My first toolbox restoration

[SweetD]

porphyre,

Did you ever end up taking the lid off of your box to paint it on this project? If so, how?

Thanks to your guidance, I have my (same as yours) top box totally dis-assembled. Waiting on a spot-welding favor from a friend, and then some decent warmer weather for paint...but made a lot of progress today...

Dave

 

[TroyW]

I would wait the 48 hours AFTER you wet sand it.

You're right. I did most of my major wetsanding 48 hrs after painting. Then I waited another 48 hours or more (like you advised). BUT ... then I did some quick light wetsanding right before painting another coat. Problem is I did some slightly harder wetsanding in a few key area. Those "key areas" are right where I got some wrinking again. Lesson learned: Do ALL the wetsanding you intend to do, then wait 48 hours or more, and then paint.

Patience ....

 

[porphyre]

porphyre,

Did you ever end up taking the lid off of your box to paint it on this project? If so, how?

Thanks to your guidance, I have my (same as yours) top box totally dis-assembled. Waiting on a spot-welding favor from a friend, and then some decent warmer weather for paint...but made a lot of progress today...

Dave

No, I didn't. I ended up just taking a little extra care to spray it from all sides so that the "fingers" on the hinges got fully coated on all sides.

It's a decent little box. Now that I'm starting to pile it up, the friction slides are really bugging me, though. I'm looking at ball bearing middle chest to act as socket drawers.

 

[TroyW]

After wetsanding I waited about 5 days. Then I repainted, and it went on just fine. No wrinkling this time. I ordered a middle chest (unit w/ 1 wide drawer) from Sears and the paint matches really well w/ Rustoleum Sunrise Red. Now I'm on to the drawers (clean & relube the ball bearing slides, paint the drawers black).

Check it out so far:

--Troy

 

[TroyW]

I'm almost done. Just have to clean up and reinstall the drawer handles, and reinstall the locks and nameplates. I'm really happy with how it's coming together. It's not perfect, but definitely good enough for my garage! (and way better than before)

--Troy

 

[Hud]

Looks great..tell everybody you just bought it.

 

[porphyre]

Hell yeah. That looks really sharp. I guess you figured out the "flow" on getting the right amount of wetness from the paint. I know you're in a hot area of the country... I'd really suggest rolling it outside (but cover with a tarp or something) so the paint can bake off and cure.

My little box was just slightly tacky for a while. Maybe a month? The top lid would stick.

 

[TroyW]

Thanks. Here's pictures of the final product. I cleaned up the drawer handles, reattached the locks, added drawer liners. I used a black rubber carpet runner from Home Depot on the very top of the box. It's a little heavier. I used this same carpet runner between the boxes.

Painting this box was a huge job! I only saved a few hundred bucks from buying brand new. Not sure if it was worth it from purely a strategy to save money compared to the hours I put in. But, on the other hand, the Craftsman tool boxes of 15 years ago were heavier duty and didn't have grip latch (I don't like grip latch that much). And I got good experience in spray painting ... figuring out the flow, how to do proper surface preparation. Also the trick about waiting 48 hours after wet sanding was a key thing to learn. So I'm glad I did it this way.

--Troy

 

[porphyre]

 

[Mr Ratchet]

Well done! I got a Matco box that needs some TLC on the finish. I'll do it in the next few months and post before and afters pictures.

 

[bonneyman]

If you didn't point out the rough spots - I'd never have noticed them! Great job!

 

[TroyW]

If you didn't point out the rough spots - I'd never have noticed them!

It's an interesting tension. It's definitely at a level that's good enough for my garage. Most people think it looks brand new. But I still see the flaws, and the perfectionist in me sometimes wants to keep working on it. On the other hand, I've spent enough time on it, and I'd like to get my garage back.

It has been fun to finally start transferring tools into it and start organizing.

--Troy