Wanted to share some new information I picked up today after talking with Kennedy Manufacturing about the old rectangular drawer pulls on their classic machinist boxes.
I called them with two goals in mind
- to see whether the variations in those pulls could help us better date vintage boxes, and
- to figure out whether someone could create one or two solid 3D-printable replacement designs to release into the public domain.
I ended up speaking at length with Cathy (sp?), an incredibly friendly and knowledgeable rep. She went above and beyond walking through what she’s seen over the years.
First, the bad news: Kennedy is no longer producing the classic hand-carry “Signature” series (520,
560, 526, etc.), and there’s no current plan to bring them back. The old machinery and tooling were simply worn out.
Now for the drawer-pull info.
Cathy confirmed that
undocumented variation absolutely exists in the older rectangular pulls (the style before the twist-and-snap all-plastic version). Kennedy has no surviving documentation on these changes, so any real detail will have to come from collectors. She believes most of the differences were due to wartime material scarcity, not intentional redesigns. She’s seen all the types below but can’t tie any of them to specific date ranges.
Variations she described or confirmed include:
All-
metal pulls
Plastic pulls:
- smooth face
- textured face with a raised, elongated horizontal diamond
- attached with two embedded metal split rivets
- attached with one embedded metal split rivet + two plastic alignment pins (one on each side)
- attached with screws
She’s also seen cases where the drop-front
panel pull differs from the drawer pulls on the same box.
Replacement idea:
For anyone trying to replace missing pulls, a
3D-printed plastic version attached with two short screws (no deeper than the pull itself) seems like the most universal option. When I next have a need I’m planning to start by commissioning a model of the most common color, fascia style, and other visible details.
Finally:
If anyone here has documented examples, dated boxes, or photos of the various pull types (and drawer hole specs for a 2 point attachment), I’d love to compare notes and build a more complete picture.
