with the matching base. Not a steal, but a fair price and couldn't get the plastic out fast enough!
Shows quite a bit of use, but should clean up pretty well. Will probably leave it pretty much as is. Could use some new felt, but will see...
I'm thinking pre 1975, due to the label, but perhaps someone can help with the date? Hope you enjoy as much as I will.

 

[drivesitfar]

Tarnished: pretty sure that you are posting the first mid Gertsner box i've ever seen. very nice find and if you have time post up a few more pictures of it over on the wood cabinet thread you've already posted some of your cool stuff on.

congrats

 

[Tarnished]

Drives, Thank. Will also post on wood cabinet thread. The middle chest (Gerstner calls it a base) doesn't show up often in my area, and never in walnut, so I was quite surprised to find both the chest AND the base together. Looks like they were purchased at the same time, as the build numbers are 410 for the chest, and 460 for the base. Too bad Gerstner didn't date them.
Perhaps we should have a thread for "Machinist Chests"? Or possibly we do, but quick search didn't find it?

 

[drivesitfar]

Tarnished: you'd think a machinist box thread would take off, but i think it's just a little too specific so maybe the wood thread you also posted your cool Gertsner on will get more of these great boxes you (and we) all like.

just curious how you personally can tell it's walnut or oak? is it because of the color of the wood or are seeing something in the grain you can tell us about because stain and garage grime can usually change any wood's color?

 

[Gasgt1]

Tarnished Nice find.
I have only run into a couple of walnut Gerstners.
Getting both is cool


drivesitfar Walnut and oak look completely different.
Walnut is a darker brown and smooth straight grained.

White oak is not as fine grained as walnut and usually lighter in color.
The oak often shows ray flecks (or stripe).

 

[Richard Cranium]

That look nice, I hope you didn't have to give up the first born for it.

 

[drivesitfar]

Gas: i should know more about wood since my Gramps was a logger and hand split cedar shakes, but i'm still learning. in the raw state i'm pretty sure oak would be a lot lighter than Walnut. yes?

with stains and dirt the grain you mention might be my best way to figure out the difference. of course EITHER Gertsner would be ok for me, because at the present i'm Gertsnerless.

 

[Tarnished]

Drives: Just takes seeing them a few times, and you will remember. Your correct, the Oak is usually lighter, but due to age & grime, it can be quite dark. Quarter sawn oak will have more of the grain "Ray" showing while the walnut will have a straighter & darker grain. Check out both in pics below.

Walnut chest on left, Oak on right

Walnut again on left, oak on right

Last pic, the oak is on the right, walnut in middle, and the left is an oak Scherr with 30yr of patina.

Not the best pics, but hopefully you can see what I'm talking about.

Here in SW Ohio, Oak is probably the most common, along with the leatherette. I see a few walnut, and less Cherry (which is to nice to use). I have never seen the mahogany in the wild. (which is a good thing for my wallet)

Also, at least as far as Generators are concerned, they are usually marked with their wood species:
Oak: O-42
Walnut: W-42
Cherry: C-42
Mahogany: M-42

Not as much guess work involved as you might think.

 

[Bighead38]

What do the slides look like?

 

[drivesitfar]

Tarnished: thanks for the 411. very good description and of course the pictures always help too.

i've owned 3 wood machinist boxes, but because i seem to like and have SOOOOOOO many steel boxes i had a client talk me out of my wood ones.

here's a Craftsman (heritage badge) made by Union, a fairly nice Gertsner with 2 missing drawers, and a pretty weathered old Gertsner. i'm guessing the ones i owned were all OAK??

BH: the drawers on Gertsners are usually slots with wood keys that slide in an out. some Gertsners have galvanized bottoms, but i'm not sure which ones or if all the drawers on those units do because i've seen Gertsners with wood bottoms too if I recall correctly

 

[beatcad]

that's a great combo ya got.
maybe the pics are to small or my eyes are bad...maybe both
looks like they're from between '82 and '96. approx of course.
one thing i havent nailed down is when they went from the black mirror frame to the bright frame.

 

[Tarnished]

Drives: Far more knowledgeable Gerstner folks on here than I, and I don't know if ALL Gerstners had metal drawer bottoms, but that is the only way I have ever seen them. But they made a LOT of variations over their 110 years.

Beat: Thanks for the date update. May I ask what was the basis for the date? I was thinking little earlier based on the badge but I may have it backwards. I know I read about the different badges, and their time frame, but I can't find where I read it now. First I had heard of the different style metal mirror frames. I believe the early chest's had wooden frames, correct? I know that the folks at Gerstner will date (approximately) a Gerstner box for a $50 fee, but knowing the exact approximate date is just not $50 important to me.

 

[beatcad]

tarnished- can ya get a closer pic of the gerstner badge.

the mirror frames were wood up to the mid 20s.
from around 1925 maybe the late 70s the frames were black metal.
and theyve been bright metal ever since.

the drawer bottoms i dont remember exactly the deal.
i think the early ones may have been all wood bottoms. not sure.
20s & 30s im sure the bottom drawer had wood bottoms and the rest of the drawers has metal bottoms. sometime in the 40s they went to all galvanized bottoms.
dont know when but maybe the 80s or 90s they went to all wood/composite bottoms.
i believe i read last year that they're goin back to galvanized bottoms on all new models.

 

[Tarnished]

Beat: Here are some closeup's of the badges.

The first one is of a O 98xl that the PO said he bought new in 98'.
The second is of the W 52 that I just picked up. Pretty much the same badge.

Here is a badge from the W 42, which I have pegged at circa 1975. Badge is significantly different.

For reference, here are the bottoms of all 3 drawers.


O92XL: Circa 1998 with Masonite drawer bottom


W 52: Age unknown Galvanized bottom's


W 42: Circa 1975 Galvanized bottoms
(Interestingly the base for this chest is circa 1967, and it has a Masonite bottom board)

Not sure if any of this is useful, as there doesn't seem to be any set rules for dating these chests. Too many years of using up what stock they had on hand before scheduled changes.
Hoping this helps.

 

[beatcad]

yeah, that badge you got was used from the 80s to the 90s.
the third pic badge was used from the mid 50s to the early 80s.

and yer right. masonite was the word i was looking for. i dont remember if they switched to that in the 80s or 90s. i'll have to check my notes on that.
the only one i have that has those bottoms is from 2013..i love that chest, but i dont really care about the new stuff

 

[drivesitfar]

Tarnished: nice pictures and good stuff

Beat: thanks for sharing your knowledge

 

[Tarnished]

the only one i have that has those bottoms is from 2013..i love that chest, but i dont really care about the new stuff

Thanks Beat, always good info. I'll file it away for next time.

Now I'm curious, you love the 2013, but not the new???
(unless your talking about the "International" line )

 

[beatcad]

my newest gerstner is a 52 made in 2013.

i love this one 'cause its so nice and the drawers are so smooth.
when i said i didnt care for the new stuff i just meant i treasure my old ones more.
i do have a few from the 40s and 50s that lookas nice and function as much as my new one.
i do have one of the GI models i got on sale. its ok for what it is, but i'd not buy another.

i think they're bringing back the national line this year. this was their economy line that was discontinued some time ago but still made in ohio.

 

[Tarnished]

Beat: I love your combo. Every time I see that pic, I think that drop front was made for that chest, it's such a good fit.
I had talked to the folks at Gerstner late last year about another restoration I was doing and they were saying that they were not happy with the quality of there International line, and intended to bring it back to Ohio. Didn't give time line, or what it would be called, but assured me that I would like the new line much better once it was introduced. So far, I have not seen anything further. Looking forward to seeing what they come up with.