Vintage workbench - made it like new rather than restore

[LazKat]

Found this workbench buried way in back when cleaning out Mom's house after her passing last summer. At first it was going to go into the dumpster but I saw it was actually in pretty good shape - no dents and only a little surface rust. I hauled it home over the next two trips and took it to a local blasting and coating company. They cleaned it up and coated the frame in textured black and the drawers in red with the same texture. The top was too small to be of much use so I added a bigger maple butcher block top to it and finished it off with some casters which raise it for moving and lower it when stationary. The whole thing weighs 250#+. I've made it into a rock solid loading bench.

 

[tomtomgt356]

Very nice!

 

[Bears Fan]

Awesome!!!

 

[y'sguy]

Sweet. Way to save it!

 

[BlakeTheCarGuy]

Awesome .

 

[rburke65]

THAT was worth saving. Nice job.

 

[captain14]

Good save. Any idea where it came from? There’s a thread here on GJ showing metal storage units just like yours. GJ member drivesitfar started it several years ago.

Metal Cabinets vintage or homemade and no name toolboxes. got any to show please do

Here's a very cool looking and robust metal cabinet that I never seen before. It's made by Aseptic Dental Co. The hinges are so cool Photo's found online:

www.garagejournal.com

 

[steaks&anvils]

Good save. Nice rehab! We will forget that you even considered trashing it.

It looks like the much sought after and worth a lot of money, old military cabinet.

If you can find it, there would have been a flat bar to put into the slot at the front bottom and a padlock at the top, to lock the drawers. Also, keep the original top! it is valuable to someone who is restoring one of those cabinets.

The thread listed above has a few examples of your cabinet. See post #1,943

Please post over on it too as they are trying to save stories and photo examples of all the great classic metal cabinets! Besides we all love to see these things.

 

[Griff79]

Sweet work

 

[spudley]

Great save. Mom would be proud.

 

[Jayman17]

Beautiful job restoring that old cabinet! I regret not buying one of those I saw at an estate sale awhile back.

Jay

 

[LazKat]

Good save. Nice rehab! We will forget that you even considered trashing it.

It looks like the much sought after and worth a lot of money, old military cabinet.

If you can find it, there would have been a flat bar to put into the slot at the front bottom and a padlock at the top, to lock the drawers. Also, keep the original top! it is valuable to someone who is restoring one of those cabinets.

The thread listed above has a few examples of your cabinet. See post #1,943

Please post over on it too as they are trying to save stories and photo examples of all the great classic metal cabinets! Besides we all love to see these things.

Thanks everyone for the comments!

Mom was a hoarder and the house was packed. My goal was to clean out as much as possible in as short a time as I could. As an only child working alone one weekend a month and living 300 miles away made it a task akin to Hercules cleaning King Augeas' stables. I'm glad I saw this as worth keeping. It was quite literally buried out of sight in a corner of the basement.

I've seen others showing the locking bar and wish it had been present. I may have one fabricated. It would look good finished to match with a big polished brass padlock hanging from it.

Thanks for the link to the post. I'll put this over there as well.