refinishing a few old snap-on boxes

[91FE]

Hey Guys,
I've got three old snap-on boxes from the 40's that I'd like to strip and repaint. One is an old K-77 roller cabinet and I've got a K-55R top chest to go with it. The third is a K-21 hand box for my son (he just turned one... preparing for the future). I don't have any pictures handy, but I'll try to get some up this weekend.

They're pretty tired with plenty of surface rust, dents and dings. The roller cabinet and top chest don't match...one's red and the other is grey. I'm planning on stripping the rust, fixing the metal work to the best of my ability (never done any body work) and repainting everything. I'll probably be asking lots of questions along the way.

For now, talk to me about tools. I've got a random orbit sander and a 4" grinder. What's the best thing to strip them down with? I hit up the local home center the other day and saw wire wheels for the grinder. Would something like that do it? If so, they came in a few different varieties... cupped, flat, braided. What am I looking for? If not that... what?

Thanks in advance. I hoping to get some time in on them this weekend.

 

[mrshaun]

make sure you give these guys some pictures before you start. you will get the " this thread is worthless with out pics" line...

 

[Joel 67]

make sure you give these guys some pictures before you start. you will get the " this thread is worthless with out pics" line...

(just kidding about the stupid part Mr Shaun)

 

[selohssa]

Without pics, it is too hard to determine a game plan. There are many differnt ways to get the job done. Those sound like cool boxes, get some pics and I will be glad to help.

 

[smodat]

I would take out the dents and dings first and make sure all the drawers were working as they should before I started removing paint. Depending on the amount of surface rust I probably wouldn't strip the boxes down to the bare metal, I've seen a lot of projects that get stripped bare and then get put on the back burner until they are good and rusty all over. I find that cupped wire attachments on your grinder will remove the paint very easily, however, they don't do much for removing rust. For removing rust I either use a sandblaster or a flap disc on the grinder. Since you mentioned you only have a sander and grinder then you will probably be using a flap disc, remember to take it easy and let the disc do the work, applying too much pressure will remove sheet metal in a hurry.

 

[91FE]

make sure you give these guys some pictures before you start. you will get the " this thread is worthless with out pics" line...

Yea...I figured that was coming. Here are the shots I have from the original sellers. I'll take some more this weekend.

I got the roller off of craigslist for $30 and the top cabinet on ebay for $135. No pictures of the hand box also from craigslist... but it was $30 too.

 

[9GUY9]

i may be tempted to leave them as is. I would try cleaning them up with a soft scotch brite pad and wd-40. They are 70 years old. Do you really want them to look shiny and new?