restoring a stanley vidmar cabinet

[coffeebean]

hello all,
i recently bought a stanley vidmar cabinet at auction. i am very pleased with my purchase and was surprised at the weight of the thing. its a six drawer that i plan on using for my wood working tools.

it has a little rust, and it has pink drawers. So i need to do a little work. done some reading on the board. I have some questions for those that have done this or similar things before.

1.) should i use self etching primer and can i sand it if i do. rustoleum's site is not much for instructions.

2.) I'm thinking of using rustoleum's tractor/equipment paint on it. any experience with that?

3.) I hear from many places that prep is the key to paint. so I was thinking remove the rust and sand to bare metal. Prime. Sand. Prime. sand. Paint. paint. clear coat. what would you do?

okay i have read a few of the discussions on rattle canning tool boxes. That's what i plan on. I'm not a professional painter, and i don't plan on paying one. I can accept the results. The box has to look okay and hold my tools.

That said I'm interested in everyone's opinion on the best way to proceed. Thank you for your replies i appreciate everyone's input.
Dave

 

[7echo]

Re: restoreing a stanley vidmar cabinet

Can you remove the handles? If so, I would get those out of the way, bang out the dented area on the bottom, and scuff the areas that have good paint, spend a little more time on the rusty areas. Spot prime the rusty parts, maybe use a a hi-build sandable primer, then top coat with 2 or 3 light coats of your color choice. Cabinets like that usually have pretty good finish and you will make it a lot of work for your self if you take it to bare metal.

Can you post a better image so we can get a better view of the rust and dings?

 

[Norcal]

Re: restoreing a stanley vidmar cabinet

Just my opinion, Krylon primer is much more user friendly then Rustoleum.

 

[dittle fart around]

Re: restoreing a stanley vidmar cabinet

If the paint is still sticking to the material done remove it, use a red scotch brite pad and scuff it till the finish is dull. That will give a surface for paint to stick to.

 

[camarotoolman]

Re: restoreing a stanley vidmar cabinet

I would get some good paint remover and strip the outside. Fill dents, prime, paint etc. Depends on how bad the old paint is.

 

[Jack Olsen]

Self-etching primer is for bare metal.

In your shoes, I would keep it simple. Take off the handles. Take off the drawers. Decide how much of the thing (interior/exterior) you want to repaint.

Sand off the rust, scuff up the existing paint, prime the bare metal. Lightly sand the whole thing. Then clean it and wipe it down with acetone, mask it and prime it. Then paint it.

I did MUCH less than that on my blue Vidmars. I pulled the handles, scuffed them, wiped them down, and basically hit them with a roller. I am not a perfectionist when it comes to paint. (Sooner or later, you're going to need to touch it up, and a perfect finish is going to be less forgiving than a quick-and-dirty one.)

After:

A generous GJ member sent me a set of the labels and clear protectors.

 

[mtwaterguy]

When I was looking at a vidmar cabinet recently, I checked with a local powdercoat company. For an eleven drawer cabinet the charge was right around $200. Might be something to investigate.

 

[coffeebean]

okay so I'm progressing on this project. i took out the drawers, took the handles off, sanded the old paint off, primed them with rustoleum auto body primer and have been painting with krylon farm and equipment paint, john deer yellow.

so to review my process: sand, prime, sand, wipe with acetone, prime, sand, wipe with acetone, paint.

the issue i had was when i sanded the first coat of paint, then wiped with acetone. the paint came off see pic. yes it was dry, by a week.

questions for the group:

1.) i wet sanded(water) between coats, and gave the paint a good wipe and let dry before the next coat. seems to be working well. should i be using something else?

2.) Should i polish the paint before i put the clear coat on? say with a buffer of some sort.

thanx
dave

 

[James Aiello]

Never heard of cleaning with acetone after painting.. you can use it to clean but not after the paint has been put on. I've used acetone to take off spray paint that has been on things for 40 years.

Once you have sprayed it with primer and sanded it just use cheese cloth to clean it with.. something that will not leave any lint behind.

Honest I would not put that much time into something like cabinets that are going to just get nicked up. Prime then paint, if the metal is not full of rust pits it should come out nice and smooth.

No do not polish the paint before putting on a clear coat.. you will get fisheyes..
I agree with what the others have said, do not take down to bare metal if the paint is sticking to it. Clean the paint first then scuff it.. very important to clean first otherwise you will sand the dirt into the paint and the paint will not stick.
Soap and water, lacquer thinner, scuff up with 120 paper then primer if you like then paint.

good luck

 

[DaveN13]

I really enjoy restoring these old Vidmar and Lista cabinets. I've gotten a few from Reliable Tools in Irwindale (thanks to Jack Olsen). Is there any way to get labels from Vidmar or Lista? Or a good durable laser-compatible template to print them? Good luck with your restore - it can get to be quite a habit!

 

[cvorkian]

I ordered mine directly from VIDMAR. They are the newer style, but now ALL cabinets match. I have restored 5-60" Vidmars from a garage sale... paid $25- 80 for each one....
LOVE THEM!!!!

 

[coffeebean]

i ended up picking this one up at reliable tools too.
watched forever and scored on the last pink & tan one they had.
not much time lately working on it when i can.
dave

 

[DaveN13]

I believe Reliable Tools has another pink Vidmar cabinet on auction right now...

 

[NUTTSGT]

I ordered mine directly from VIDMAR. They are the newer style, but now ALL cabinets match. I have restored 5-60" Vidmars from a garage sale... paid $25- 80 for each one....
LOVE THEM!!!!

Dude, you ****.



I wouldn't use acetone after the paint, it's too harsh for that, as you have found out.