Unexpectedly long Craftsman tool chest restoration project

[atlm]

I wanted a tool box with a lot of drawers that would physically line up with my gen1 US General chest (39.5" high, 18" deep). Finding something that height proved to be a challenge. I eventually found this older Made-in-USA Craftsman (by Waterloo). In the sales ad pictures, it didn't look that bad. In real life, the rust was more widespread, especially the drawers. But it fit my requirements and the rust was all on the surface, nothing structural, so bought it.

"Quick weekend project" I figured. A bit of sanding, 2 or 3 cans of spray paint, done. Hahaha.

I just finished it. It took me a month, with total labor at about 60 hours and over $123 in materials (plus the price of the tool box itself):

$13 Rust dissolver gel
$14 2 cans Rust-Oleum rusty metal primer
$13 3 cans Rust-Oleum Regal Red (clearance price)
$15 4 cans Rust-Oleum charcoal gray (clearance price)
$16 2 cans Rust-Oleum satin black
$7 Rust-Oleum satin metallic aluminum
$7 Rust-Oleum clear satin
$4 Gulf paraffin wax
$12 box of latex gloves, gentle masking tape
$22 24' roll of drawer liner

additional items that I already had: new lock, super glue, towel (ruined with wax), sandpaper, steel wool, masking paper, mineral spirits, alcohol

Pictures from sales ad:

 

[atlm]

I removed the drawers, slider rails, casters, lock, and emblem from the cabinet.
I power sanded the rust areas, scrubbed the metal joints and crevices with a steel wire brush, treated the rust spots with dissolver gel, rinsed everything off, degreased with mineral spirits, and degreased again with alcohol.

Bottom of the cabinet prior to paint:


I primed and painted the bottom, outside, and inside (everything but the top) first, with the cabinet upside down on a furniture dolly to move it around.

After primer and 2 coats of paint (Regal Red):

 

[atlm]

I repeated the sanding, dissolver gel, rinse, degrease process on the casters. Taping the wheels off for paint was interesting.

I tried to find new caster retaining screws but was unsuccessful, so I soaked them in rust dissolver gel, rinsed, scrubbed, soaked them again, and rinsed them again. Then I drilled holes in a board to hold them for painting.

After the first coat of paint (Satin Metallic Aluminum):



Remounted on the cabinet:



Then I flipped the cabinet, taped off the sides and bottom, and primed and painted the top.

 

[atlm]

I removed the drawer handle aluminum trim pieces. The drawers were filthy inside, with rust inside and out, mostly at the fronts, with the lower drawers worse than the uppers. I began cleaning them with Krud Kutter, but found it was slowly softening and removing the paint. I eventually ended up using steel wire brushes on the metal joints and crevices, power sanding the larger rust areas, then hand-sanding the worst rust spots to get down to metal. Then I soaked all those areas in rust dissolver gel, rinsed off the gel (in my kitchen sink), washed the drawers with dish soap, rinsed again, degreased them with mineral spirits, and gave them a final wipedown with alcohol.

A couple of the drawers prior to paint:

 

[atlm]

I painted the insides and outsides of the drawers, and primed their front panels.

Drawers painted (Charcoal Gray, 2 coats) with fronts primed (Rusty Metal Primer, 2 coats):



With all the warnings to make sure the paint is dry before recoating (to prevent wrinkling), I waited 5 days to paint the front panels. I used delicate painters tape and masking paper to cover the somewhat fresh paint on the drawer bodies and insides.

Fronts painted (Satin Black, 2 coats):

 

[atlm]

While all of that was drying I focused on the aluminum trim pieces for the drawers. They had scratches, some corrosion, and some staining from the drawer rust. I wet sanded the scratches and stains out with 320 grit and mineral spirits. Then I cleaned and polished all the surfaces with 000 steel wool, also wet with mineral spirits. After a final wipedown with alcohol, I painted them with 2 coats of satin clear.

To enable painting of the fronts and backs, I taped roofing nails inside the back grooves. I held the nails while painting, and then inserted the nails into predrilled holes in a board to hold them while drying.

Nail "handles" taped in place:


Trim cleaned and painted:

 

[atlm]

After cleaning the drawer slider rails and their slots in the cabinet with mineral spirits, I read that wax is the preferred lubricant so I attempted to rub some on. That just made a mess of wax slivers. I finally ended up using a heat gun to melt the (Gulf paraffin) wax bar surface while rubbing the slides through the melted wax. The slides were covered but globby. Then I used the heat gun to melt the wax into a liquid on each slide, leaving the slides covered in a thin uniform wax film.

Done, with one towel ruined with melted wax soaked into it.

The "Craftsman" trim piece had one of its round retention pins broken off. I used Loctite super glue to fix that, which worked great. It also had some sort of paint blobs on it, which came off with alcohol and a plastic razor blade.

The tool box had no key, so I replaced the lock with a new one, from a set I purchased years ago from Sears.

Next was reassembly. That went quickly.

Reassembled:

 

[atlm]

Drawer liners were the final step. I bought a 24' x 18" roll.

Finally done:

 

[atlm]

Family photo, next to its siblings (where the height & depth requirements make more sense):

 

[RTM]

Looking good. If I could get that done in a month, I’d clean up more of my boxes, but instead I use them rusty.

 

[Jayman17]

Very nice results on that box!

 

[sixfootfive]

Beautiful job. Love those Craftsman 9 drawer boxes.

 

[Wamsutta]

I had no idea that Regal Red looks so much like Craftsman Red. That's awesome.

 

[BTL-A4]

@atlm did you paint the drawers on your US General box to match the C-man? Nice job on the restore, too!

 

[BTL-A4]

I had no idea that Regal Red looks so much like Craftsman Red. That's awesome.

Rustoleum Sunrise red is a match as well. I've also used Cherry Red to paint pieces that seem to match the C-man Pro.

 

[Wamsutta]

Rustoleum Sunrise red is a match as well. I've also used Cherry Red to paint pieces that seem to match the C-man Pro.

My experience with Regal Red is that it's much darker than Sunrise Red. I sprayed Regal Red over top of red oxide primer when restoring a wheel barrow. That was a mistake because it came out real dark like maroon. I have since learned that a very light gray primer is ideal for reds.

 

[Shelbylex]

Great job!!!

 

[larry4406]

Very nice job on the tool box. That was quite the effort.

Regarding wax for slides, at the day-job, our window and door contractor actually uses spray Lemon Pledge on the slides due to the wax it contains. When I first saw it, I was WTF but it works. Smells nice too!.

 

[IMCA38]

Nicely done!

 

[bugnut]

Great job on the toolbox, shes a looker now!

 

[atlm]

Thanks everyone.

 

[Toold_up]

Very nice job on the tool box. That was quite the effort.

Regarding wax for slides, at the day-job, our window and door contractor actually uses spray Lemon Pledge on the slides due to the wax it contains. When I first saw it, I was WTF but it works. Smells nice too!.

I've known guys to spray pledge on motorcycle seats after "tuning" carbs...

 

[atlm]

Love those Craftsman 9 drawer boxes.

@sixfootfive Me too. The ratio of drawer count to floor footprint is what made this worth the time and effort.

 

[Toold_up]

Thanks everyone.

Great work, that is something to be proud of!

 

[atlm]

I had no idea that Regal Red looks so much like Craftsman Red. That's awesome.

I like it, too. There are tiny differences between the Craftsman red, Regal Red, and Homak red, but they’re subtle and only noticeable if you're looking closely.

 

[atlm]

@atlm did you paint the drawers on your US General box to match the C-man? Nice job on the restore, too!

@BTL-A4 Yes, I actually cleaned, primed and repainted the entire US General chest back in 2010 when it was new. It's a gen1, which originally came with a pinkish-red textured finish.

Here are a couple of posts about it:
USG Gen1 refinish post
USG Gen1 refinish closeups and colors

 

[Skellyii]

Great job!

I was looking for a CMan 9, or the 6 drawer you have on the right side to match my existing stuff. Unfortunately, after dealing with the idiots on CL and FB, and always getting 5 minutes late to estate sales, I just gave up and grabbed a Husky.

 

[jeffmoss26]

looks great!

 

[bonneyman]

Family photo, next to its siblings (where the height & depth requirements make more sense):

OK, so, when are you having a sale?

 

[MarkH]

Nice job

You discovered the big secret in used toolboxes. Seller says just needs a little paint. Unless you have no other options run might be a good option. Restoring them takes about 10 times longer than expected. The first one that I did took a couple months. I had expected about a week. Looks great but was very time intensive. Said I would never do it again. That was about 3 boxes ago.

 

[Renegade1LI]

Nice job, looks great!

 

[autobon7]

Very nice job

 

[IRQVET]

What color Red matches the Craftsman boxes the best?

I was looking at Safety Red the other day and had that thought . . .

 

[Beerhippie]

Shoot, you call that "unexpectedly long"?

I started restoring an suspected (but unproven) SO top chest two years ago. I repainted the tote that goes in the top, then the weather turned too cold to paint outside so I set it aside for the winter. Somehow, it started accumulating tools. Now it's too much work to find somewhere else for the all contents while I restore it.

Just like the other five toolboxes/chests in the shop....

 

[kfainf]

Great job on the restoration! Great inspiration for me too. I have several Waterloo made Craftsman top boxes and roller cabinets I’m planning to restore. I’m currently working on this side cabinet for the first restoration.

 

[neverdone]

Looks great!

 

[Steve_P]

Nice job OP, that looks like new! I have a red and black griplatch lower box, and a bunch of black griplatch boxes.

 

[dawgn86]

Family photo, next to its siblings (where the height & depth requirements make more sense):

Nice job!

 

[Skyman]

I'd call that a masterful restoration. Beautifully done. Congrats!

 

[atlm]

Thanks everyone.