vintage tool box redo

[beatcad]

instead of following up an old thread I thought id start a new one.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=244348

I got around to building the riser yesterday and I stained it today. I originally wanted to do it a dark cherry/oxblood but I saw onyx(black) at the home depot and thought it would look better w/ the black gerstner.
I will do the bottom cabinet in black.
i'm a car guy/body guy so I know black will show all imperfections, but I aint scared.

how do I describe my wood working skills?
less than amateur
maybe somewhere between beginner and novice

 

[beatcad]

for you guys that don't recall the orig thread or don't feel like looking it up
heres what i'm workin' with.

 

[bonneyman]

I think it's a nice combo. And the wood riser looks fine.
Disclosure: I ain't no good with wood, either.

 

[lauver]

Beatcad,

Where & how does the riser fit in with the chest/cab?

Help me understand...

 

[beatcad]

Where & how does the riser fit in with the chest/cab?

the riser will go right inbetween the bottom cabinet and the top chest.
to give me a little extra storage room for "boxed" tools.

 

[jkpq45]

Subscribed. Looks like a fun project!

 

[drivesitfar]

for admitting you are less skilled at woodworking you did a great job. would love to see some of your before and after bodywork on cars and bikes or a link to some threads if woodworking is your lesser skill?

nice job and can you put it in place with a couple pictures? i see what you are trying to improve and it's a great idea.

cheers

 

[beatcad]

the stain should be fully dry when i get home from work tonight. i gotta run some screws in it and i'll be done....maybe
i'll post some pix tonight.

 

[beatcad]

for admitting you are less skilled at woodworking you did a great job. would love to see some of your before and after bodywork on cars and bikes or a link to some threads if woodworking is your lesser skill?

thanks man. did I mention that i'm also humble

I looked around the garage and the only thing I can find(bodywork wize) that I've done recently is the rear fender that I did on the bike i'm building right now. not very exciting, but it had 2 good sized dents in it and I welded up the threaded holes for the buddy seat mount, so I had to work that also.
I aint the best when it comes to bodywork. i'm better than most, but i'm slow. to be a good bodyman ya gotta be good and fast if ya wanna make a living at it. I aint a painter either. one of my guys at work painted it for me.

 

[beatcad]

so, I got home and the stain wasn't 100% dry
I did screw in the SS screws. and set it back on the cabinet to see what it looks like and pix for you guys
I think it'll be fine.
it aint perfect,but neither am I.
I might be laughed at if Ron Swanson came over, but I might have enough guns & red meat to make up for it
the hard part was that this bottom box is unlike most modern boxes w/ 90* angles. the corners are rounded. my plan was to make the riser "fit"
that took forever.

i'm not looking forward to doing the bottom box 'cause I know it'll be a week long project, but i'll get on it soon.

 

[beatcad]

I said I wasn't looking forward to redoing the bottom box. not because I cant handle it. because it'll take days.
a day to disassemble and strip the paint and sand and repair and primer.
than at least a day to dry. than it will have to be painted twice. once for the bottom and inside(dry for at least a day) and than again for the outside and than dry again before I can touch or reassemble it.
it's a little more involved than that but I can handle it. the problem is where to put all the junk...I mean stuff in it while i'm doing all this?
space is at a premium in my garage right now
well, I took off next mon and tues (just to get away from work for a bit)so I got a 4 day weekend comin' my way. I think if I can prep and stage this just right I might be able to knock it out by this time next week...no promices

 

[jkpq45]

Good luck, beatcad. You'll be proud of it when it's all done and we'll sure enjoy the journey.

 

[bonneyman]

Two thumbs up!

It puts the boxes together, the overall height is not so high that you can't see in the top tray, and it gives you a storage space between them! Good job!

 

[nine4gmc]

You can doooo eeeet!

 

[Outlawmws]

I said I wasn't looking forward to redoing the bottom box. not because I cant handle it. because it'll take days.
a day to disassemble and strip the paint and sand and repair and primer.
than at least a day to dry. than it will have to be painted twice. once for the bottom and inside(dry for at least a day) and than again for the outside and than dry again before I can touch or reassemble it.
it's a little more involved than that but I can handle it. the problem is where to put all the junk...I mean stuff in it while i'm doing all this?
space is at a premium in my garage right now
well, I took off next mon and tues (just to get away from work for a bit)so I got a 4 day weekend comin' my way. I think if I can prep and stage this just right I might be able to knock it out by this time next week...no promices

But it will be worth it!

 

[ZRX61]

Here's some encouragement for the bottom box:

 

[beatcad]

zrx61- I hope mine turns out 1/2 as nice as yours.
I started last nite. emptied the box. maybe I should sell trade some of this stuff w/ you guys.

 

[beatcad]

last night disassembled and straightened a few more bent edges.
earlier today I hosed it down w/ some paint stripper.
I think this will take longer(more steps) than I orig thought.
oh, well. Ill get it done.

 

[beatcad]

went out til 4AM sat nite, so I got nothing done yesterday
today I sanded/stripped and primered and painted the inside. not my best work ever, but it wont show...I hope.
I did it in the yard. didn't want overspray on the stuff in the garage.
I will finish the stripping and prep work at home and take it to work to paint it in the paint booth(controlled environment).
painting outside is so unpredictable(dust,pollen,bugs,bird ****)

 

[nine4gmc]

Looking good so far!

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

So....what ever happened to this restoration?

 

[beatcad]

oh, man...it got set aside to really hammer out my motorcycle, and like a dummy i started another chopper.
and the last couple weekends i've been helping my wife set up for her sisters wedding.
also up till a couple weeks ago its been pretty hot out. my plan was to strip/sand it all and primer it at home. than take it to work to paint it in the booth.
the sanding i did in the old pix was nasty. sweating and having red dust stuck all over me.

i know, excuses excuses.
believe me i havent forgotten or given up on it.

i should have updates on it soon.

 

[beatcad]

earlier this week i douched this cabinet w/ paint stripper and got most of the heavy thick stuff off. i knew i'd have to do this in stages.
this morning i sanded and primered the sides and back.
i knew this would be time consuming if i want it to look good. still a lot to do.
just giving y'all a little update.

 

[bonneyman]

Looking good!

Slow and steady wins the race, you know.

 

[Drake9]

Moving in the right direction there Beatcad. Can't wait to see it finished. Can't decide if I should pick up that old SnapOn lower box or not. Not sure if I have the time to put into it

 

[beatcad]

last weekend i finished stripping and priming the box and the hinges.
all thats left is to do the doors inside and out.
it was warm out and i still had daylight, so i also polished the knobs and lock cylinder.

 

[bonneyman]

Nice job so far!

I'm thinking of making a box/cart for working on the cars in the garage. Have all the tools I need without having to make several trips around back to the shop to get stuff. What you're doing is making me itch to do that project.

 

[nine4gmc]

Great job polishing your knobs... and the box looks good too!

 

[lowbucktruck]

Looking good! At least you had the dents banged out before repaint.

 

[SuzukiGS750EZ]

Looks sweet!

 

[beatcad]

cabinet has been completely stripped and primered for a couple weeks now.
didnt get to paint this weekend stuff sat and it rained sun.
but i had the bright idea to put handles on this stack to move it around.
i didnt want to drill into the cabinet and not into my gerstner so the riser it is.
i went to a couple different hardware stores looking for handles and couldnt really find anything that i thought would fit this.
the ones i liked were SS but it was a natural dull finish. well, why not polish 'em?
that's what i did sat night & sun afternoon.
heres before & after.
i dought i'll be done this year, but should be next month.....maybe

 

[beatcad]

so, plans may or may not have changed..
today(jan 1st) i got the day off and my plan was to paint this cabinet so i could reassemble it this weekend and be done w/ it.
i've been looking for the proper top box for it for almost 2 years and i thought i found it wed night on CL.
i just picked it up.
it looks almost right, but it's an inch to narrow.
so what to do
go back to plan A and finish this w/ the homemade riser and gerstner? or new plan to strip this box and paint the 2 to match. i gotta think on this a bit.

 

[Outlawmws]

Beat I think that is a reasonable fit. The older boxes were often not the neat, close fitting stacks we see today.

Great score and pairing!

 

[zkling]

Rock it, the lines or lack there of (rounded corners) all work together. As outlaw said, that old of boxes, even into the 60's were not always known for being super tight fit top to bottom.

 

[drivesitfar]

Beat: I agree with the guys that your new Blackhawk box looks great on top of that bottom box. once you spiff them up a bit and get some of your awesome tools in them you probably will agree.

Zkling: thanks for the catalog picture. i do like how well these boxes are built.

 

[dngrmse]

I think it's a good match, they both have the rounded corners. Once the paint matches, I think it'll look as if they are part of the same set. Nice pickup.

 

[Bigplum]

Marriage made in heaven , slap some paint on then go drink cider

 

[nine4gmc]

Great top box, save that Gerstner for the top of a wooden roller imo!

 

[JUNK-MAN]

Looks like a good match, good work!

 

[Drake9]

Looks good IMO too, glad it worked out and you got it