My latest tool box refurb.

[bonneyman]

A fellow forum member donated a FACOM cantilever tool box to me to see if I could save it and make it decent looking and useable. Took over a month of sanding, straightening, and painting, but we finished it up today. Might put some white drawer liner in the bottoms to cover up the pits, but, she's good to go. Enjoy!

Before:

 

[bonneyman]

And after:

 

[Faisal]

its really worth to save,nice job

 

[Lobo74]

Very Nice

 

[Ben Buck]

Very, very nice.

It's great to see old boxes transformed to what they once were!

 

[lilredex]

Good job! I like that you took the extra time to high light that raised lettering.

If it were mine, I'd look for some of that clear vinyl hall runner and cut it to size for those compartment bottoms. It will tend to itself disappear while covering up those pits.

 

[chiongms]

Very nice job there!!

 

[colin39]

I do like a bit of restored facom. ;-)

 

[FJ 432]

Excellent job. Great save of a classic.

 

[PFSard]

That restoration is a great example of patience and perseverance. Nice lettering. Thanks for sharing.

 

[bonneyman]

Thanks for the kind words, guys.

That lettering was such a pain. But it just made the whole box stand out to have them in white, so, a tiny brush and alot of time got it to where it is.

 

[thegroundpounder99]

Looks very nice. The lettering makes the whole box pop. Time well spent. Love seeing the old stuff get saved. I'm planning on refurbing my grandfathers box when it arrives here.

 

[navyeoseabee]

It looks really good!!

How did you do the levers rivets? i have a old snapon one that need the rivets re done. -thanks

 

[bonneyman]

It looks really good!!

How did you do the levers rivets? i have a old snapon one that need the rivets re done. -thanks

I dremeled out the rivets to get things apart, and re-assembled with some 12-24 machine screws and nuts.
Four of the nuts I had to grind down thinner for clearance so the handles would fold down all the way and not hit the top trays.

 

[billybudge]

Looks great, nice restoration work, well done

 

[zkling]

Great job. I'm not sure if that was a restoration or a resurrection.

 

[BK13]

Holy schneikies! That' nice!

 

[bonneyman]

Thanks for the kind words. very glad that so many of you have expressed your appreciation.

I call it a "refurb" because of the significant pitting and dents and tears in it.

I realized early on I was never going to make it even close to pristine, so "restoration" was out. So I aimed for making it as nice looking as possible without going overboard, but with an eye on it being useable. I think I achieved that. It's not visually perfect, but nice and even and definitely useable.