Vintage Craftsman box restoration

Since signing up on GJ I've gotten hooked on vintage Craftsman stuff, especially the boxes. When I saw a grey and red top box matching the style of boxes my Dad and Grandpa had I jumped on it. The CL seller was asking $120 for the vintage top box, newer bottom box and an extra $10 for a particle board cabinet. I emailed him offering $100 for everything and he accepted and even agreed to hold it for a couple days until I could make it across town.

This is my new top box with the bottom box I already had:



This is my old top box sitting on top of the bottom box I just bought(pre-clean up):



I quickly cleaned up the new bottom box and ruined a perfectly good toothbrush. I didn't go in too much detail since I plan on selling that setup to recoup some of my money. The new top box is getting a full detail though. I started by pulling all the drawers out and was amazed at how nice the quality is compared to the nicest CF stuff you can buy today.

I found free tools!



Paint damage to the top lid:



The rails before cleaning:



The drawers haven't been touched yet:



After a scrub with water and dish soap I went to detailing the box just as I do my car. I started with the clay bar and Meguiur's quick detail.

This is just the top lid:



Then came paint cleaner and polish. I stopped before waxing and decided to paint the inside bottom to stop the surface rust. I don't want to change the look of the box at all, but figure no one will notice since its on the inside.



The lamp always works better than my space heater:



The SO sticker on the inside of the lid:



I ran out of time before I could finish, but the plan is to wax the box and spray gloss black paint over the rust reformer paint on the inside of the box. After that I'll give the same detailing treatment to the drawers and cut liners before putting it all back together. I could strip it and make it look new, but I like that it looks like it has a story to tell. I've got the bug now though and am already looking for a box a can completely strip and refinish.

My detailing products:

nice work looks like a fun project

Very cool! Doesn't it feel great to save an old tool box?

...nice work. Let the Mrs know her toothbrush went to a good cause.

This is a great thread to show the original color and hammer tone finish. I guess GJ doesn't have tags or I would have added something about that.

Holy ****... It never occurred to me that I could clay bar a toolbox. I know what i'm doing this weekend.

Great work, Boss!

Very nice job. I love that box!

I've made a little more progress tonight. The paint on the lower portion is done and most of the drawers are waxed. I had some spare drawer liner that I started to cut and found I had enough for one drawer, so a HF trip will be in order this weekend. When I started washing the drawers I plugged in the work light to dry them and found it was dead, so I improvised a little.





A GJ member, flatintoone, did a little leg work and got a lead on the emblem for me. Unfortunatly the part number he found doesn't come up with a pic on the Sears site, so I'll keep doing research to be sure.

M. Blue 240 said:

When I started washing the drawers I plugged in the work light to dry them and found it was dead, so I improvised a little.

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Posts and photos such as using the oven make me wonder if GJ should have a sticky of:

"This is how I used the kitchen today to finish my garage project".

I believe my wife hides baking sheets, pot holders, turkey basters, etc. from me so that I can't use them outside.

I can't tell you how many perfectly good cookie sheets of hers that I have ruined. Last Christmas she gave me 5 beautiful and expensive cookie sheets and then promptly took them back and said "we're even now".

I've found some really helpful garage items in the houseware section of Target, Walmart, etc.

Very nice project. Thanks for posting.

Its hard to take decent pics with my phone, but i promise the box looks much better now.











Any recommendations on what I can use to lube up the guides? The drawers work amazing while unloaded, but as soon as you put some weight in them it takes some extra effort to get them to move.

I would use a spray graphite, like you use in locks. It will make a mess, but you can wipe it up with a paper towel. The lube left behind in the tracks will be indifferent to temperature and won't gum up. There's a garage door opener lube used on screw drive mechanisms, too. It's pretty much the same thing, but slightly stickier for overhead application. It might be less mess up front.

Nice job on the box.

I may (God willing) be buying a matching bottom box! I have an app on my phone now finding every craigslist ad in my area that mentions Craftsman tools, so I can snag stuff up real quick.

This was listed tonight and I quickly sent an email out to see if I could snag it. I'll at least pick up the box pictured, but may come home with both.

I only have pictures of one of the units, but the other one is about the same but comes with a tool kit that sits on top but can be taken off and used as a mobile tool kit. The one pictured shows a little more use but is still in decent shape. I would sell the one in the picture for $50 and the bigger one with the tool box for $95. I won't have pictures of the second unit until Monday if it is still available.

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It looks like her box may be a little newer. The paint looks darker and the logo is on the opposite side. Any ideas as to the vintage of this lower box or where I would find the date stamp?

I got hosed on cl shopping today. I had emailed about a small 2 drawer box with removable tray that is the same era as the box above. The seller said I could get it this afternoon, I told him it matched one my grandfather had (the truth) in hopes he would save it. When I woke up and called him he said he had sold it earlier in the morning. I also emailed about a 2hp bench grinder. The CM model that RedLeader has, with the turned metal. It was sold early in the day too, 2 strikes.

Then 10 minutes from my house an ad popped up with a bad picture. They said it was a base for a CM radial saw, but no CM logo visible. It was sitting on the side of the house, has surface rust, slugs, and ants. After I got it home I pulled down the cover and found the CM logo, redeemed myself for the day.







I have nothing in the gold/tan style, so I'm thinking I'll "hot rod" this box out. Maybe satin black on the outside, gloss black inside the drawers, and gold flake on the drawer faces.

The kicker, I got it for $10! Plus I found a set of Knipex channel locks tucked inside one of the drawers. I'd say this is one of my best finds.

I picked up a craftsman toolbox, upper and lower parts from the guy that owes our storage unit. He was cleaning out a unit down from ours and I offered $100 on the spot and he took it. The drawers were full of ****, didn't score much in the way of tools. The face of the bottom drawer is rusted out. Can that be reordered? Would Craftsman honor their warranty on this type of damage? Thanks!