Sears Craftsman/Beach Toolbox Restore

[freebo86]

So I picked up this set of toolboxes up last week on the local classifieds for a real good price. May have been a spontaneous purchase as now I will need to readjust my layout in my garage to make this all fit . But I already figured out a plan however more on that later.

The bottom box is a Beach ( I am in Canada) which was made by Beach Industries back in the day in Ontario. The unit shows its age, the metal is still good, not many dings. The main front piece that folds and closes the entire box has a dent. But all other drawers do not have any dents and slide somewhat smoothly, with the exception of one slide which is bent. The drawers use traditional slides.

I don't intend to a full repaint of everything but what I want to do is paint 3 and top side of the cabinet and front faces of the drawers. I drilled out the handle rivets to pull those off also.

Bottom unit.

The two top units are Sears Craftsman boxes which appear to be from the same area. They have some stickers etc. on them.

 

[freebo86]

My plan of of attack is to tackle the large cabinet first. I've pulled all the drawers out, hit the drawers with degreaser and washed them off. They look a bit better, there is no major rust on any of the drawers and they are all sturdy except the one that has some rust in the tray area.

The large cabinet I sprayed with degreaser, plan tomorrow is to wash and then run a wire wheel over the cabinet and get any paint and rust of it. Then wash off again and clean with acetone in order to prep for primer.

Any recommendations on which red color? The Rustoleum Sunrise Red seems to be a recommendation around here, however looking online it doesn't appear to be a color I can get my hands on in Canada.

This is the bottom of the large cabinet, going to get this cleaned up and apply some rust converter on.

 

[M635_Guy]

Ah - so it doesn't matter that your name (probably) isn't Daryl...

Are you going to do any bondo work to it?

Looking forward to progress pix!

 

[freebo86]

Ah - so it doesn't matter that your name (probably) isn't Daryl...

Are you going to do any bondo work to it?

Looking forward to progress pix!

Hehe, no my name is not Daryl. Am I missing something, lol? Or you just saying due to the name on the box?

I wasn’t planning on doing bondo work. For a couple of reasons, time and money. Not sure if it actually needed and if it would be worth it? The holes you see in the side of the cabinet are for the tray that came with it which I removed for the time being.


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[Alex in Canada]

That's a nice set you got there! Where in Canada are you located? I've always wanted a large Beach roller like that. Probably will buy one, one day.

What did you pay, if you don't mind me asking?

 

[freebo86]

That's a nice set you got there! Where in Canada are you located? I've always wanted a large Beach roller like that. Probably will buy one, one day.

What did you pay, if you don't mind me asking?

Thanks! I actually seen your thread as I was doing some research on how to restore these things, your's turned our amazing! You went the whole nine yards and even used a HVLP gun to paint yours!

I paid $150 for the entire set. Originally it was the large cabinet and the top section, the guy wanted $200 but lowered it to $150. Once I got there he threw in that middle (2 drawer) section in for free basically. I did have to make an hour drive to pick these up but gas is cheap now I'm down in Atlantic Canada.

Made some progress yesterday. Cleaned up the entire cabinet inside and out, stripped the pain and applied a coat of Primer on it, still drying in the pictures. Originally I though the bottom piece was rusted of the cabinet turned out it was just caked on dirt/mud. Cleaned out the sliders inside the cabinet as well.

I started cleaning the sliders last evening and even after letting them soak for over 2 days in water with soap they were still sticky and grimy. Pulled out the Paint Thinner last night and within minutes noticed that it was working much better. So hopefully should have those cleaned up this evening.

Next order of business is pulling all the door handles by drilling the rivets out and stripping the paint of the front faces of the drawers. Also, the little handles have a lot of grime within the groves so should be fun cleaning those.

 

[lilredex]

Looks good, and that is a fair deal at $150. Those could be all Beach pieces judging from that handle under that Autolite sign. To find a step up box deeper than 12" is rare.

The side holes are for handles and the fold up tray, you have. The handles looked the same as the front ones.

Sunrise Red is still around, but you have to really look. My last two tins came from Walmart in Watertown N.Y. last time there.

You going to make that missing drawer?

 

[freebo86]

Looks good, and that is a fair deal at $150. Those could be all Beach pieces judging from that handle under that Autolite sign. To find a step up box deeper than 12" is rare.

The side holes are for handles and the fold up tray, you have. The handles looked the same as the front ones.

Sunrise Red is still around, but you have to really look. My last two tins came from Walmart in Watertown N.Y. last time there.

You going to make that missing drawer?

Sharp looking box! I actually picked up Rustoleum Apple Red from the Store yesterday, due to the situation I'm trying to minimize travelling around stores lol but need this project wrapped up.

The missing drawer is not actually missing, it's the one that was jammed shut and the slider quite a bit bent. I managed to get it out prior to taking that picture. It is in fact a complete unit. Guess its a B89 unit by your picutres. Would be nice to get my hands on the Beach emblem as its completely gone from the unit.

How did you redo those handles? I noticed the rivets are not traditional rivets, but some call them Tubular Rivets?

 

[lilredex]

They are tubular rivets, and I've never removed any, just worked around them when necessary.

 

[Parrothead]

Love it! Can’t wait to see the finished results!

 

[alinc100]

Read this thread yesterday and last night while binge watching Schitts Creek I spied these 2 Beach toolboxes . There is one to Eugene Levy's right in this pic and one on the backwall behind the desk as the scene evolves.I only know of one other garage with 2 of these puppies. (hint:it's my garage) . You folks in Canada have got it so good. I'm just lucky to be 15 miles from the Detroit/Windsor crossing.

 

[lilredex]

Another version, with some sunshine on it.

 

[alinc100]

Another version, with some sunshine on it.

Thanks, It was all I could do to capture the image. My skills stop there.

 

[lilredex]

Easy if you use Windows Live Photo Gallery. Open picture from your computer file and Edit, organize or share is on upper left corner and that allows you to add or remove sunshine or just remove shadows, etc......great tool that is part of windows.

 

[freebo86]

Little more progress, didn't get out yesterday to put some red on the cabinet as its just too windy. And my garage is such a mess at the moment and I wouldn't dare get overspray on my Jeep. There is a couple of coats of paint drying on the cabinet as we speak.

In the meantime I used the time to clean the sliders and handles. The paint thinner did an amazing job. Simply and very effective.

 

[bubinga]

Looking Good!

 

[freebo86]

Looking Good!

Thanks!

Anyone see any reason why regular car polish couldn’t be applied to those handles to give them bit of a shine back? I keep finding recommendations for mag wheel polish?


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[freebo86]

The weather is nice, however way too windy outside these days. Decided to just move things inside and cover up and put on my mask and go to town. The cabinet is finished basically took 2.5 cans. Way more than I had anticipated. It's looking pretty nice, a few dings but those are in areas that are not too noticeable once the cabinet is in place. Plus, adds some battle scars to tell its history

Question, going forward with still a quite a few items left to be painted. Would you guys recommend I switch over to buying the rustoleum in a quart and then reducing with acetone/mineral spirits? Reason I ask is for cost savings at the rate I'm going I see that I will need a fair bit more cans to finish this project off.

I do have a compressor (25gal) with a gun, I know the compressor size is maybe not ideal and I wouldn't try painting a car with it but for what I am doing could it suffice? Would it be more cost effective to go this route? I'm assuming I could get the Rustoleum paint matched?

 

[LNKMK8]

Paint looks great! That Craftsman middle box is an amazing find! I'd love to come across one for my 1979 stack. Not sure I have seen a 2 drawer middle from that time period before.

 

[bubinga]

Thanks!

Anyone see any reason why regular car polish couldn’t be applied to those handles to give them bit of a shine back? I keep finding recommendations for mag wheel polish?

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No Reason What So Ever
Even "Johnson's Paste wax" Or similar.

 

[Alex in Canada]

Thanks! I actually seen your thread as I was doing some research on how to restore these things, your's turned our amazing! You went the whole nine yards and even used a HVLP gun to paint yours!

I paid $150 for the entire set. Originally it was the large cabinet and the top section, the guy wanted $200 but lowered it to $150. Once I got there he threw in that middle (2 drawer) section in for free basically. I did have to make an hour drive to pick these up but gas is cheap now I'm down in Atlantic Canada.

$150 for those is a pretty good deal, congrats! And thank you, it was a lot of work but turned out real nice and still looks great.

You're doing a great job restoring yours and I'm excited to see the end product!

 

[The Cobbler]

The weather is nice, however way too windy outside these days. Decided t....
I do have a compressor (25gal) with a gun, I know the compressor size is maybe not ideal an.....

your compressor would be fine for that project . I use a spray gun a lot for painting. you can get better coverage, wider fan and better results on bigger stuff like that.

 

[jeffmoss26]

subbed!

 

[freebo86]

your compressor would be fine for that project . I use a spray gun a lot for painting. you can get better coverage, wider fan and better results on bigger stuff like that.

Thanks! So I primed the doors and they turned out good. Next I grabbed my gun to get it setup, well this gun has been sitting forever needless say it’s busted. It was an old gun and after looking at it closer I believe it was a LVLP.

Went out and grabbed a new HVLP gun from Princess Auto ( Canadian Harbour Freight) this appears to be the same gun everyone raves online about for cheap. Finally got some time tonight to get things lined up so hopefully tomorrow I’ll be able to spray the red. At the same time I picked up a 3M 60923 cartridge for my mask to protect against vapor& organics, preciously all I had was a 2097 (p100) filter. This setup cost me more upfront than buying spray bombs but the gun I’ll have for future projects and to save me money so I don’t mind spending on tools. Am I the only one with this train of thought?

Curious, I started another thread but is this the Rustoleum that gets thinned 15-20% and sprayed? The videos I’ve seen guys are showing Rustoleum cans that say Protective Enamel on the can while this does not?

More updates in the coming days as long as this is the right paint and the spraying goes smooth!






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[Parrothead]

You need an oil based paint, not a latex. Entirely different product.

 

[freebo86]

You need an oil based paint, not a latex. Entirely different product.

Thanks. Yah found this out as well. So looks like now the cabinet colour Gloss Apple Red is not available in quart sized oil based, fml.

Now I’m looking at the Tremclad line of paints as I can’t find any other Rustoleum Oil Based Enamel..


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[The Cobbler]

being in Canada, you can look at the Home Hardware line of paint too, it is very good quality, and better priced than Tremclad. a good guy on the paint counter can adjust the colour too .
I like to use laquer thinner in oil base paints .

 

[DSLTRK]

I like resto threads like this. Good progress OP!

 

[freebo86]

being in Canada, you can look at the Home Hardware line of paint too, it is very good quality, and better priced than Tremclad. a good guy on the paint counter can adjust the colour too .
I like to use laquer thinner in oil base paints .

Thanks Cobbler. Looked at price difference Tremclad vs. beauty tone price difference is approx $1.

Doing more reading looks like us Canadians the closest we can get our hands is the Tremclad Rust Paint that is somewhat equivalent to
The Rustoleum Stop Rust/Protective Enamel

My issue now is the color match. Gonna have to take this latex can back and see if they can match the Tremclad to the Apple Gloss Red. If not I may just go with the Tremclad Fire Red and see how close it looks.


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[freebo86]

Alright some progress today. After visiting Home Depot etc. and coming to the conclusion that the color I used in spray bomb is not available in their quart size oil base I had to switch colours.

Ended up going with Gloss Fire Red it’s Beauti-Tone brand which is another hardware store and Tremclad carries the same color in their line up as well.

Had a chance to shoot a good couple of coats on the drawers, the color is not 100% as to be expected but I think it will be close enough. I laid one of the drawers inside the cabinet to get an idea. Happy with the HVLP performance too first time using this style gun.

May do one more light coat on these tomorrow and call it good. The inside of the drawers will be cleaned off a bit and liner installed so discard the inside condition.








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[The Cobbler]

looking good!
practice will go along ways .
Some of your paint looks like it has orange peel , it's a fine line between getting it to flow & getting runs... you need enough paint to flow out, but not so much to get runs. thinner can also help with that . acetone is pretty fast , maybe experiment with a bit of mineral spirits and acetone . as said previously, I prefer lacquer thinner over acetone.
your project looks great !

 

[bubinga]

looking good!
practice will go along ways .
Some of your paint looks like it has orange peel , it's a fine line between getting it to flow & getting runs... you need enough paint to flow out, but not so much to get runs. thinner can also help with that . acetone is pretty fast , maybe experiment with a bit of mineral spirits and acetone . as said previously, I prefer lacquer thinner over acetone.
your project looks great ![/QUOTE]

Is Lacquer thinner slower right?
Yes it does!

 

[Zeeman]

For the handles, you can use any chrome polish. I've used Neverdull, Mothers, etc. I don't think wax will do much as far as shine goes.

 

[The Cobbler]

I find lacquer thinner I get better results , and it is a bit slower than acetone I think

 

[bubinga]

I find lacquer thinner I get better results , and it is a bit slower than acetone I think

 

[freebo86]

Alright made some progress tonight, the large cabinet is done with the exception of handles and drawer liners.

In order to get these cabinets to fit I had to take my 2x4foot tables and basically Frankenstein to 1.25-1.5 tables. The extra length in table only had me keep stuff and collect junk on the table tops. Worked out well actually and I gained some width space towards the back of the garage, as the tables are 25” deep while the cabinets are only 16” for the blue and 18” for the Beach. Would be nice to cut the tables down to 16 or 18 but I’m worried that wouldn’t be deep enough..

So couldn’t wait but installed a few of the drawers and the side shelf to see how it looks. Tomorrow hopefully the rest of the drawers go in and then the handles. After that we tackle the middle and top box.




So this was my original setup. Took a bit of time to dismantle all the stuff and get rid of the shelving and paper dispenser.



This is how it will end up. Need to finish the table and fasten a couple of support braces and put all my stuff back. Will finish the big cabinet completely before moving onto the two smaller boxes. Going to remove the casters and clean them up as the overspray is bothering me.




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[freebo86]

More progress tonight on the lower cabinet. Lubed up all sliders and had to straighten a couple of them as well as they were not sliding at all. All drawers slide nice now with the exception of one it will need more work.



Decided to install the handles back and basically finish the bottom section to 90%. What is missing is the cover piece that folds on itself and stows in the open void. That piece will get painted on the next round when I do the two top pieces, also this piece had a good kink in the front face that I will have to straighten prior to paint.

Also, I need to source some liner material. For the lower cabinet I need approx. 26 sq-ft. Anyone have any recommendations for something that’s cost effective? I don’t want to spend a fortune.







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[The Cobbler]

looks great!

 

[bubinga]

More progress tonight on the lower cabinet. Lubed up all sliders and had to straighten a couple of them as well as they were not sliding at all. All drawers slide nice now with the exception of one it will need more work.



Decided to install the handles back and basically finish the bottom section to 90%. What is missing is the cover piece that folds on itself and stows in the open void. That piece will get painted on the next round when I do the two top pieces, also this piece had a good kink in the front face that I will have to straighten prior to paint.

Also, I need to source some liner material. For the lower cabinet I need approx. 26 sq-ft. Anyone have any recommendations for something that’s cost effective? I don’t want to spend a fortune.







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looks great!

 

[lilredex]

I have used vinyl hall runner in my boxes for the last forty years. Durable, easy to clean and cheap.

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