Restoring Kennedy tool boxes

[xladkalkd]

I have several Kennedy tool boxes I'm going to restore.

However I'm not certain about what sort of paint to use and what sort of preparation work is required.

The first one is brown and the top fold open with small compartments on either side. Is going to require some straightening of the main box as the hinge on the back is bent causing the toolbox not to open and close as it should.

The second also brown has five half drawers and two long drawers on the bottom with a front lid that folds up. The top lid divides to expose the two top side compartments. Nothing wrong with it, open and closes as it should.



The third Kennedy Tool box is red in color sits on top of a fourth Kennedy tool box with larger drawers that sits on large rollers. Works ok, doesn't have any damage.

The top smaller toolbox has a top main compartment and two long drawers beneath. The lid with a long hinge covers both the top compartment and two lower drawers

The larger bottom toolbox has two half drawers and four full length drawers.

I haven't decided how much prep work needs to be done. I could wire bush and then sand with sand paper or perhaps use a sand blast attachment on a pressure washer?

The sand blast attachment finely sands metal and can take a while to remove paint and prep at lower pressure psi's and is able to get into places a wire brush and sand paper isn't. However cleaning off most of the paint would probably be time consuming and I haven't decided if it's necessary in order to repaint the metal tool boxes.

I'll probably keep the brown one brown and perhaps change to another color if able to remove most of the red, otherwise will it will stay red.

As what type and manufacture of paint to use I'm sorta up in the air. Perhaps a textured paint such as from Rustoleum?

I haven't really looked at this type of paint for quite a while. Paints keep changing where much of it is now water based and acrylic. I'm uncertain how would be able to stand up on durability compared to actual paint from Kennedy?

I'm not really certain what's involved and needed to powder coat. I seem to remember reading from several years ago, powder coat requires an oven or a place to heat up the object that need a powder coat.

So I think I'll stay with a spray paint that comes in a pressurized can.

And just purchase additional *******. The main thing I dislike about spray paint are the ******* are continually clogging.

There is also military paints such as milt olive drab that can be ordered in slightly different olive drab shades. Some of the paints were used during WWII while others are still used today on Humvee and other military vehicle.

Comes in gallon cans and most likely require to be brushed on or spayed on using a paint sprayer.

There are also anti-rust paints as well as paints used in vehicle restoration, however much of this sort of paint is water/moisture cured and requires some sort of top coat.

 

[seber]

I would not change from red. That is the color that was used for mechanics boxes. They are built to a higher standard than the machinist boxes. If you look underneath you will find that the bottom is actually strong enough to support the weight on casters. The machinist boxes will collapse if rolled around much.

 

[Farleyfan]

From Amazon,
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00C3ITSNM/?tag=atomicindus08-20
Woah that has gotten expensive !

 

[Joebass]

I would not change from red. That is the color that was used for mechanics boxes. They are built to a higher standard than the machinist boxes. If you look underneath you will find that the bottom is actually strong enough to support the weight on casters. The machinist boxes will collapse if rolled around much.

That's false. I worked in a GM plant. All the skilled trades and set up men had Kennedys. 95% were brown, and if you were a tradesman you rolled it all over the plant. My father worked there also as a machine repairman. Right now I have 3 brown Kennedys sers8 and his red set in my machine shop.

 

[seber]

That's false. I worked in a GM plant. All the skilled trades and set up men had Kennedys. 95% were brown, and if you were a tradesman you rolled it all over the plant. My father worked there also as a machine repairman. Right now I have 3 brown Kennedys sers8 and his red set in my machine shop.

For many years I made extra money buying broken Kennedy rolling boxes and reselling them after repairs. 90% had collapsed bottoms. I only ever found one red one. I still have it converted to a welding cart with addition of a bottle platform. Repairing the machinist boxes consisted of adding a 3/4" plywood plate underneath and remounting or replacing casters.

 

[zkling]

I would not change from red. That is the color that was used for mechanics boxes. They are built to a higher standard than the machinist boxes. If you look underneath you will find that the bottom is actually strong enough to support the weight on casters. The machinist boxes will collapse if rolled around much.

They are the same box, with different paint. Perhaps your data set is skewed because the red boxes are not nearly as common as the brown ones. Now I will say, the red paint does seem quite a bit thicker than the wrinkle brown.

 

[Earp69]

When I worked at ppg the whole maintenance department got Kennedy boxes. The older guys had brown Kennedys and then around 2000 they bought everybody red ones. Everybody built exoskeleton style frames out of angle iron with bigger caster wheels because the floors were not in the best shape and we would push our boxes to every line for a job. Everybody also built cabinets on the sides or back for extra storage.

 

[Packard V8]

Your boxes, your time, your money. However, it's doubtful even a young man would live long enough to disassemble, sandblast, prime and paint inside and outside and reassemble all those boxes.

FWIW, I've restored my last toolbox. Nothing I've ever undertaken required more time and effort for less tangible benefit. Shiny don't get the work done.

Another FWIW, wrinkle finish spray bombs are almost impossible to get an even application approximating the factory finish. BTDTNA.

jack vines

 

[marantzer]

I bought a crinkle red Kennedy a few months ago, overall the paint was intact, but a LOT of grease and grime. It laughed when I tried to clean it with WD40. I then tried Murphy’s Oil Soap not diluted. It’s now damn clean, but the straight Murphy’s tinted it closer to Orange. I’m betting it would have little impact on the brown and would certainly give it a try if your main boxes are dirty vs rusting. With multiple boxes you could probably find the happy medium of cleaning power and dilution.

 

[Air21]

I bought a red Kennedy bottom box a while back that had been drug across something on its side and was all scratched up to the metal.

I bought a few cans of Aircraft Remover, boogered it all over one side at a time and covered it in aluminum foil for a bit to really seal in the flavor. Most of the paint came off and I finished off the rest with some spongy looking stripper wheels on my angle grinder.

I bought a can of that Kennedy paint for too much money, then didn't have the heart to try it in case it didn't work, so I got a quart of almond colored appliance paint at Home Depot and it's still rock solid years later in the machine shop.

For the top box I just lubricated the slides, cleaned it really well with some dish soap and water which turned all the rags brown, and whenever they decommissioned a machine at work I steal a data plate to glue to it. I've never seen a pristine Kennedy box before.

 

[ZRX61]

I've found the best method is to completely dismantle the toolbox, remove the casters, slides, handles etc...

Then drop all the sheet metal off at the local powder coaters. Saves a lot of ******* about & general ballache...

 

[Henricogolfer]

Would love some pics, following.


Sent from my iPad using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[1982fxr]

In my experience red and brown are the exact same box.

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

In my experience red and brown are the exact same box.

Same here.

 

[xladkalkd]

After looking around I felt for $100.00 not a bad deal. The previous owner upgraded his tool boxes and felt he no longer needed his old ones.

No real damage just mainly grease and some wear. I need to lubricate the slides and try to clean off some of the impregnated grime

Haven't yet decided if I want to spend time disassembly and restoring using a wet blaster (sand blaster)

I think if the rate is reasonable and it's possible to dismantle to have the parts of the chest powered coated, otherwise I would use some sort of enamel.

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

I have that exact same top box down to the tote.

Are these boxes going to be users? Honestly, they don't look bad as-is.

 

[FJ 432]

My very first restoration was my Dad's Kennedy boxes just before he passed away. His pair was government gray originally and we talked about adding green to the mix.

These were powder coated and I took them down to bare metal. As Packard V8 mentions above this was a lot of work.

 

[thr3squared]

My very first restoration was my Dad's Kennedy boxes just before he passed away. His pair was government gray originally and we talked about adding green to the mix.

These were powder coated and I took them down to bare metal. As Packard V8 mentions above this was a lot of work.

Awesome job!!

 

[Bondolero]

Both the brown on Kennedy boxes and S-K can be duplicated through Powder Coat.
The green on early S-k can as well. I love restoring them and doing the refurbishing on all the hardware. Not what a lot of collectors prefer but I use my tools and dont want them to be rust and dirty, nor my toolbox.

 

[1982fxr]

What do you use to replicate the crinkle Kennedy finish?

 

[marantzer]

After looking around I felt for $100.00 not a bad deal. The previous owner upgraded his tool boxes and felt he no longer needed his old ones.

No real damage just mainly grease and some wear. I need to lubricate the slides and try to clean off some of the impregnated grime

Haven't yet decided if I want to spend time disassembly and restoring using a wet blaster (sand blaster)

I think if the rate is reasonable and it's possible to dismantle to have the parts of the chest powered coated, otherwise I would use some sort of enamel.

I’d encourage you to try cleaning it, here is a before/after of my red crinkle finish with Murphy’s Oil Soap:
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/marantzer/0q7618" title="78489BCA-7E97-4B8F-9F48-FBF903B82F2F"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49206681412_325d08d714_k.jpg" width="1536" height="2048" alt="78489BCA-7E97-4B8F-9F48-FBF903B82F2F"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/marantzer/AM5DR9" title="9F98D41A-B422-4FFE-A25D-EC9EAAB22D42"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49206681612_5e75ad4f89_k.jpg" width="1536" height="2048" alt="9F98D41A-B422-4FFE-A25D-EC9EAAB22D42"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[senlow]

Off topic comment:
The side box under a drill press is a great application. I have a 20" wide mini Kennedy roller under my drill press. It is a good use of otherwise wasted space.

Back on topic:
I like Kennedy tool boxes, but despise **** brown wrinkle paint. I have used hammer finish paint on a couple of Kennedy boxes. It's not OEM, but it looks good and is easier to keep clean. Go for the restomod!

 

[xladkalkd]

I"ll try some of the Murphy soap. All I currently have is some purple cleaner.

Just cleaning the painted metal is another option. I probably need to look for something to lay inside the drawers to prevent tools from sliding around.

I have a couple other Kennedy tool boxes. One in great shape is brown with seven drawers. The other also brown opens up and folds out on both side with small compartments, needs some sort of repair as it currently doesn't want to close without pushing in on the long hinge.

I have other tool boxes but they aren't the same quality as the Kennedy which seem to be becoming more difficult to find a reasonable and lower prices.

I looked at some new tool boxes for under $200.00 but all used cheaper and thinner materials. e.g. Sears 1000 tool chests upper and lower can be found for around ~$150 - $175 (upper and lower) don't have the same quality as an older Kennedy.

 

[MFolks]

Kennedy(Used to) sell the spray cans of brown or red wrinkle paint,I'd imagine it must be baked on for a tough finish? So look at powder coating places.

 

[IGOTGRANPASTOOL]

I have several Kennedy tool boxes I'm going to restore.

However I'm not certain about what sort of paint to use and what sort of preparation work is required.

The first one is brown and the top fold open with small compartments on either side. Is going to require some straightening of the main box as the hinge on the back is bent causing the toolbox not to open and close as it should.

The second also brown has five half drawers and two long drawers on the bottom with a front lid that folds up. The top lid divides to expose the two top side compartments. Nothing wrong with it, open and closes as it should.



The third Kennedy Tool box is red in color sits on top of a fourth Kennedy tool box with larger drawers that sits on large rollers. Works ok, doesn't have any damage.

The top smaller toolbox has a top main compartment and two long drawers beneath. The lid with a long hinge covers both the top compartment and two lower drawers

The larger bottom toolbox has two half drawers and four full length drawers.

I haven't decided how much prep work needs to be done. I could wire bush and then sand with sand paper or perhaps use a sand blast attachment on a pressure washer?

The sand blast attachment finely sands metal and can take a while to remove paint and prep at lower pressure psi's and is able to get into places a wire brush and sand paper isn't. However cleaning off most of the paint would probably be time consuming and I haven't decided if it's necessary in order to repaint the metal tool boxes.

I'll probably keep the brown one brown and perhaps change to another color if able to remove most of the red, otherwise will it will stay red.

As what type and manufacture of paint to use I'm sorta up in the air. Perhaps a textured paint such as from Rustoleum?

I haven't really looked at this type of paint for quite a while. Paints keep changing where much of it is now water based and acrylic. I'm uncertain how would be able to stand up on durability compared to actual paint from Kennedy?

I'm not really certain what's involved and needed to powder coat. I seem to remember reading from several years ago, powder coat requires an oven or a place to heat up the object that need a powder coat.

So I think I'll stay with a spray paint that comes in a pressurized can.

And just purchase additional *******. The main thing I dislike about spray paint are the ******* are continually clogging.

There is also military paints such as milt olive drab that can be ordered in slightly different olive drab shades. Some of the paints were used during WWII while others are still used today on Humvee and other military vehicle.

Comes in gallon cans and most likely require to be brushed on or spayed on using a paint sprayer.

There are also anti-rust paints as well as paints used in vehicle restoration, however much of this sort of paint is water/moisture cured and requires some sort of top coat.

I’ve had my share with Kennedy mostly vintage boxes Machinist Carpenter Mechanic Tackle? my first boxes came from old guys that worked for an aerospace companies most of them came from Lockheed in Burbank Ca. Some came with tools micrometers bust best of all was the old safety glasses, that being said I’m restoring my first box ever I bought the brown Rust-o-Leum and some brown primer looks like it’s gonna be fun.

 

[driftpin]

At a Miami yard sale, I got a Kennedy box. Another time, at a storage yard, they were cleaning out unwanted items, and I snagged a free Kennedy workbench. I wanted to improve its jury-rigged set of wood legs so I made this 2x4 frame. The whole thing is much more-sturdy now, and I fixed some construction errors apparently from some prior owner.

 

[Dave455]

Just to prevent confusion folks, I should probably point out that there are two companies out there called “Kennedy” offering tool boxes.

The first is “Kennedy Manufacturing Co” of Ohio, U.S.A. They manufacture the boxes themselves in the U.S.A, the boxes are of the highest quality, and are probably what folks think of when they talk about a “Kennedy” box.

They are famous for their machinists chests in the brown crinkle finish, but also offer high quality mechanics and industrial chests, some in red. Their logo looks like this -

There is another company, called “Kennedy Tools” or somesuch, based in the U.K. They are not, as far as I am aware, a manufacturer of anything. Rather they are one of many importers and distributers of predominantly far eastern made tools and equipment.

They do, however, have many of the items they distribute marked with their own name, including toolboxes. Whether they offer their products in the U.S. or whether any confusion is intended I can’t say, but If I was the Kennedy Manufacturing Co of Ohio, I would not be happy. Their logo looks like this -