To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!

Saving a Craftsman Tool Chest

OP
Z

Zeeman

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 21, 2016
Messages
1,185
Location
Bartow County Georgia
Oh those drawers are tedious! Been doing one myself, chest is done and started on the lower box. I was able to fit mine in the glass bead cabinet, still a PITA.

Great job, I can't wait to see it done. Watching yours makes me feel lazy about where mine is.

Steve

Yep, the drawers are a slow go. I am pluggin away though.
 
To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!
OP
Z

Zeeman

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 21, 2016
Messages
1,185
Location
Bartow County Georgia
You've come a long way and thankfully you found yourself a media blasting cabinet. Sanding those drawers by hand would have been an unbelievably aggravating undertaking.

Your friend likely had black beauty extra fine media loaded up in that box. That's nice stuff to have around in cases like this.

Nice work!

Not sure what the media was, but it was a slow go. No way it was going to warp anything. I did have to sand some of the drawers by hand, or Do Have to.
 
OP
Z

Zeeman

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 21, 2016
Messages
1,185
Location
Bartow County Georgia
Not a whole lot of progress, but a little. I don't remember if I posted the one finished drawer, but here it is. I could't help but put a few tools in it.

You'll see some pictures of the drawer on the right in a few minutes.

 
OP
Z

Zeeman

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 21, 2016
Messages
1,185
Location
Bartow County Georgia
Thanks for the encouragement guys. Here are some more pictures.
See if you can tell what big boo boo I made.




Yep, I filled, primed, and painted over the badge holes. I'll have to wait till this drawer dries well enough to handle and see if there is any evidence of the holes from the inside.
Opps.
 

WWheeler

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 23, 2015
Messages
4,105
Location
Middleofnowhere USA
Following this thread is amazing watching what once wasn't much more than a decrepit shell of a toolchest so tediously, dare I say miraculously, undergo a full rejuvenation. A most literal example of a Phoenix arising from the ashes to be sure. Wow, just wow.

:thumbup:
 

WWShop

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 25, 2015
Messages
948
Location
MN
Wow! Amazing restoration! I congratulate you on the patience it must have taken to attack this project. Absolutely beautiful work. Bravo, my man, bravo.
 
OP
Z

Zeeman

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 21, 2016
Messages
1,185
Location
Bartow County Georgia
Many thanks to both of the "W"s, Wheeler and WShop. I put the aluminium trim on all but two drawers this afternoon, and I'm working on a paint design for the Craftsman badge. I'll probably tackle the last 3 big drawers tomorrow and Monday. I should have some pictures of the completed box soon. I think it's only been two months or so since I started, and I only worked on it when I had time and felt like it.
 
To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!

Tynee

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 19, 2016
Messages
979
Location
In the Heart of the Bluegrass
The metal Snap-On badge on the one I'm working on is pitted pretty badly. I've been trying to decide whether it would look better or worse to strip it down completely, and try some sort of chrome spray paint.

What's your plan for your badge?
 
OP
Z

Zeeman

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 21, 2016
Messages
1,185
Location
Bartow County Georgia
I think I'm going with a combination of polishing the 'Craftsman', and putting some paint on the 'V' part. Not sure yet, but probably white on the V, and black in between. I have sanded the Craftsman already, and it's looking pretty good. It was not pitted to start with though. How deep are your pits: Can they be sanded down? If you can get it down to smooth metal without it getting too thin, you can polish it, and I think it would look a lot closer to actual chrome than the chrome paint I've seen.
 

thehorse13

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 15, 2015
Messages
3,477
Location
Jefferson County, WV
Don't give in to the temptation to spray your emblems with chrome paint. It will look terrible.

If you can't polish out your originals to an acceptable appearance, buy yourself better examples of original badging.
 

Tynee

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 19, 2016
Messages
979
Location
In the Heart of the Bluegrass
That's what I suspected. I've never seen a chrome spray that I thought looked good, but assumed that just meant I hadn't seen them all. Sounds like my initial instinct is right. Thanks to you both.
 
OP
Z

Zeeman

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 21, 2016
Messages
1,185
Location
Bartow County Georgia
The badge and a couple more drawers.



The badge still needs a little touch up, but it was the best I could do with the paintbrush I had at the time. I think I like a little 'shiny' on it as opposed to the Craftsman being painted white as Taumac showed in the Let's Here it for the Gray and Red Craftsman thread. Thanks for the post Taumac.
 

tym

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 5, 2016
Messages
2,429
Location
MA
You got lucky or you stumbled upon incredible magic.
I've had success repairing chrome-colored trim lines (e.g. around gauges on a vehicle instrument cluster) by using a glue pen and metal foil. You can get a kit at the craft store. You "paint" the area that you want to chrome with the glue pen, then apply the metal foil (which has a paper backing), press, then peel off carefully. If you've done it right, the foil will separate from the paper backing and remain on the part.

It's the only way I've found that actually looks like chrome. I assume the foil is aluminum.
 
OP
Z

Zeeman

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 21, 2016
Messages
1,185
Location
Bartow County Georgia
I have been thinking about that tall middle drawer, and how to use it. I know some people might put a bottle of wiskey in there, or maybe a gun. I don't drink, and my gun's always on me, so I had to come up with a different idea. I had my 1/4 inch drive sockets, ratchets, and extension in the very top of my chest, but I want to clear up some space for 3/8 and 1/2 inch stuff. That middle drawer is just too deep, so here's what I came up with.
Here is the finished product, and if you want to see the boring process, just keep scrolling.

This will slide down into the bottom of the drawer. I'm going to drill holes for the 1/4" ratchets, extensions, and breaker bars. The holes will be in the front of the drawer, and the tools will be going up and down in the drawer/perpendicular to the bottom.


The stand is part of a rack I got at the GW (Goodwill), and I bent one edge of the top over to make it stiff. I did not measure correctly, so I had to bend another piece of sheet metal and weld it onto the top.






 

smokeyburb

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 20, 2014
Messages
163
Location
Southeast AZ
I had my 1/4 inch drive sockets, ratchets, and extension in the very top of my chest, but I want to clear up some space for 3/8 and 1/2 inch stuff. That middle drawer is just too deep, so here's what I came up with.
Here is the finished product...

Nice use of space. Do you plan to use that as a pull-out tray or stationary storage? I like to keep my 1/4 stuff mobile because I use it a lot so I keep it in an old metal S-K box.

I had a similar 10D box for some time and used that deep drawer for safety glasses, DVOM, and jumper wires.
 

BFBOB

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 20, 2011
Messages
5,073
Ummm...lemmee guess - your favorite TV show is Graveyard Carz- right?
 
To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!
Top Bottom