Need help disassembling toolbox

[Doug19]

I want to paint the silver drawer pulls on my craftsman toolbox. Anyone know of an easy way to get them off?

 

[tonydanzah]

yeah mask the area around the pulls

 

[caper]

The pulls on my old Craftsman box used to slide off to the side.

 

[06wt]

i would say leave them alone all together cuz no matter how good you prep them the paint is still gunna wear, but if you must paint them leave them on and mask them, the last thing you want is a bunch of freashly painted drawer pulls sliding back and forth scratching the box and the new paint when you close the drawers

 

[mjozefow]

They should slide off to the side, otherwise tap them with a wooden/plastic mallet.

I would not paint them though. They see a lot of harsh chemicals and wear.

 

[TheGrooveking]

Are you thinking about painting them black? If so, just get some rubber/plastic edge protector and slide it over the existing draewr pulls. You can always remove it and thus maintain the originality of the boxes.

TheGrooveking

 

[Doug19]

I was thinking of either painting them a flat black or candy red to get a anodized look. It's not worth the time or effort to me to mask all the drawers off. I'll have to try to give them a good wack with a hammer. I also am not worried about them being worn and beat up, i'm just a hobby tool user and take very good care ot my box. I've had it for 3 years and it doesn't have a single scratch on it. I might even check into seeing how much it would cost to get them power coated.

 

[Kurn]

Take a wooden dowel and a small hammer and tap them sideways.Done it many times.

 

[Doug19]

Kurn the wooden dowel and hammer did the trick thanks a lot. Now that I know they come off quick and easy I will be painting them. I am going to check in with a powder coater to see how much that route would cost first.

I'm thinking either a

Candy Red

or

Stealth Black

What do you guys think?

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

Pictures aren't showing up.

 

[Doug19]

Ok... They should be fixed

 

[spartyon8]

My vote is for the candy red. The black might make it hard to find the drawers in a hurry. My first vote would be to leave them silver though.

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

Candy red. That should look real nice.

 

[Kurn]

I vote candy red.Over a silver base.

 

[TheDukeofDeere]

Yep, I'll fourth the candy red.....

Might have to do some red highlights on the CMan logos too.....

Pictures are a must when complete

 

[arkangel06]

Candy red for sure If you really have to paint them.

 

[Doug19]

So I started taking the drawer pulls off of the tool box and made my setup to hold the pulls while I paint them. I decided to go with flat black as I already had a couple of cans of it on hand. I saw a Matco box with flat black pulls and loved it so that made my mind up.

Got a little out of hand with my setup but it made it so easy to paint them. I used some roofing nail that I had on hand to hold the pulls and I drilled three holes for the locks. I decided to only paint the rings around the lock part. I also painted the emblems.

Here it is ready for paint

Finished product tomorrow i'm going to let it dry overnight.

 

[selohssa]

It looks like you spent a lot of time setting up that stand. Looks good so far.

 

[Doug19]

Stand probly took me about 10 minutes but man did it make painting them so much easier. I put the emblems and locks on tonight and am really excited about how they look.

 

[mrshaun]

is the trim made of plastic? the powder coating i used to do would destroy the trim.
might be harsh on aluminum. we made fence panels for big housing developments and businesses. we also did bike frames and anything that would make it through the oven.

 

[Burgerkong]

Like so?

 

[Flatland Dave]

That sir, is sweet

 

[Doug19]

Burgerkong I like the red handles but my box is only a Craftsmen so that a little to flashy.

 

[Doug19]

Here's the finished pictures:

Close-up of how I did the locks:

 

[cdrewferd]

is it just me or does there not seem to be a whole lot of difference for the work involved? Hopefully it's just the pictures.

 

[Doug19]

I pulled it outside so the sun is reflecting off of it really bad. Plus the pictures are from a camera phone. There wasn't much work involved in total I have around 30 minutes maybe less in it. That doesn't include the time inbetween coats as I was doing other things. I think it looks good and is a huge improvement on a toolbox it seems a lot of people have, and I hate the shiney chrome look on things.

 

[arkangel06]

Ummm what exactly changed??

 

[spartyon8]

Silver handles to flat black handles. It was mentioned on the previous page.