New, but tipped over Lista Cabinet

[PugetDude]

If LISTA spot welded the top on you can plug weld a replacement, full-size or just a patch panel. Robert at MP&C has some great tutorials on welding in patch panels.

 

[Mallen]

Slice that corner of the upper left square with a cut off wheel, some heat to bend things flat again, weld up the corner cut. Your cut will also make up for the stretch from heating and straightening.

I like the idea of the bent HD topper. Nice to have a strong clean bare steel work surface that can take a beating.

Stretch from heating and straightening is fixed by shrinking using an acetylene torch.

But at the end of the day you can get a used cabinet that's NOT screwed up for less than that.

 

[jpaw]

I can't quite tell but it looks like 90% of the damage would be covered with a new top.
If the drawers will slide now that the top is cut I would just massage the spots that you will see and put a new top on it.
You could even go over the old top and use spacers where you removed the metal.

 

[pcmeiners]

'Btw, some of that damage (upper left front corner) is not repairable without spending far more time than the cabinet will ever be worth."

Agree, that top is not worth the effort. A local tinsmith could knock off a new top in short order. On my Vidmars they have some spot welds and some mig spots for attachment.

 

[Mallen]

If someone gave you that cabinet it might be worth it to do something with it. But spending good money on junk that had to be cobbled together and half assed doesn't seem like a good idea. If you can't fix it right, or if it's not WORTH fixing right, the more I think about it, the more I question if it's worth anything at all.

As discounts go, a few to y dings or scratches or maybe they just want rid of it is worth 50% off. A single good sized dent or two or a bent corner thats not to big, leaving the cabinet otherwise serviceable is with 75% off or more. That kind of damage is getting into 90% or more. Maybe just "haul it away for 50 bucks" or so.

That being said, that actually does not look too bad. If it were mine, I'd drill a few small holes all the way through to line things on reassembly then use a spot weld drill to take our the welds and remove the top. Dents come out in the opposite way the went in. Then take the piece off the front and fix those corners. Use a body hammer and a heavy piece of angle iron with a steep corner as a dolly to restore the corner. If something stretches when straightening it, shrink it back with an acerltylene torch. Then prime the seams with a weld through primer reassemble it using pop rivets through the small holes I made and plug weld where the rivets came out. Then drill out the rivets and weld up those holes. Then primer and paint.

But it's been made even worse now that half the top is cut off.

 

[Rated ///M]

Ha. You guys are all so critical. This is for a garage, not a church.

Every drawer functions 100% like factory without contacting anything, the cabinet is square, the one drawer and lock mechanism works perfectly. This is purely cosmetic at this point. It was too expensive IMO to have a new top made, so I’m welding in some scrap sheet metal I have laying around today. I’ll post pics when done.

 

[pcmeiners]

Curious, how much is it to have a new top piece made up at a tinsmith?

 

[Rated ///M]

Mid day update. Was able to work most of the sheet metal back to shape and got all the drawer fronts back to normal. I’ll need to order a few new label holders and end caps, but she’s starting to look pretty good!

 

[FMB4]

Looks great RM!

 

[Rated ///M]

Curious, how much is it to have a new top piece made up at a tinsmith?

They wanted $125 to bend me up a new top. I’m doing it for free with what I’ve got around the garage.

 

[LXCam]

Looking good rm. 125 is fair but being able to do it yourself is way better.

 

[csp]

If someone gave you that cabinet it might be worth it to do something with it.

You realize that ship has sailed already, right?

If someone gave you that cabinet it might be worth it to do something with it. But spending good money on junk that had to be cobbled together and half assed doesn't seem like a good idea. If you can't fix it right, or if it's not WORTH fixing right, the more I think about it, the more I question if it's worth anything at all.

You would probably cringe at the Equipto cabinet I had to use a slide hammer to pull out a lower corner of just to get the bottom drawer to open. Prior owner said a forklift ran into it.

Even though there's still some visible damage all drawers function and there's probably 2,000 pounds of machining tools stored in it and used regularly.

 

[Grimpala]

Ha. You guys are all so critical. This is for a garage, not a church.

A bunch of these guys would ***** about a free $100 bill because it wasn't crisp enough. Don't listen to them and do your own thing, cabinet looks great to me.

 

[Rated ///M]

Another update… wish I had a big enough press to do it in one piece but oh well. The seam is minimal, if I get crazy maybe I’ll body fill it before paint.

And yes I realize the bend isn’t perfect, I used the press to hold it and a hammer to make it.
Making up the sides now and she’ll be ready to weld.

 

[Rated ///M]

Little weld ****… almost done

 

[PugetDude]

Another update… wish I had a big enough press to do it in one piece but oh well. The seam is minimal, if I get crazy maybe I’ll body fill it before paint.

And yes I realize the bend isn’t perfect, I used the press to hold it and a hammer to make it.
Making up the sides now and she’ll be ready to weld.

Slap a US General Badge over the seam, you'll probably cause more than a few anxiety attacks amongst the GJ elites.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I'd say it's looking good.

If you get the top close and don't want a perfect finish, you can use a can of Rustoleum bedliner. It'll be black but hide some of the imperfections.

 

[tool_scrounge]

I just put a used butcher block top on my tool box top to hide the imperfections.

 

[Jayman17]

Damn that’s looking better than I thought it could. Nice job OP.

Jay

 

[Rated ///M]

Couple more shots after first coat of primer. Think I’ll hit it with a glaze after a wet sand to fill in the lows I’ve got going where I ground down my plug welds. I’ve got to order some lista blue spray paint and a new lock mechanism so I can finish this thing off.

 

[Steve.S]

Couple more shots after first coat of primer. Think I’ll hit it with a glaze after a wet sand to fill in the lows I’ve got going where I ground down my plug welds. I’ve got to order some lista blue spray paint and a new lock mechanism so I can finish this thing off.

Looks like a winner to me. Well done!

 

[Ipassgas]

Sometimes the journey is better than the destination.

Looks like a good trip and a good destination.

 

[NUTTSGT]

You don't waste any time and are on the down hill slide.

 

[jesse72]

nice job!

 

[rsanter]

Please don’t cut that cabinet down.

Options....
1. Buy replacement drawers.
2. Buy a single deep replacement drawer that will take the place of the three and move it to the bottom.
3. Take the lease damaged drawer and remove the face of it. Have a new face bent up that will have the depth of three drawer and move it to the bottom

 

[Grimpala]

Please don’t cut that cabinet down.

Options....
1. Buy replacement drawers.
2. Buy a single deep replacement drawer that will take the place of the three and move it to the bottom.
3. Take the lease damaged drawer and remove the face of it. Have a new face bent up that will have the depth of three drawer and move it to the bottom

Have you read the thread at all?

 

[GlennSullivan]

Damn nice job, better than I thought it would be without replacement factory parts. Sand it, paint, it and call it a job well done.

 

[PugetDude]

We need paint pictures!

 

[Mallen]

I thought it was going to turn into a complete mess. But I'll admit when I'm wrong. That looks really nice.

 

[sourabhdeepsingh]

Couple more shots after first coat of primer. Think I’ll hit it with a glaze after a wet sand to fill in the lows I’ve got going where I ground down my plug welds. I’ve got to order some lista blue spray paint and a new lock mechanism so I can finish this thing off.

I'd say this lista cabinet is looking great now in the last picture. Looks like you had a great trip. You can fix a butcher block top on top to hide the imperfections.

I want to see the painted pictures!

 

[Rated ///M]

Hit it with a glaze and another couple coats of primer. Finally got around to ordering paint, a lockset, and new drawer label holders to replace the broken ones. All drawers work beautifully.

hopefully have the new lock installed and her painted up here in the next couple weeks.

 

[AirBornOne]

BRAVO!

 

[Drill Sergeant Arc]

With a Lista you don't have to worry, it will handle what you have. They are rated for 400 lbs per drawer.

Except like any brand, don't pull out all your drawers at once! durability prompts them to be loaded to levels of instability.

 

[Cruzan80]

I have thought before of trying to make a strap to attach to studs, like kid-proofing furniture. Even for my 28" regular boxes, doesn't hurt to be safer