Snap On Chest Rebuild

[Junkman]

How long do you have to wait to use it after removing from the refrigerator? I used to heat enamel paint in the old days to make it flow better, and for a better gloss and drying time. My cup even had a heating coil built into the bottom with a electrical connection.. I am talking the 1950's......

 

[Uncle Buck]

How long do you have to wait to use it after removing from the refrigerator? I used to heat enamel paint in the old days to make it flow better, and for a better gloss and drying time. My cup even had a heating coil built into the bottom with a electrical connection.. I am talking the 1950's......

I must admit, the last time I did this was around 1994 so I do not recall for sure Junk. I probably let it set for a 1/2 hr to 1 hr then tried spraying a test pattern to see if I was good to go. I do not imagine it took much more time than that.

 

[menace2u]

OK - Painting is finally done. How long did that take me to finish???

Here are some drawers:

Some more drawers (the larger ones):

Main Cabinet:

One of the side cabinets:

I used a single stage acrylic enamel (Martin Senour) paint and it went on pretty well though I made my fair share of mistakes. But thats why I did this one myself - to learn.

Final spray is now drying and then hopefully I re-assemble this weekend.

AndrewT

 

[r6_cannibal]

That looks awesome! Just saw this thread for the first time and I must commend you on your work! I might be doing a box soon as well so I'm kind of taking notes
Can't wait to see the whole thing put together!

 

[menace2u]

Thx. It was alot more work than I expected but good to do and learn. I am most pleased about putting in the extra effort on the drawers to get the insides cleaned and sanded/painted. I had originally planned to avoid this step due to all of the extra work and the fact that the drawers were really pretty rough on the inside. Plus there were 22 of them to refurbish!

Here they are now:

And another one:

 

[wrenchr]

Thx. It was alot more work than I expected but good to do and learn. I am most pleased about putting in the extra effort on the drawers to get the insides cleaned and sanded/painted. I had originally planned to avoid this step due to all of the extra work and the fact that the drawers were really pretty rough on the inside. Plus there were 22 of them to refurbish!

Here they are now:

And another one:

Are you going to buff those out? Looking very good!!

 

[Merkava_4]

Yeah......you're gonna have to rub some areas out with fine rubbing compound because it looks like you had too much solids and not enough carrier. No big deal though, they'll look smooth as glass after they're rubbed out.

 

[menace2u]

Are you going to buff those out? Looking very good!!

Yes - I want to even out the finish in some areas but not sure how to do this.

Wet sand with 1000 grit and soapy water? Or is there some compound to use?

Never done this before with single-stage paint so any advice is appreciated.

AndrewT

 

[Merkava_4]

Don't use the wet sand paper method; just use rubbing compound. You get like a cotton terry cloth (maybe one of the wife's wash cloths )and you wet it down and ring it out so that it's damp. Put some rubbing compound on the cloth and start rubbing the paint.

You're gonna see some paint come off onto the damp towel; that's perfectly normal because you're removing the rough paint that had too much solids. When your towel gets clogged up with paint, switch to a new part of the towel. Follow up with a dry towel and buff it out.

I'm not exactly sure on the grit, but I've used the No. 7 brand and it's worked pretty good. I think No. 7 comes in one grit. Maybe one of the other dudes will know exactly what grit to use.

 

[Diesel-Mech]

Looks pretty good , do you have any plans for the casters since there is a little over spray on them?

 

[e-tek]

Not that Merkava isn't right - I haven't buffed that kind of enamel per se, but for anything else using just a cloth and compound could take forever, if your arms don't fall off first!

If you find that way is not taking much off (even though the rag is red), use 1500, then 2000, then buff away. It just takes less work.

I certainly wouldn't poslish the insides!! That's an expensive non-slip surface there!! I'm guessing you'll put drawer liners in anyway.

Nice work.

 

[Junkman]

Don't use the wet sand paper method; just use rubbing compound. You get like a cotton terry cloth (maybe one of the wife's wash cloths )and you wet it down and ring it out so that it's damp. Put some rubbing compound on the cloth and start rubbing the paint.

You're gonna see some paint come off onto the damp towel; that's perfectly normal because you're removing the rough paint that had too much solids. When your towel gets clogged up with paint, switch to a new part of the towel. Follow up with a dry towel and buff it out.

I'm not exactly sure on the grit, but I've used the No. 7 brand and it's worked pretty good. I think No. 7 comes in one grit. Maybe one of the other dudes will know exactly what grit to use.

No. 7 is the old Simonize brand of rubbing compound. It comes in a reddish orange, and white. The reddish orange is the coarse and white is the fine. You can thin it with some warm water to a looser consistency for easier application. Wax after polishing. Just give the paint enough time to throughly dry. I would say that 30 days would be best. Also practice on the bottom outside of the drawer, where it will never bee seen.. Junk..

 

[Merkava_4]

No. 7 is the old Simonize brand of rubbing compound. It comes in a reddish orange, and white. The reddish orange is the coarse and white is the fine.

I didn't know about the fine white one; thank you sir.

 

[krusty the clown]

like junk said, give it time to cure. i would wet sand with 1000 grit, then macine buff with fine compound. after that you may want to hand buff it with swirl remover.

 

[bgott]

About those locks...What part number did you order? Do they match the old ones? I couldn't find the KR series on the website, being that they're obsolete. The locks in my KR1000A work fine but the keys are just about worn out. They are just about ready to break. My Snappy man told me he couldn't get the keys anymore and that the newer locks wouldn't work. Methinks someone had a dose of the lazies. It would sure be nice to have a solution before I end up having to wrap chains around the boxes to lock them!

 

[Merkava_4]

It would sure be nice to have a solution before I end up having to wrap chains around the boxes to lock them!

You should be able to get the keys made at good locksmith; look for an independent locksmith that's been doing it for 30 years or so.

 

[ossaguy]

I upgraded the locks on my Bluepoint 54 inch box,,along with a real old KRA topbox and even my Sears locker to the same key # ,tubular-type locks that my new KRA 4000units came with.It took a little bit of work,but turned out good.I like having only 1 key to have to mess with.

 

[mkdive]

+2 on the wetsanding. I have been following the thread since Dec....LOOKS GREAT!

 

[-B-]

Forget wet or dry paper use the micro mesh system you won't have to buff.

 

[246gts]

Thats a new term to me. Whats the micro mesh system?
Thanks
Dave

PS Good work on the box it will look great

 

[menace2u]

My SO dealer ordered the keyed locks together for me and it was no issue for him to get. I assume they work but haven't installed them yet. I can snap a picture of them in the bag if you want - or get the part number from there.

I already have the SO drawer liners ordered (coming next week) so I am not going to buff the drawer insides. Yes - need to buff some of the other paint and also interested in learning more about this micro-mesh system.

AndrewT

 

[wrenchr]

I use micro mesh on model cars and it works perfect.

 

[menace2u]

Here is a pic of the lock set - there are 4 locks all key-matched with 2 keys per lock. SO dealer had them all keyed alike for me and had no issues ordering them.

The part number on the bag is 8-18337 in case you cannot see it in the pic.

AndrewT

 

[Skyline]

About those locks...What part number did you order? Do they match the old ones? I couldn't find the KR series on the website, being that they're obsolete. The locks in my KR1000A work fine but the keys are just about worn out. They are just about ready to break. My Snappy man told me he couldn't get the keys anymore and that the newer locks wouldn't work. Methinks someone had a dose of the lazies. It would sure be nice to have a solution before I end up having to wrap chains around the boxes to lock them!

You can get keys for any old Snap-on box. I have done this a few times with different older boxes. Call Snap-on, and they will give you the number of a third party resource that will sell you the keys. All you need to have on hand is the code number of the lock.

 

[bgott]

OK, I'll try that. I would rather just have new keys, if Snap On has them, great!

 

[TAMPAGT07]

Hey menace2u, I like your "Beaker" picture. Any reason why you chose this character. About twenty years ago, a friend of mine asked me if I'd ever met a mutual friend's brother. I told him that I had not, (ever met "Reed's" brother.) He then informed me that his brother looked like Beaker from the muppets. A few weeks later, I went to Reed's house, and his brother opened up the front door and stuck his head out, and sure as hell, I was then confronted with a human beaker. I had to do everything I could do to control myself from laughing my head off. I was just wondering if you have a brother named Reed?

 

[menace2u]

Hey menace2u, I like your "Beaker" picture. Any reason why you chose this character. About twenty years ago, a friend of mine asked me if I'd ever met a mutual friend's brother. I told him that I had not, (ever met "Reed's" brother.) He then informed me that his brother looked like Beaker from the muppets. A few weeks later, I went to Reed's house, and his brother opened up the front door and stuck his head out, and sure as hell, I was then confronted with a human beaker. I had to do everything I could do to control myself from laughing my head off. I was just wondering if you have a brother named Reed?

Haha - no brother like that. My Dad was an Engineering Professor at a University and we grew up like Beaker. He did side work investigating mechanical/electrical failures where lawsuits were involved and we often had left over 'appliances' around the house that were half-destroyed but he made us use. Like a car battery charger that had been in a fire where the battery exploded and someone died. He MacGyvered it to work (though half the case was missing) and then send us out to charge his battery at night so it would start the next day. We were lucky to get it hooked up and working without injury. There were many more events like that one from my childhood. So we were like Beaker - always testing the Professor's experiments and always getting used.

AndrewT

 

[-B-]

http://www.sisweb.com/micromesh/

 

[dps]

I'm gonna elaborate a little more on the final finishing. If you have a tactile orange peel, that is, you can feel it with your eyes closed, you need to level the surface, not smooth it. Think of your existing surface as if they were the Rocky Mountains. If you buff it with any kind of compound on any kind of applicator, you will end up with the much lower, smoother, Smoky Mountains. Still rough, not really any shinier. You need a bulldozer to level the surface first. That would be sandpaper on a sanding block. You can get various sizes of rubber blocks from an automotive paint store, and some wet/dry sandpaper to go with it.

Which grits you'll use depends on how rough the surface is, how long you want to sand the surface, how much paint is on it to be removed before cutting through to primer. I would suggest something like 1000 grit followed by 1500 or 2000. Read up on this somewhere; not just a few lines typed here.

NOW you're ready to smooth the surface with rubbing compound, and a final high gloss polish with polishing compound. Think of rubbing compound as something like 4000 grit paper and polishing compound as some 8000, though they both come in a wide range of abrasiveness.

Practice on a back or underside.

Or enjoy them as is for the nice restoration you've done.

 

[billymade]

All I can say is WOW; looks awesome! I'm sure color sanding, cut, buff and polish will make it look awesome! Once the orange peel is knocked off; it will be smooth and possibly look better then the original finish. Great job!

 

[bmwpower]

updates????

 

[Elwood77]

Looks great so far, can't wait for an update

 

[menace2u]

Sorry - been away from home alot lately. I ended up taking down the paint booth to make room for other projects as I thought I was done with painting and would just live with the final result after wet-sanding and buffing. But I've since reconsidered as the paint is close to being very nice but not there yet. So, I have yet more work to do.

My friend owns a local body shop and has agreed to help - while I help him with mechanical work on his Jeep Willys. I don't know what went wrong in the painting as this is the first time for HVLP for me. I know I mixed it right (according to specs) but I have no confidence that the gun was adjusted right though I did my best according to instructions and trial and error. And them maybe I was too far away when laying down the coats. I know when I got too close I got runs on the vertical surfaces so I erred on the safe side which may have caused other issues. Whats odd is that some surfaces are really good and I could definitely be happy with. But others are orange-peel and rough and have no gloss at all which is definitely bad. And these don't get alot better when sanding/buffing. When I wet-sand with a block, I get uneven texture and color which does not buff out. So I am going to sand with a heavier grit and then re-shoot the facia surfaces of the drawers and all of the cabinets. My friend said he would help mix the paint and shoot with his gun (hopefully in his spray booth also!). This should give me what I need to get something closer to finish-quality. I plan to try and do that within the next week and then final assembly.

AndrewT

 

[zuspiel]

Trial and error is my way of life

So no worries. I'm sure you'll end up with a great result.

Good luck! Looking forward to the finished box.

 

[menace2u]

OK - Its about done. Got the drawers on over the weekend and completed the lock assemblies today after buying some HW needed that SO did not provide with the new keyed locks. I determined to replace two more drawer slides since they were in very bad shape and should get those soon. I assembled with the bad ones to take the pics and I really wanted to see what it looked like finished. You can probably see in the pics where the bad slides are (drawers aren't perfectly aligned). Overall I am pleased with the results. Its not perfect and I know where all the defects are. But much better than what I started with:

Original Condition:

Finished Condition:

SO drawer liners arrive tomorrow. It took them 6 weeks to order them for some reason. Also plan to build a laminate top for the complete assembly so I can use it as a work surface and not bash on the paint. I got this to have a mobile work area so it can be moved around within the bay. It moves but that thing is damn heavy!!

AndrewT

 

[Diesel_Crawler]

Wow nice job,

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

Andrew, that looks awesome!

You did a helluva job!

 

[Titus]

Great job!

 

[stevejh82]

That looks like a totally different box...you have way more patience than I do. Good job. I built a laminate top for mine out of hardwood flooring that worked out pretty well. Keeps from scratching up the lip on top, and after all that work you did, that might be a good idea.

Again nice work

 

[menace2u]

Thx for all the nice comments. It was alot of work but I learned alot and like doing this type of work. And I really appreciate all the advice and words of encouragement along the way.


AndrewT