Toolbox Refinishing - The "Barn Find" Look

[Private Lugnutz]

d42jeep and Unaiu may have more to say. That many hinge elements usually means postwar, but it does have all the other features, and it has the look.

 

[Smokeshow69]

Thank you for the feedback. I guess it remains a mystery, Guess I'll clean it up, treat it with some BLO and find a use for it.

Hey Kent- post this in the vintage tool box thread in the vintage section and ask the same question. You will get a much wider viewing audience! I have no clue on the manufacturer and if lugz can’t help, I can’t guarantee any one else can’t but it may help?


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[Kent_B]

Good idea, Smokeshow69. I have a couple other b@stard boxes that have no ID. I'll make a post on them tomorrow. It's all good fun.

 

[d42jeep]

Regarding your toolbox, here is a thread you might want to check out.
https://forums.g503.com/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=198454
-Don

 

[Kent_B]

^^^ Thanks. Some interesting reading there!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Not a toolbox, and not pertinent to the discussion - I am just posting this here to show someone else rather than side-tracking another thread. Old laptop bag project. I call it "The Old Crow". (Nickname for tactical Army Security Agency soldiers and civilians before it was folded into the NSA.)

Pic 1 is the materials I started with. Coal bag for portable forge. Handle off a soldering iron. Cloth-jacketed cables. Various canvas, leather and rubberized radio bags. Signal flag kit bag. Lineman's belt. Trouser belts. Woolen sleeping bag liner. Leather CS-34 case. All wartime. And some of my old insignia.

Pic 2 is my design.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

And the finished bag...

 

[Farmer J.]

Nice one Lugz.
Started off with a pile of old junk none of it unique or useful on it's own and turned it in to something new, useful and interesting. Preserved some old history, and added a little bit of personal history too.
The laptop can be quite a useful 'tool', although not always my favourite one to use!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Thanks, J. Guaranteed conversation starter. And I kept or featured as many of the markings as I could, which is generally where I start answering curiosity questions...

 

[y'sguy]

Thanks, J. Guaranteed conversation starter. And I kept or featured as many of the markings as I could, which is generally where I start answering curiosity questions...

Dang, what an awesome Job you did on you bag! Of course you know you could sell that item or other ones similar for big bucks. Well…maybe you do?

 

[Private Lugnutz]

There's a guy in California who was doing just that with salvaged wartime material. He was making them in themes. The Airborne (lots of parachute material). The Medic. etc. Much, much simpler and more standardized with some (maybe 50%) filler modern materials and just enough specific original material to achieve the original cannibalized appearance. He made one for himself, made a few more and advertised them on a militaria forum, taking orders. That's actually where I got the idea. He took A LOT of ugly stupid criticism and grief. And I defended him and we became friends. Long story short, the orders soon exceeded his capacity (it was a side job, he is a prop man in Hollywood), but not before his bags caught the eye of a major manufacturer in Europe. I don't think it worked out though. They wanted to use 90% modern materials and I think he may have lost the battle to retain any kind of rights to the idea.

I do have a related project in the drawing room that only one other GJ member who I have been collaborating with knows about. Rare leather tool bag reproduction. I have the design and the materials, salvaged from bulk day curb finds. Just need to make it and place an order for a woven decal. That is where all the cost is going to be.

 

[JoCoSawdust]

Now that....is cool! Great job!

 

[ALLFAST]

I want to thank Lugz for starting this fine thread, as it was the impetus to get my own creative juices flowing on the SK Socketchest. Everyone else who has contributed their own reports of experimentation , those were impressive results !

Lugz, I first read this thread about the time I was going to pickup the Socketchest,and took some mental notes on your staining technique,then became busy. Along the way I did some surfing and found the old H.A.M.B vintage toolbox thread and was THAT ever fun !

I noticed alot of sweet boxes there,and what smacked me dead in the face was this very red,and very well photographed Snappy K21.. A few members said that it is about a mid to late 1980s era K21 , as are the tools. So I saved that photo and went about with life.

I started some cleanup and straightening of some mildly bent edges on the SK and began experimenting with paint on some stray sheetmetal stock.

I also remembered that my Boss is staying 600 miles away while overseeing a project for a few weeks (for a repower of one of our subleased company assets...it's a BIG job). Two days ago I jumped on the local CL for where he is at and found my second wartime chest ! This supposedly one family owned ,nearly all original gray wrinkle painted K21 ! It has the tote tray and the drawer tray for the Ferret sets (correct ?). I inquired of the seller if the box was available still,and he said yes. I texted my boss and he was all for picking it up,so I PPd the seller and it should be in my bosses hands by 11 am Saturday.

My little diversion is pertinent because I was eyeing this style of Snappy box for awhile, but didn't think finding one this fast would be so easy....There were actually 4 bad *** boxes to chose from,but this was a no brainer). Always be persistent !

I then went back onto your thread here and saw that you got a K21 as well !!!

As we speak I am doing a paint experiment for the Socketchest (photos to follow tomorrow). Yesterday afternoon I took my sheetmetal test panel and cleaned and scuffed it. I sprayed two medium coats of Duplicolor black.and aqua trunk spatter paint (any good autoparts store carries it) and found that it left a very durable , mildly textured surface . I just now laid down 2 nice medium coats of my custom blended ACE deep olive/signal Corp green Stop Rust. I used a 4 dollar semi smooth surface foam roller (mini, 3 inch) and used a cross hatch pattern. An amazing thing happened: The finish leveled itself out to almost match the 77 year old flattened wrinkle finish which remains on the inside of the box. I'm going to let it cure 24 hours plus and see how it looks.

As of this writing, it looks fantastic and looks great over the zolotone base. I may coat that with a satin clear and see how it looks .

I just happend upon to what I believe is a newer Rust-oleum Stop Rust aerosol.color : Gloss Army Green. It looks to be a very close match the the signal corp OD, so I'm ordering a can of that tomorrow and will continue with the zolotone bascoat tests. I think if I use your 0000 steel wool scuff, post topcoat,and use a satin clear over that,I may have a winner.

I felt using VHT ( gray or black ) wrinkle would be too thick and require me to sand about a third of it off for a thinner layer before painting over it with od green . This zolotone may be just the ticket for the perfect texture affect, and it's easy as pie to use (and has corrosion inhibitors built in) .

I'll post up some nice photos later today of he mostly cured experimental patch (it's about an 14 x 7 inch patch so it will be a good replica of a toolbox panel).

Thanks for reading the "OD Green Badge of Courage"here ! The next ones should be much shorter!

Stay safe, Shawn

The really clean gray green K21 is from a collectors toolbox site. It's pretty slick.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Funny you should mention H.A.M.B. A lot of my ideas and techniques come from reading ratrod threads. Those guys are at a whole 'nother level of distressing to get the old barn find chopped look they want! Some of them actually promote rust, then clearcoat it in.

 

[ALLFAST]

Howdy Lugz !
The rat rod folks definitely do it to another level !

 

[Smokeshow69]

Funny you should mention H.A.M.B. A lot of my ideas and techniques come from reading ratrod threads. Those guys are at a whole 'nother level of distressing to get the old barn find chopped look they want! Some of them actually promote rust, then clearcoat it in.

I love the hamb. Period correct hot rods and tools is my jamb! I loved the magazine hot rod deluxe when Petersen publishing company was still producing it [emoji849]


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[ALLFAST]

Yes Smoke! The tools and style of old is the best . And that rag was cool!

Is this CM rare at all, and is it 50s?

 

[Smokeshow69]

Yes Smoke! The tools and style of old is the best . And that rag was cool!



Is this CM rare at all, and is it 50s?

I don’t think this is particularly rare? I am not an expert though. Post this on the heritage thread in the vintage section and ask the question! There are more knowledgeable folks on craftsman in that thread


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[d42jeep]

Yes Smoke! The tools and style of old is the best . And that rag was cool!

Is this CM rare at all, and is it 50s?

Here is mine in original condition. They are not super rare but I see a lot more crown models.
-Don

 

[JoCoSawdust]

Those 65xx series boxes that Don and Allfast posted aren't rare at all but they are more difficult to find in good shape, with the tray and not spray bombed. Note the difference in the 2. Allfast's box is earlier without the ribs on the front and back panel, Don's has the distinctive 3 ribs. My best SWAG is that the ribs showed up around 48 or 49ish. The totes would be painted red towards the end of the Heritage era.

 

[ALLFAST]

Thank you all, that's great info JoCo. I wasn't aware of that detail. The blue box is a random net shot. Not mine.

 

[ALLFAST]

Ok, After nearly 20 hours of drying, one or my experiments is complete. This is the sheetmetal panel which I sprayed with the Duplicolor Trunk Spatter paint. I don't believe that it's as thick as a true Zolotone ® finish, but it has just enough to match the very aged look of the 4000C.

I actually used some of Krykon's course pebble finish and coated it as well, in the same topcoat run. It is much more textured , but the dried material isn't very strong... a fingernail can do it back. No such luck with the trunk paint.

I put a couple of medium light coats of the ACE oil based enamel down , with the medium smooth finish foam roller. It covered really well. I think for my project, this looks too new, so I may do a Lugz approved 0000 Steel wool scuff, do some brown shoepolish smudging, and wax it up after a satin Aerosol clear coat. I have a few other methods in the works, buy wanted to give an update here on the trunk paint.

In person, the texture finish is not as prominent as what the camera makes it out to be, and it looks perfectly textured: Not too smooth or overly proud on the surface.

Until next time,

Stay safe, Shawn

 

[ALLFAST]

Today I spent 30 minutes doing the final cleaning of the Socketchest's tool tray. I had initially used some Simple Green and WD40 and did a quick wipedown (this was about 3 weeks ago ) to get an idea of its condition. I used a small Cresent wrench and squared away about six minor bends which were in the four sides (I still need to tune up the 1/4" socket rail,as I need a micro wrench for that).

I put the tray inside a clean pan and sprayed about a quarter of a can of WD40 on every inch of its interior surface, and gently scrubbed it with a firm scrub brush. The tray is watertight as no WD40 leaked out anywhere from the inside. I used one half of a splt paint stick and gently scraped all the corners and seams clean of 77 years worth of grease and grime.

I then dumped that into a slop tank and started with fresh WD. More gentle scrubbing with some maroon scotch brite,and then another dumping of dirty slurry. I then sprayed WD until I had a very clean residue, and then used a nice rag and wiped it all down inside and out.

The bottom surface,handle, and some of the outside edges were given a quick WD/Scotch scrub and here is the end result. As I understand it, people on Etsy actually PAY for patina like this (either real or faux����) on those steam punk items !.

I plan to wipe the inside bottom of the tray with more WD, and line it with some nice fresh cork (I'm going to give the cork some roughening up to age it abit. I have the correct 1/4 ,1/2, and 3/4 wartime sockets all ready to roll,and am starting to work on gathering the 3/8 set.

This toolbox was purchased from a yard sale of a working farm in Brentwood, California, and it still smells of old grease, oil and dirt even after this thorough cleanup! At some point the handle was severed from one of the top ends of its support tower and brazed back on. The alignment wasn't the best, but it's still in fine enough shape. The repair adds to the character of the box. I will simply wax the whole tray and it should be good to go. Do any of the experts have any tips for what is best to use on all of these faded paint and bare metal spots?

The before ,as purchased shot has my forearm in the picture ,and today's work is the last 3 photos.

 

[ALLFAST]

I am finally at peace with the color choice. I put my freshly painted steel wedge (the first color test piece ), the freshly cleaned tray, and my test panel (the ACE olive drab custom match rolled over the Duplicolor Trunk Spatter Paint ) all side by side for a photo.

They look EXACTLY the same from the computer screen,and extremely close in person. The new paint is just a tad bit, and nearly imperceptibly darker than the old finish. The lighting (inside or outdoors) obviously plays a big part in the final hue,but it is basically a perfect match to the previously mentioned Signal Corp OD.

I scuffed one side of the test panel with steel wool, ALA Lugz, and left the other side glossy.The glossy side looks better by far.. Which begs the question: Should these wartime boxes be gloss or semi gloss ??

With the color locked down,my next dilemma is method. Should I do the Lugz stain method here,simply by thinning out the perfect color,and use the multiple coat buildup method, or prime,trunk paint (for wrinkle texture ) and topcoat with the enamel.and go?

I'm more inclined to go with the stain method here.. What are you folks thinking? I prefer to somewhat match the overall look of the outside to that of the weathered interior. Any thoughts?

Thanks for checking it out and sharing all of the great creative ideas everyone.

Cheers,

Shawn

 

[ALLFAST]

The side with zolotone written on the end is scuffed flat,and the other is gloss.

 

[ALLFAST]

A few pictures from the first week of picking up the 4000W in case anyone missed out.

 

[d42jeep]

In terms of the finishes on the wartime S-K boxes, the choices are varied since S-K was really inconsistent. Here are a couple of pictures of my likely 1944 large carry box (1500). The first shot is resprayed with Signal Corps No 1. The original undercoat is sort of an elephant hide texture. The second picture is the original texture of the interior. If I was redoing the exterior of your box, I would come as close as I could to the interior texture, which looks to me like S-K wrinkle finish. All of the boxes in last two pictures are wartime S-K original. I think your color choice is very close to the interior color of your box so all that’s really left to be decided is the base texture.
-Don

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I concur with Don. As for the tray, now that's it's derusted and cleaned up, I think it's on the verge of having just enough original paint remaining to leave as is. If you coat it with Fluid Film or wax, those bare spots will not rust. Just my $.02

 

[Smokeshow69]

I concur with Don. As for the tray, now that's it's derusted and cleaned up, I think it's on the verge of having just enough original paint remaining to leave as is. If you coat it with Fluid Film or wax, those bare spots will not rust. Just my $.02

I agree! Don’t paint the tray, just clean and wax. Just someone else and their 2cents[emoji23]


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[ALLFAST]

Don, Your term "Elephant Hide" is the perfect descriptor for such a finish. Thank you for your sage input. I will do a final experiment with the gray VHT wrinkle as a base (using this ACE as topcoat) and then see which is the best.
And yes, the tray (as will the rest of the interior surfaces) will simply be left clean,waxed,and lined with some cork (or other material ).
Thank you Lugz and Smoke !!

 

[ALLFAST]

Don, I have saved many examples (from online searching) of much older SK casket stye carpenter boxes which have the very same elephant hide as your box. Those appear to be a rich brown (not oxidation as far as I can tell) tone as opposed to green.

 

[Farmer J.]

ALLFAST, it looks great progress so far. Looking forward to seeing more.

Lugz, do you have a definition of a 'barn find'? Can it include things I have left forgotten in my barn then remembered about and 'found', or things I have known about for decades but only just dragged out of the back of a barn? My daughter say's they don't count!

I 'found' a metal cubby hole shelf unit today, it sure has the look of a barn find, but I put it on the metal cabinets thread.. I did genuinely find that it is in much better condition than i expected!
J.

 

[ALLFAST]

Thank you Farmer J!

 

[ALLFAST]

On an earlier post Outlaws mentioned the topic of the level of sheen for these boxes. Can Don or Lugz advise whether they should be a semi gloss,satin,or gloss when in an as new refinished state?

 

[d42jeep]

Don, I have saved many examples (from online searching) of much older SK casket stye carpenter boxes which have the very same elephant hide as your box. Those appear to be a rich brown (not oxidation as far as I can tell) tone as opposed to green.

Yes. One of the wartime colors is a brown.

On an earlier post Outlaws mentioned the topic of the level of sheen for these boxes. Can Don or Lugz advise whether they should be a semi gloss,satin,or gloss when in an as new refinished state?

It’s difficult to determine the sheen of the topcoat when it is being applied over a wrinkle base. I think Midwest Military refers to their paint as Low Gloss.
-Don

 

[ALLFAST]

Thank you Don. I'll be conducting more experiments in the laboratory then!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Lugz, do you have a definition of a 'barn find'? Can it include things I have left forgotten in my barn then remembered about and 'found', or things I have known about for decades but only just dragged out of the back of a barn? My daughter say's they don't count!

Going to have to agree with your daughter on this one. It can be your stuff in your barn, but it has to be found by someone else a few decades from now.

Can Don or Lugz advise whether they should be a semi gloss,satin,or gloss when in an as new refinished state?

Your box is commercial. I will check the '43 catalog tomorrow. Military boxes were semi-gloss.

 

[ALLFAST]

Why Thank you Lugz ! In the sudden quest for the "wartime " tools, I think I lost sight of that very fact I'm pretty sure there was some creative license with that 43 advert being a tad lighter green,due to the color being so dark.Maybe they needed some contrast?

 

[d42jeep]

Why Thank you Lugz ! In the sudden quest for the "wartime " tools, I think I lost sight of that very fact I'm pretty sure there was some creative license with that 43 advert being a tad lighter green,due to the color being so dark.Maybe they needed some contrast?

Early on in the catalog, they mention that the artwork is prewar. My experience is that the catalog listing is mostly useful for the list of parts that are in the set. Usually the artwork is totally not to be trusted.
-Don

 

[ALLFAST]

A very useful tidbit. Thank you Don.