Older Craftsman? box in sad shape

[yardiron]

I went to an estate sale over the weekend and came home with a truck and trailer full of tools. Basically I bought the contents of a rather rough garage with some rough looking tool boxes in it. On the plus side, it was cheap, I spent more in gas than I did for the lot.
Two of the boxes were newer ATD branded, basically junk, I dumped them on CL this morning. The one pictured here is the roughest but its an older Craftsman box and other than one drawer needing a few spot welds repaired, it works fine.
I bid on the lot because the boxes were full of Snap-On, Plumb, Cornwell, Union, and some older Craftsman tools. The majority of the standard hand tools were Snap-On. Plus there was a huge assortment of industrial tap and dies, reamers, micrometers, calipers, and other machinists tools in the one Kennedy chest.

I've always likes the gray and red Craftsman boxes and am debating on whether these are too far gone or not. The top box has a 2x3" hole carved in the side for some reason, and its pretty rusty inside and out.
The bottom box isn't as bad, but I do have to repair the one drawer as the face of the drawer is broken free from the spot welds. Not a big deal but welding it will mean repainting. Several of the drawer slides are missing their retaining clips and if your not careful, the drawer will come right out in your hand.

Now the first thing I noticed was that the top box was silver hammertone while the bottom box is sort of a charcoal gray metallic color. I've seen the hammer tone before but not the metallic gray style. It don't look repainted, the bottom box is the same color inside and out.
I also don't see any Craftsman emblems, on either box. The top box has two key slot holes where an emblem was, the bottom box doesn't have any holes where an emblem could have been.

Were these boxes sold as another brand than Sears? I'm guessing that these were Remline built boxes and maybe the bottom box was from another seller than Sears? The top box key says Craftsman, the bottom box key is a plain round headed key.

Any ideas on cleaning up the top box on the inside? I'm thinking its going to need to be soda blasted at the very least.

Of, maybe I should just list these and find a cleaner set?

 

[yhprum]

I have been waiting for a good excuse to try the citric acid for rust removal.
http://www.tttg.org.au/Content/Citric Acid Rust Removal Instructions.pdf

 

[christopher7390]

Nice finds. Maybe I should start going!

Personally I don't think it's worth it, but if you want a project then why not!

 

[dodge610]

Those craftsman boxes are salvageble I would go for it and restore them. I have been looking for years for a gray set like those to no avail tho. Just got to keep on looking I will find them.

 

[bonneyman]

I say go for the resto! So long as huge chunks of metal aren't missing, repair them. If you can spot weld and find/make those retaining clips repainting is not a big deal.

 

[dodge610]

I think you can still get the retaining clips cant you. I was thinking you could get them thru sears or waterloo.

 

[FJ 432]

Personally, they're too far down the road for me to consider restoration. My .02.

 

[zkling]

Personally, they're too far down the road for me to consider restoration. My .02.

Especially the top box. Maybe and I mean a very slight maybe the bottom if you had a bunch of extra time and really liked that particular box. Otherwise, not worth it. BTDT.

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

If you're up for a challenge, I say go for it. It will take time and effort but you'll be surprised at how nice those boxes can turn out.

 

[jakemac]

Those boxes were made by Waterloo. You may still be able to read the date codes under the rust after a little rub with steelwool.

The code on the top box will be inside the top bin, on the left, towards the front, on the bottom.
The code for the bottom box should be on the bottom front rail about 7" in from the right side.

The stampings can be really light, so you may need a flashlight and a magnifying glass.
They will read as "MADE IN USA" over a set of numbers on the second line. MM/YY.
The bottom is probably early-70's with the top being more in the mid-70's

There are two sizes of clips for the drawer slides. One is no longer available. You will need to call Waterloo get new ones. Have one of the clips with you when you call so that you can give them a measurement and they will tell you if they have it.

 

[Packard V8]

Do you put a dollar value on your time invested? If so, then definitely no.

If you enjoy bringing back abused tools and that's more fun than watching commercials, then go for it.

jack vnes

 

[John in OH]

Do you put a dollar value on your time invested? If so, then definitely no.

If you enjoy bringing back abused tools and that's more fun than watching commercials, then go for it.

jack vnes

^ this!!

Also, the term "restoration" can have a lot of different meanings, or signify multiple degrees of rehab. If, as Packard V8 says, you have time and interest, you could simple make the mechanical drawer slide repairs, give it a light blasting, and then spray it with a few rattle cans of Rustoleum. Maybe it wouldn't win any beauty contests, but you'd have a decent, serviceable set of tool storage units.

 

[yardiron]

Fixing the broken welds isn't a big deal, I drilled and plug welded the drawer face that was pulled apart already.
I'm not sure how to go about finding the clips, to look them up at Sears I'd need a part number for the box.
Did they make these in different silver or gray colors? I'm wondering if the bottom was even a Sears box at all. There are black and silver screen printed emblems on both boxes but the wording is completely worn off.
The back of the boxes have a lot of rust pitting and the top box has a lot of rust even on the inside of the cabinet. The bottom box is mostly dirty other than the one damaged drawer.
I agree, these boxes are few and far between for some reason. I had the chance to buy a fairly clean one just like this about 30 years ago but didn't get it, I bought a newer box instead. The newer red/black box isn't even close to the quality of the older boxes.
I would prefer that the top box were larger but maybe one will turn up one day.

The bottom box won't be too hard to strip and repaint, the top box has lots of rust that will hard to get at since most of those areas can't be taken apart. There's rust on the lock bars at the back the box, I'm thinking its going to need to be sand blasted to get all that clean. It would take far too long to try and sand all that rust away by hand.
The pitting on the back of the box will also need to be cleaned well.
I have some concerns about using a blaster to clean the rust due to the chance of warping the metal.

 

[jakemac]

I'm not sure how to go about finding the clips, to look them up at Sears I'd need a part number for the box.

See my post above. call Waterloo.

 

[yardiron]

I called Waterloo today, when I described the clips as looking like a shepard's hook on one end they said they were no longer available. The clips on mine don't need a shim or tool to remove the slide. There's a round end that sticks out a bit that you can lift with a finger to slide the drawer past the clip. The clips they described on the phone sounded like those found on the black and red boxes I have.
At nearly $5 each I didn't want to just order a few to see if I could make them work or not. I think I'm just as well off just drilling a hole and using a screw as a slide stop. I've got an older Snap On box that uses screws rather than clips too.
The slides on the top box are different than those on the bottom box, the top slides are narrower, the bottom slides are all larger. The slides on the top box are almost the same as those on the newer red/black boxes.

The top box has 11-75 date code
The bottom box reads 9-73

I went looking for a good spray bomb color match today, the best match I found for the red drawers is Rustoleum Sunrise Red.
The only hammertone I could find was either silver, or a very dark gray. I bought 8 cans of Rustoleum Silver hammertone. The top box is more silver, the bottom box is more a gray color.
Were these gray or silver when new? It seems to me they looked more silver than charcoal gray, but the last time I saw one new was when I bought a four drawer chest in the late 70's. That chest is pretty well worn these days but the inside looks silver to me, although probably a bit darker than the rattle can Rustoleum I found.

 

[Off-Street Parking]

I went to an estate sale over the weekend and came home with a truck and trailer full of tools. Basically I bought the contents of a rather rough garage with some rough looking tool boxes in it.

Pictures of the rest of the haul?

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

I
The top box has 11-75 date code
The bottom box reads 9-73

I went looking for a good spray bomb color match today, the best match I found for the red drawers is Rustoleum Sunrise Red.
The only hammertone I could find was either silver, or a very dark gray. I bought 8 cans of Rustoleum Silver hammertone. The top box is more silver, the bottom box is more a gray color.
Were these gray or silver when new? It seems to me they looked more silver than charcoal gray, but the last time I saw one new was when I bought a four drawer chest in the late 70's. That chest is pretty well worn these days but the inside looks silver to me, although probably a bit darker than the rattle can Rustoleum I found.

Well, you're buying paint so this is a resto thread now! That means we'll need pics along the way documenting your progress.

 

[Flattie]

I had to make my own clips. Here is a link to what I did
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=279913

The first pic was attempt number one. The second pic is the 5/32 cotter pin idea I had. It has worked well for several years now.

 

[yardiron]

The clips on mine are 2" long, 3/16" wide, and made from 3/32" thick spring steel.
I looked at several of the black and red boxes, only one uses clips at all and those are similar but not the same. They are longer and flat on one end.
The closest I found was on an old Mac tool chest I have here from the same era. My guess is that they all used the same brand slides. I don't have a Mac dealer here and these are probably too old for them to carry either way. If they did, I'm sure they'd be even more expensive then they are online.

 

[yardiron]

Pictures of the rest of the haul?

Most of the tools that came out of the boxes are in 5 gal. buckets right now.
I dumped the lesser boxes on CL, they sold before the weekend was out.
I kept the red/gray Sears box because it was still full and I've always liked this series box.
I do still have one really rough red and black bottom box, its newer, probably from the 80's. It looks like someone ran into it with a car, every drawer is crushed in the front. The drawers all work but it looks pretty bad.

Once I get all the tools sorted out into sets again, I'll snap a few pics.

There is basically a complete set of Snap On sockets in 1/4", 3/8", & 1/2", a full set of Snap On wrenches in standard sizes, a full set minus one socket of Plumb 1/2" drive, with a ratchet and breaker bar. A full set of Craftsman sockets in standard sizes, a full assortment of Craftsman ratchets, a full set of thread taps, in three piece sets, from #6 up to 2 1/2" in fine and course thread, two Mac tap and die kits, 13 calipers, 12 micrometers, a Remline Machinist's chest full of misc. measuring tools, one Mac top box full of drill bits, lathe cutting tools, and die grinder burrs and polishing bits. There's also one Union branded die grinder, one Makita 1/4" die grinder, one Dewalt 3/8" corded drill, one Craftsman 18v rechargeable drill, flashlight, and saw kit with 9 batteries and two chargers, one three drawer Craftsman gray and red two drawer tool box full of new files and reamers, two American Powerpull hand winches, one ratchet style chain winch, two tackle boxes full of lures, a huge assortment of various garden tools and pruning tools and several buckets full of pop rivets and stainless sheet metal screws.
There is also bits of a socket set that has some sort of hex drive too, I believe those are branded Herbrand or New Britain. There is also a few 1/2" to hex adapters. Many of the tools are prewar, most are pre-1970 or older.
One of the Snap On sets is newer, probably late 70's or so.
Right now I've got a full bucket of unsorted greasy sockets and several boxed sets. There's four or five buckets of misc wrenches, mostly Williams and Armstrong branded, but with several other brands mixed in. None of the tools were junk, all are Craftsman or better.
Basically one whole side of a two car garage was full of tools and equipment, some in tool boxes some in trunks, some in coffee cans, and some hanging on the walls. The other side was mostly lawn equipment, two garden tractors, a Snapper riding mower, five push mowers, two steel work benches, two huge wood tables that look like they may have come from a super market produce display, two old dressers full of manuals, a wooden machinists chest full of drafting tools, two hand trucks, a bar room dart board with scoreboard, two gray metal cabinets with no tops, probably from a lab or school, and four huge wooden warehouse carts with iron wheels.

I listed the bulky items I had no interest in right away, five of the warehouse carts sold in an hour, five of the banged up lesser tool boxes and two wooden machinists chests all sold fast on CL. I had to dump the bulky items so I had room for the rest of the items. I still have a 4x10' 1/2" steel, 8 leg welding table that's still in my trailer. I also got a Lincoln 110v gasless welder.

There is also a half dozen shop carts, in various sizes, two are about 5' long, the rest are average size job carts. There is also an Atlas table saw, (missing the fence), and an 8" Craftsman table saw, and two older Skil circular saws and a Dewalt wood lathe.

On top of all this there's about 300 mayonnaise jars with nails, screws, bolts, etc that were on the shelves along one wall. Right now its all packed into one corner of the basement and in one of my storage trailers outback. The lawn equipment and some of the larger tools are in a buddies barn till I get a chance to get to them.

There was also a good half trailer full of trash, mostly broken furniture, broken toys, and recyclables. All of which is already gone. I think it was a case of an older guy who quit using the garage to work on and it turned into a dumping ground atop all the tools.

 

[yardiron]

Here's a few pics, most were from the sale email ad.

 

[yardiron]

more pics

 

[yardiron]

more pics again

A lot of the items in the pics are shown as found, the place was a mess, piles of tools, piles of parts everywhere. All boxes were full, overflowing, and buried under piles of tools. There were boxes of tools everywhere and shelves and bins full of tools and parts.

 

[langss]

My vote is soda blast and repaint. I have similar boxes that were outside in a Hangar at Lax for 25 years and they are not nearly that rusty. Those boxes must have really been outside. We used to plastic bead blast the tool boxes and repaint and they turned out really well.

 

[ZRX61]

I called Waterloo today, when I described the clips as looking like a shepard's hook on one end they said they were no longer available. The clips on mine don't need a shim or tool to remove the slide. There's a round end that sticks out a bit that you can lift with a finger to slide the drawer past the clip. The clips they described on the phone sounded like those found on the black and red boxes I have.
At nearly $5 each I didn't want to just order a few to see if I could make them work or not. I think I'm just as well off just drilling a hole and using a screw as a slide stop. I've got an older Snap On box that uses screws rather than clips too.

I have the same clips on a Craftsman box. I made a couple of new clips out of suitably thick sheet metal & bent them in a vise.

 

[yardiron]

My vote is soda blast and repaint. I have similar boxes that were outside in a Hangar at Lax for 25 years and they are not nearly that rusty. Those boxes must have really been outside. We used to plastic bead blast the tool boxes and repaint and they turned out really well.

They were in an unheated pole building, with a sliding door. The boxes were to the rear of the building but the floor was only half concrete. The boxes and tools were all on the pavement, but the front part of the building was dirt. One wall was concrete block, the rest were steel over a wood frame.

Some of the boxes in the building were far worse off, but I sold those on CL right away. Those in the pics above weren't bad at all. The gray top box has all Snap On sockets and combo wrenches, the all red top is all die grinding bits and saw blades. The red and black bottom is a mix of Snap On, Craftsman, and New Britain tools. There's a few older Mac top boxes in the trailer yet that I haven't gotten open yet, but they're full judging by the weight.

This is the third biggest score I've ever had when it comes to tools, but it by far is the most for my money I've ever had.

 

[langss]

Regardless of the box/s condition.....Excellent Score.

 

[yardiron]

Here's a few more pics, my buddy had these on his phone from the day of the sale.

The one is of the oldest box, it was on a bench behind the side door of the garage.

The real old all silver top chest is in fair shape, the handles are loose, the rivets are stretched. It was so loaded and so buried we couldn't even see it until we dug it out.

 

[dodge610]

Here's a few more pics, my buddy had these on his phone from the day of the sale.

The one is of the oldest box, it was on a bench behind the side door of the garage.

The real old all silver top chest is in fair shape, the handles are loose, the rivets are stretched. It was so loaded and so buried we couldn't even see it until we dug it out.

Love that grinder thing never looks like it was used.

 

[yardiron]

Some more pics of some older tools I found so far.
I'm betting there will be a full set of the old Plumb 1/2" drive. I know I saw the ratchet with another group of sockets in the lot as we were loading it all up, I just haven't gotten to it yet.
The Snap On 3/8" set was under the bottom drawer, probably long forgotten by the owner. There's also more sockets but those were in another box.
I'm betting that the guy who owned this stuff probably bought things over and over again simply because he couldn't find them in the clutter. I'm finding mixed set of sockets, in each box, and am able to make full sets by going through all the boxes. There was no concern about keeping a complete set of any one brand together in one box. That would drive me nuts. I like to be able to look in a drawer and know what's missing at a glance. That way nothing gets lost. I'm also finding coffee cans with mixed sockets in them, we loaded 30 or more milk crates full of coffee cans that we didn't even sort through, so who knows what I'll find in those when I get around to them. Right now I've got a 4x6 table with a 2x4 perimeter where I'm just dumping the loose sockets when I find them.

 

[dodge610]

I have one of the speeder bar in the 5th pic pretty handy tool.

 

[Mohawk Dave]

I have been waiting for a good excuse to try the citric acid for rust removal.
http://www.tttg.org.au/Content/Citric Acid Rust Removal Instructions.pdf

I just started using it last week. Got a bag off Amazon that makes 5 gallons for $15.

It is harsher than Evaporust. Stuff also wants to flash rust when pulled out. Maybe neutralize with baking soda water???

I have decided to use the Citric Acid for the more rubust stuff, like pullers and, say, big wrenches, and use Evaporust on delicate stuff like Jacobs Chucks and Starrett stuff.

The Citric acid seems to remove metal??? that grey slime that comes off if left in too long? is that the carbon???