how to remove snap on friction drawers?
- Thread starter Piper
- Start date
chrislehr
Well-known member
Yea, you guys are gonna love my man *****
I think the problem you might have been having with the hacksaw blade was the width. I cut mine in half length-wise then cleaned it up on a grinder and it worked much easier.
chrislehr
Well-known member
maybe - i ground it down quite a bit to make it less wide... but I think the thickness difference made inserting them a LOT easier.
I would use a metal etching primer on it first, and then top coat with a inexpensive red enamel paint. I wouldn't spend what Snap-On wants for paint. I will assume that you don't have much in the way of painting experiance, so buying the Snap-On paint in quart cans and spraying it with a paint gun is out of the question. Don't get discouraged, in the end, it will look fine. It is a tool box, not a collector car.
If you think the $14 spay cans are pricey, you should see the cost of getting paint in a quart. First of all, S-O does not sell quarts anymore, but you can take the S-O paint code to any well stocked bodyshop supply vendor. The reason I say well-stocked, is that the S-O Red includes a tone of orange that standard PPG paint systems don't stock; an expanded selection of colors is necessary to mix this paint. By the time you are done buying the paint, activator, and reducer, a quart of Snap-on Red is going to cost you well over $150, assuming you choose PPG's best paint quality. I did this very recently, and while a bit costly, the color match was 100% perfect. I got the paint codes off this site, but when the bodyshop supply store entered the number in their PPG computer, it came up labeled Snap-on Red.
Lookin4'67Galaxieconv
Well-known member
I've got a hacksaw blade that's been modified, and a smaller piece of metal I just picked up from somewhere. When I took the drawers out of my Snap on KR537 box, I used the smaller piece to do the small drawers and the hacksaw blade for the bigger ones.
fotoflojoe
Well-known member
An old go/no go gauge works for me.
Vinko
Well-known member
I got this 557/537 bottom box with top chest:
Most of the friction slides aren't working correctly. Or at least it takes a great deal of force to pull out all the drawers on the box, and most on the top chest.
When I pull out the drawers, many of the slides either slide all the way with the drawer, don't slide at all, or don't slide very easily (takes a lot of force to pull them and they don't glide out "smooth".
or the drawer slides out while the slides slide all the way off the rails:
or don't slide at all.
I'm going to take all the drawers out and remove the slides, soak them in solvent, and then grease them up.
Also the box was re-painted and I wonder if the the paint was put on too thick on the sheet metal "track" that's formed as part of the drawer itself. I'm going to try a wire wheel. Maybe this track is bent and it's not the friction slides themselves.
From my very limited experience w/SO boxes with friction slides, the top channel of a two channel friction slide is supposed to slide half-way out when the drawer is pulled all the way out? That's the way my KRA-59A works, and it appears to work flawlessly.
Anyway, almost every single slide isn't working on this box, and my understanding is that almost all of them are relatively new. So maybe it was the paint job.
Most of the friction slides aren't working correctly. Or at least it takes a great deal of force to pull out all the drawers on the box, and most on the top chest.
When I pull out the drawers, many of the slides either slide all the way with the drawer, don't slide at all, or don't slide very easily (takes a lot of force to pull them and they don't glide out "smooth".
or the drawer slides out while the slides slide all the way off the rails:
or don't slide at all.
I'm going to take all the drawers out and remove the slides, soak them in solvent, and then grease them up.
Also the box was re-painted and I wonder if the the paint was put on too thick on the sheet metal "track" that's formed as part of the drawer itself. I'm going to try a wire wheel. Maybe this track is bent and it's not the friction slides themselves.
From my very limited experience w/SO boxes with friction slides, the top channel of a two channel friction slide is supposed to slide half-way out when the drawer is pulled all the way out? That's the way my KRA-59A works, and it appears to work flawlessly.
Anyway, almost every single slide isn't working on this box, and my understanding is that almost all of them are relatively new. So maybe it was the paint job.
supertooljunkie
Well-known member
I made a tool out of a piece of brass shim stock. Works like a champ.
A buddy of mine did scratch and dent repairs for many of the car dealers in my area. He said Massey Ferguson red was a very close match to SO red. That is the color I painted my boxes.
A buddy of mine did scratch and dent repairs for many of the car dealers in my area. He said Massey Ferguson red was a very close match to SO red. That is the color I painted my boxes.
Vinko
Well-known member
Took off the slides. Some were filled with bondo dust
Also some of the slides weren't the right size for the drawer or the cabinet or both.
Got a bit of a cleaning job ahead of me.
When you buy a friction slide new, does it come with only the one piece, or can you order the piece (the channel) that is spot welded to the drawer as well?
Thanks
Also some of the slides weren't the right size for the drawer or the cabinet or both.Got a bit of a cleaning job ahead of me.
When you buy a friction slide new, does it come with only the one piece, or can you order the piece (the channel) that is spot welded to the drawer as well?
Thanks
Sig
Active member
Vid helped a ton. I didn't even use tin or a hacksaw blade, had some old windshield wipers that I disassmebed and used the metal strip out of them. Double win because I found more behind the bOTtom drawer. win.
tzj
Lookin4'67Galaxieconv
Well-known member
I'm sure you resolved this by now, but I've never head of being able to buy the piece spot welded to the drawer?
btw, nice boxes...I missed this way back when you posted it.
Bart Simpson
Well-known member
mrshaun (who is a Snap On dealer) has this info in his signature.
" Old style track drawer removal tool 52683 ( remover)
thin little piece of metal used to release the latches on older snap on boxes."
Nothing comes up on the website with that part # so you may need to contact customer service or a dealer .
You should be able to fashion a useable tool with any type of thin metal . ( feeler gauge,hack saw blade,metal banding,sheet metal,etc. )
Vinko
Well-known member
I'm sure you resolved this by now, but I've never head of being able to buy the piece spot welded to the drawer?
btw, nice boxes...I missed this way back when you posted it.
I think I piggy backed on to your original post [Rick Mears was it?] with this box.
As to your question, false channels (the other part of the slide that's spot welded) are available direct from SO for the 557. Haven't tried for the 537 yet. 557 had several different configurations depending upon the sub-model (A-H or whatever it was).
I have to take the whole box apart though. I'm going to sand blast and powdercoat it original SO red.
I'd love to get the new chrome trim that went on the corners of the 537 but don't know if it's available.
Vinko
Well-known member
Thanks for the info. I called the Snap On customer service and ordered two pairs of those (The part number should be 52638; not the 52683. You were close
). The tools were back-order though, not sure when they will arrive. Hopefully soon, otherwise I am going to grind the hack saw blade...mrshaun
Well-known member
yeah I put it in backwards when i posted it to my sig line.....
Nebraska03
Well-known member
I recently purchased a KRA-59C. I used a couple pieces of brazing rod, and pushed inward down the center of the tracks on each side of the each drawer, and when i pulled the rods back out, the drawers would release and easily slide out of the tracks.
allenroyal
New member
- Joined
- Jul 16, 2011
- Messages
- 1
We just finished using 3/32 Allen wrenches and they worked beautifully. It takes a little patience, but the drawers come out smoothly.
The bottom drawers that do not have the spring loaded clips, are another issue.
The bottom drawers that do not have the spring loaded clips, are another issue.
On Snap On drawer removal....Last year I had a bottom drawer where a tool had fallen behind and I could not get it out. I tried the feeler gages and hack saw blade with teeth ground off. Neither worked for me. I tried over and over again. I ended up bending the back in and fishing the tool out then hammering the back on the drawer back in place.
Now, I just had a top middle drawer sticking where I keep my pliers. Again I try as I had done before. It did not work again. The next day I then decided to grind more off the blades and make them narrower. WALLA...out in a flash.
Seems the feeler gages were .500 wide and the hack saw with the teeth ground off were .440. The rail on the tool box is approximately .400 so the blade of the tools needs to be .400 on a little less to do the job. Took me a long time to figure this out.
Hope this helps others out. Ray
Now, I just had a top middle drawer sticking where I keep my pliers. Again I try as I had done before. It did not work again. The next day I then decided to grind more off the blades and make them narrower. WALLA...out in a flash.
Seems the feeler gages were .500 wide and the hack saw with the teeth ground off were .440. The rail on the tool box is approximately .400 so the blade of the tools needs to be .400 on a little less to do the job. Took me a long time to figure this out.
Hope this helps others out. Ray
SweetD
Well-known member
Just want to bump this thread up for a quick thanks to those that posted on it - I read it at work after being frustrated with not being able to get the slides off my SO chest.
Applied the techniques mentioned here and it was a Snap (pun intended) - so thanks!
I will post pics of my resto as I go in another thread.
Dave
Applied the techniques mentioned here and it was a Snap (pun intended) - so thanks!
I will post pics of my resto as I go in another thread.
Dave
dmcomputerguy
New member
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2013
- Messages
- 1
I have an ancient box so I came here for advice. I would like to see this video, but it says it is private and I would need signin information to see it. Can I get that sign in information or is there another way to view this?
Thanks.
P.S.. my box is a bottom unit and it a grey wrinkled finish. It would not surprise me if it was a lot older than the units shown here. I tried a hacksaw blade a few weeks ago, but based on what I'm reading here, I will grind it and try again.
I did find that something like epoxy had been spilled on some of the slides and I was able to clean that off so those drawers now open and shut all the way. Still want to remove them all at clean/lube at the very least.
evandonald
Member
Not sure if they are the same style or not but I removed all the drawers out of my Canadian made Beach BCH92-612 with friction slides. I just used a fairly big set of zip ties slid into the slider and a good tug on the drawers and out they came. The first pic is the stock image of my tool box. The second is actually of mine. Best of luck !
Lookin4'67Galaxieconv
Well-known member
The key, whether you're using the SO removal tool or a hacksaw blade, is to get it pressed up against the slide as close as possible so it will ride over the stop along with the slide to disengage it from the box.
I've never had any problem with scraping the paint.
