Military tool box(?)

[notlob]

I just purchased this box and will pick it up tomorrow. Extremely heavy duty. Drawers are very deep - 24" or so.

Any of you military guys know anything about it?

 

[Private Lugnutz]

It's a tool cabinet, literally, CABINET, TOOLS AND SMALL PARTS, Federal Stock Number 41-C-15, with butcher block top, and it's definitively WWII, which can be identified by the pulls. They were bolted side-by-side on the back of various flatbed trucks (Dodge 1.5 ton, GMC CCKW 2.5 ton, etc) for mobile maintenance operations. I have a 1953 model. The security bars (flat bar stock with a slot for that u-bar to pass through, for a padlock) are almost always missing. They also kept the drawers from sliding around and opening in transit. I passed some diagrams and photos along to Mr._P in a 2018 Garage Sale thread post, linked here, if you are interested in making one. There are a few of these cabinets floating around GJ other than mine and Mr P's. Oregon rock crusher has one. Tin Medic has a few. I will post the links later.

Nice find!

 

[drivesitfar]

NotLob: i've had a couple of these and wish i still had them cause they hold litterly a ton of stuff. the last one I had I bet I had 100-200 pounds of steel in each of the drawers and it still worked great. about the only thing that i see missing is the locking flat steel piece that was missing on both of mine, but yours has the army green color and a nice piece of butcherblock on top of it.

nice find!!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Notlob,

I KNOW I have a fairly encyclopedic post on the 41-C-15 Tool Cabinet on drives' cabinets thread somewhere, but having exasperated myself trying to find it, I will just re-post some photos for you…

Here is a WWII model, like yours, owned by a G503.com buddy, also missing the security bar

View media item 76009
Here is mine. You can see, it’s exactly the same size, drawer arrangement, etc, with the butcher block top, but the pulls are free-swinging.

View media item 76005
Here is mine in place down in the Lugzsonian with a grinder and a vise clamped on the overhang.

Here is a c.1941/1942 photo of the cabinet in an upper echelon tool-set layout…

And here are a few of them on the back of a CCKW, c.1943...

 

[notlob]

Wow! Thanks lugz and drives!

I assumed the top was added on; really enthused to know it is part of the original piece. It's fitted with heavy duty casters. It also has something stenciled on the side which I couldn't make out.

I'll post more pics tomorrow.

 

[Oregon rock crusher]

Nice boxes Notlob and Lugz. Also great period pics Lugz. I'll stick in a couple pics of the military box I picked up last Spring I think. The first one shows the stenciling which is not all that bold and the 2nd shows it loaded up in the shop. I didn't modify it at all, just added the top cabinet to it. It holds a lot of power hand tools and attachments. Ed.

 

[ArmyVW_GuyInTX]

I have a pair of similar O.D. green cabinets that have a slightly different drawer configuration that came from weapons vault at a former national guard armory.
They were no longer on the inventory (long overdue for disposal) so after helping taking them out to the dumpster - they were fair game.

There is still have a pair of new barrel changing gloves for an M60 somewhere in the garage....

 

[Username already in use]

That's a fantastic find Notlob! I've been on the hunt for one of these cabinets locally for a couple of years now with no luck. So, whatever you paid for it, you get a 'you ****' from me!

 

[d42jeep]

Waiting to see the new box. One just sold in Berkeley a few blocks from my house.
-Don

 

[Dave455]

In this day and age, when so many folks are worrying about wasting resources, and labour costs are high, it seems to me that we have a lot to learn from parents / grandparents who were able to make a tool cabinet, under wartime conditions, that has lasted 75 years plus!

 

[Provincial]

In those days everything wasn't controlled by MBA's that were paid to cut costs and quality as much as possible and still be able to sell the product.

 

[mdcar]

Glad I came across this thread. I got this from my dad who got it from my grandfather. I never knew what it was. I’ll have to see if I can get the paint off.


Sent from my iPhone using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[Joe Greaves]

Hello folks,

Please excuse me resurrecting an old topic, but I have two of these 41-C-15 cabinets and thought you might be interested in another forum (which I see is also mentioned in an earlier post) which has a considerable amount of information about them:

Tool Cabinet Variants - G503 Military Vehicle Message Forums

These are my cabinets. I hope this is of interest.