Stanley Vidmar score off CL

[beggers]

Lucky Monday morning review of my local Craigs List tools section, I found two, nine drawer 59"x 30" Stanley Vidmar cabinets for sale, just listed. I called the guy and made a run to his shop within and hour. These things are hard to find at a reasonable price. I was able to buy them for $325 each! Both are in good shape with no dents and just some minor rust, and full of almost new dividers. I have already started to disassemble them for clean up and a fresh coat of paint to match my shop.
Interesting find in one of the cabinets, an envelope with the words: "Inspection Report" on the face, I opened it to find an old Saginaw Transmission (Hydro-matic) division carbide inspection report. These cabinets came from one of our former local GM transmission plants!
One of the reasons they are mostly rust free was discovered as I removed the handles for cleaning, under the handle the area was soaked with machine oil, some 30+ years since that plant shut down.
So I am off to bring these baby's back to life and good use in my shop, I had to share as my wife doesn't really understand why I get very excited about some old industrial cabinets. Thanks for looking in, Brian

 

[wornoutoldman]

Pretty sweet. Are they lockable?

 

[beggers]

Although they don't have the locks on the units, the knock outs are there and intact for them, as well as all of the internal hardware and linkage mechanisms. Locks must have been an option for these units.

 

[dgithens1]

Great score!

 

[Punchwood]

The locks and keys are available on Ebay.

 

[bobemmerich]

Nice score! If I only knew, I would have grabbed the ones they tossed at work. they revamped some areas and just took them to the metal scrapper

 

[Trey T]

Wow. Awesome score @ $36/drawer. Around here, ppl want $100/drawer.

 

[beggers]

Thanks guys, for the lock info and I agree, most I have seen are near $100 per drawer. Yes, I am excited about industrial cabinets. Brian

 

[Strouty]

Good deal, I usually get them for about $350 to $400. Most sellers know what they have and won't adjust the prices too much. I bet buying the pair was what took it to $325. I have yet to find someone with two, they always either one or ten.

 

[zkling]

Congrats, those are going to be great storage.

 

[Heavymetalmechanic]

I'm jelous, I just got a pair of standard file cabinets for free when our parts dept upgraded to vidmars. I would love to get my hands on a set like yours.

 

[beggers]

Cleaned them up and rattle canned them in Craftsman colors, they really cleaned up nice. Now I just have to be patient before reassembling them. The aluminum handles cleaned up like new:

 

[Strouty]

Looking good, those will be a nice addition to the shop for sure.

 

[beggers]

For some reason I am only able to load one photo at a time

 

[ford33]

Great score on the cabinets and it is nice to know they are going to a good home.

 

[beggers]

Finished product:

 

[Strouty]

It looks nice, but how well do the drawers open when the box is sideways?

 

[beggers]

Thanks Strouty, for some reason when I use my phone to upload it goes sideways on me. BTW, I love your salvage garage thread and have come to admire your progress and capabilities. Love those cabinets as well, Brian

 

[CNGsaves]

^ ^ ^ Fixed your sideways pic for you - - - - see below.

Used FREE software called IrFanView . . . . easy to rotate, resize to 800x600, etc that is necessary to post on GJ.

Nice result on the Vidmar. The red / black combo will go with a lot of colors in your garage.

 

[ADSR]

love those boxes!

 

[G-ManBart]

Wow...great score, and the turned nice!

 

[beggers]

Thanks guys, these things really are Heavy duty, each drawer has 10 roller bearings on it, they are really built nicely, I have always wanted one, and got lucky finding a pair at that price.

 

[Moose02]

great cabinet find and you did an excellent job of refinishing them now send them to me for free

 

[Richard Cranium]

I look at craigs list daily for more...No luck...****