Need help with ID: 3-drawer tool chest

[pronator]

Updated: now a restoration/renovation thread!

I picked this up on Craigslist knowing it'd be a strip down and repaint job. Just looking for something functional, but it needs some work to make purdy. The drawers moved smoothly before I took them out/apart.

I wouldn't care so much what brand it is except to figure out if there's a trick to removing the drawer slides that are welded onto interior side panels. Any suggestions, guidance, or best guesses would be appreciated!

Here's what I know so far and pics below:

Dimensions: 26" x 13.5" x 9"
Original Color: Red, then painted silver
Lock: made by Hudson (identified by Easykeys.com)
Lock Mechanism: Rear bar (see photos)
Badge: missing but two holes in upper left from badge?
Slides: friction - welded onto plates, not the toolbox sides

Other: there are two welded brackets on top for stacking; there are three raised parts of the panel - one big one in the center and two smaller ones on each end. I can pull on those and there's some give, but not enough to move the panel from the frame.

If any other pics or viewing angles would be helpful, just let me know. I was able to remove the drawer-side sliders from their mates; they're not painted and just need to be de-gunked.

Thanks!

 

[pronator]

Also: all three drawers are identical in height, if it wasn't clear from the pics.

 

[65ranchero]

If I read your question right,
I don't think the rails are meant to be removed
the slides are. they are held in with clips as you already know
How would you reattach them if removed?

 

[pronator]

If I read your question right,
I don't think the rails are meant to be removed
the slides are. they are held in with clips as you already know
How would you reattach them if removed?

Yes, you're right: the rails aren't meant to be removed from the panel they're welded onto. However, I feel like the panel holding all three rails (on each side) can be removed for cleaning, painting.

In fact, I feel like I've seen a thread of someone's restoration in which they removed a panel like this before! It's driving me kinda nuts that I can't find it again.

The very front of the panel does not feel like it's attached to anything. And I was able to slide a putty knife between the back of the tool chest and the back of the rails/panel. In theory, you'd only need to slide the panel under the front bend and then push it against the side wall. But maybe they tacked the panel to each side wall?

 

[K'ledgeBldr]

It looks pretty much like the “home” version of Craftsman- mechanically.

But the aluminum pulls on the drawers look a little different; and I don’t recall that series having a “middle chest”.

 

[brownbagg]

thats a painted craftman made by waterloo

 

[pronator]

Thanks, all - I went to take another look last night. Got a picture of the rail (without the drawer-side slide) and used a flash on my phone.

Helped me see that the rails and panel look to be tack welded:the rails to the panels and the panels to the frame.

How much would I compromise if I drilled out the tack welds holding the panels to the frame and then reinstalled the panels using rivets?

This would allow me to properly strip all the rust off the rails, panel, and frame. Then repaint everything.

Thoughts?

 

[K'ledgeBldr]

I wouldn’t do it- not worth the hassle. Plus, you’d probably degradate the integrity of the cabinet.

 

[pronator]

I wouldn’t do it- not worth the hassle. Plus, you’d probably degradate the integrity of the cabinet.

So your rec is to wheel and brush away whatever I can reach. Then prime, spray, slide, and use?

 

[csp]

Those slides aren't doing anything in regards to the integrity of the cabinet. Removing the spot welds holding them in won't hurt a thing, though if it were mine I'd find another method.

I cut a 5 drawer lower cabinet apart and put it back together to turn it into a 3 drawer so it would fit under my welding table. You'd have to remove the top of it and the bottom to hurt any structural integrity of it.

I have a Craftsman intermediate box that's identical, other than being in original paint and much better condition. The aluminum pulls were used on this series.

 

[Loose Nut Buster]

I agree on the Craftsman, looks like mine from the mid 90s. Had all three bottom, center, totable 2 drawer with a removable tool tray to carry around jobsite.

Sent from my SM-T387V using Tapatalk

 

[65ranchero]

I think your best bet is to leave it as is , clean up as much of the rust as possible and use a rust converting primer before painting

 

[pronator]

Thanks for all the input - this forum is great!

I'll start by stripping off the paint and cleaning up as much of the rust as I can. The exterior and drawers should be easy.

Whatever rust I can't remove from inside the chest will get sprayed with some Rustoleum Rust Refomer (black rust converter) - I have a couple of cans already. So I'll plan for the interior to be black.

I already hit one of the exterior corners with a wire wheel and there's some pitting where the rust was the worst. But still solid and nothing eaten through. I may either touch up with some auto body filler or use a hammered texture paint.

 

[csp]

These nylon stripping discs as in the video example are better at removing paint than a wire brush IMO. The metal won't need any further sanding as it leaves the surface with just the right etch to hold on to paint with no scratches visible. Just watch the rotation near edges as an edge will tear chunks off of them.

Video is just one example

 

[Stuart in MN]

For de-rusting the interior, maybe you could lay it on its side and pour in some Evaporust. You my have to put some tape around the edges to keep it from leaking out. It shouldn't require much - you could maybe get away with just a quart bottle of the stuff. Another possibility is they sell a gel product that you apply with a brush, then rinse off after the rust has been removed.

 

[rburke65]

I have Craftsman tool chests and tha5 was my thought when I looked at your photos...craftsman

 

[K'ledgeBldr]

Those slides aren't doing anything in regards to the integrity of the cabinet. Removing the spot welds holding them in won't hurt a thing, though if it were mine I'd find another method.

Perhaps a re-read of the OP’s intentions...
He wasn’t cutting the slides out- he was removing the panel spot welds; which is the integrity of the box. And rivets certainly aren’t a good replacement for the spot welds.

 

[K'ledgeBldr]

Thanks for all the input - this forum is great!

I'll start by stripping off the paint and cleaning up as much of the rust as I can. The exterior and drawers should be easy.

Whatever rust I can't remove from inside the chest will get sprayed with some Rustoleum Rust Refomer (black rust converter) - I have a couple of cans already. So I'll plan for the interior to be black.

I already hit one of the exterior corners with a wire wheel and there's some pitting where the rust was the worst. But still solid and nothing eaten through. I may either touch up with some auto body filler or use a hammered texture paint.

Wire wheel!?
How about some paint stripper?

 

[pronator]

These nylon stripping discs as in the video example are better at removing paint than a wire brush IMO. The metal won't need any further sanding as it leaves the surface with just the right etch to hold on to paint with no scratches visible. Just watch the rotation near edges as an edge will tear chunks off of them.

Video is just one example

Thanks for the video - I just picked up one of those discs recently and will give it a spin (haha) this weekend!

 

[pronator]

For de-rusting the interior, maybe you could lay it on its side and pour in some Evaporust. You my have to put some tape around the edges to keep it from leaking out. It shouldn't require much - you could maybe get away with just a quart bottle of the stuff. Another possibility is they sell a gel product that you apply with a brush, then rinse off after the rust has been removed.

Stuart, are you in my head? I literally ordered some Evaporust yesterday with the plan to let the sides take turns soaking in a plastic container. Thanks for validating my thoughts on that!

 

[pronator]

Wire wheel!?
How about some paint stripper?

I had a wire wheel out so it was easy to apply a little elbow grease and see how things looked underneath. I'll let the Evaporust do most of the heavy lifting and then clean up whatever is left.

Thanks for recommending against the panel removal. I originally hoped it wouldn't compromise the integrity too much, but then I found a back up plan:

https://www.hobby-machinist.com/thr...earing-slides-using-plywood-by-bill70j.70443/

But these friction slides were still pretty smooth. Hoping they'll stay that way!

 

[pronator]

And it looks like K'ledgeBldr, brownbagg, csp, Loose Nut Buster, and rburke65 all agree: Craftsman it is!

 

[csp]

You must have found the model number stamped inside.

 

[pronator]

You must have found the model number stamped inside.

I haven’t seen anything inside but I’m calling it as a Craftsman by consensus. The inside is pretty well rusted, but I’ll keep an eye out after the evaporust does its job.

The model info would be cool to know but I was more interested in finding out if there was a trick to removing those side panels. Knowing the id of the chest would help me unlock the secret... or at least search more productively.

Now that I know there’s no easy removal due to the welds, the identification isn’t critical. It does seem like everyone agrees it’s a Craftsman so far.

 

[pronator]

I’ve been using EvapoRust to really get into the corners and cracks of this mid box.



Each face of the frame has had time to soak.

I’ve also moved the drawers to soak after pulling the box frame. This will be a full paint stripping down to bare metal. Wheeeee!

Edited to add: the box is sitting in a boot tray in this pic but I ended up moving it to a large storage bin so it could soak properly.

 

[pronator]

Whew! Full exterior has now been stripped down to bare metal. Still need to get into the corners with a wire wheel to get the stubborn bits of remaining paint.

The box was rattlecanned silver over the original red, but the red was substantial. I’m wondering if it was powder-coated. I literally put a new 4” abrasive nylon wheel on the angle grinder before starting the 3rd side and it was gone before I’d finished the full exterior. I thought I’d gone through the first wheel on my Disston rolling cart, drawer fronts, and door but there was still life on it compared to what was left after most of the mid box.

Still need to clean up the interior, especially bottoms and mounted drawer rails. Then it’ll be ready for some primer and Rustoleum hammered gray. Was inspired by the Craftsman gray and red appreciation thread!

The drawers are a dark charcoal, almost black color. Will be repainting them red after they’re cleaned up, stripped down, and prepped for priming.

 

[pronator]

It seems the extensive rust had become somewhat structural to the box. [emoji23]

Now that the rust has been removed, I’m able to wiggle it side to side with some slop. It’s not too bad, but there are a couple of corners where I’m guessing some spot welds have rusted away?

Hmm, maybe I need to stabilize with some JB weld. I don’t have welding capabilities.

 

[pronator]

The Evaporust has worked really well with the exposed rust. It’s also loosened up rust that had started to build up under the paint layers.

After pulling it out of solution and rinsing it off, I was able to scrape away the peeling paint with a flat tip screwdriver. You can see the many veins of rust underneath.



I’ve been using a combination of the HF Polycarbide Abrasive Wheel on an angle grinder and a HF 80 grit nylon abrasive wheel (4”) in my drill. So far, I’ve used up two of the 4” poly wheels taking down to bare metal:

• the frame of this mid box
• most of one drawer from mid box
• the frame of my Disston rolling cart*
• three drawer fronts from rolling cart
• the drop down “door” covering the bottom of the rolling cart

*Disston rolling cart: https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=475203

 

[pronator]

Some elbow grease and patience:



Picked up additional poly wheels at HF yesterday so I can finish this.

 

[pronator]

I’m finding it somewhat relaxing to slowly take each drawer down to bare metal.






That said, I’m glad there are only three of these drawers and the rest of my setup only need the drawer fronts stripped and repainted.

 

[pronator]

Got impatient and cut the three drawer liners for this chest.

Still need to finish removing paint and crud from the corners before priming and painting.

 

[ZRX61]

While you were picking up the whizz disc at Horrible Fright you could have picked up these to save you using a screwdriver...
https://harborfreight.com/putty-knife-set-3-pc-63668.html

 

[pronator]

While you were picking up the whizz disc at Horrible Fright you could have picked up these to save you using a screwdriver... [emoji4]
https://harborfreight.com/putty-knife-set-3-pc-63668.html

Haha! I had a screwdriver handy and wasn’t expect that much paint to come off, especially that easily!

 

[pronator]

Managed to get the primer coat on all but an end face of the frame before the rain started today.

 

[Shocker]

Looks like a Homak mid box to me.

 

[pronator]

Looks like a Homak mid box to me.

No markings that I have found. Thanks for the weigh in!

 

[pronator]

Found this photo from its evaporust bath.

Will cover the drawer rails with tape before painting the exterior and some of the interior with Rustoleum hammer metal gray.

Still need to JB weld two corners where the rust ate away the tack welds. The frame has a bit of lateral movement without the drawers; probably not an issue once drawers are in but doesn’t hurt to lock it in square.

 

[Shocker]

I have a Homak this size with what appears to be this mid box. I will see how it compares.

 

[pronator]

I have a Homak this size with what appears to be this mid box. I will see how it compares.

Nice! I put a bunch more pictures at the start of the thread, especially if the interior and locking mechanism if that helps. Plus the drawers with aluminum trim.

 

[pronator]

Aluminum trim removed from the three drawers. I think the previous owner used a pair of pliers to crimp each trim piece in the middle so they wouldn’t move. Had to pull the rounded sections apart so it could slide off and be removed.

Will be sanding trim to work out the most obvious plier “bite marks” and create a matte finish.