Introduction: 1969 Craftsman Toolbox Restoration

By Stuart Designs
About: Tinkerer, Maker, Designer, Mad Man.

While helping my family clean out an old rent house, I came across this Craftsman tool box from 1969. Someone had sprayed over the original red with an ugly matt green and it was covered in years of rust from continual miss use. I thought that it needed some love, so I decided to adopt the little fella. I then spent the next week going about the process of restoring it.

Supplies

Supplies Needed:


Optional Supplies: (That were used for this build)

Step 1: Damage Assesment

  • Start by removing all of the drawers in the tool box. You will want to take this time to look for any damage that may not have been visible at first glance.

  • Remove any and all additional hardware. Including Handles, Locks, and Emblems. Store all Bolts and Hardware in a safe place.


  • Take the time to asses any and all damage, and make sure that it is repairable BEFORE you start stripping paint.


  • Whether it be due to Time, Money, or Talent. Not all items are repairable, and it is perfectly ok to accept that their usefulness has come to an end.

Step 2: Start Stripping the Old Paint

SAFETY WARNING:

WEAR SAFETY GLASSES! Make sure you are wearing safety glasses and a face shield, this is a long and tedious process and the wire wheels WILL wear down over time. They tend to throw small metal wires as they deteriorate, and these CAN end up in your eye. BE SAFE!


  1. Using the wire wheel attachments on your corded drill, start stripping the old paint off of the exterior of the tool box. This is a long process, and rather loud. I would encourage you to use some form of hearing protection while stripping the paint.
  2. Move to the box interior and continue stripping the paint. During this phase you may opt to use a Die Grinder or even a Dremel Tool with smaller attachments so that you can get in to those hard to reach areas.
  3. Once the main Box has been stripped of all of its paint, I like to vacuum out the box with a shop Vac. I then do a preliminary clean by wiping the box down with Denatured Alcohol. This removes any residual oils or residue that may still be on the box, and helps prevent it from rusting while we work on the drawers. (Wear a Respirator. Safety First.)

Step 3: Stripping and Repairing the Drawers

Paint Stripping: Take 2

  1. Once the main body is stripped and clean, repeat the process for all of the drawers. Using the wire attachments on the corded drill, remove ALL rust, and strip as much paint as possible.
  2. Vacuum out all rust and paint chips from the drawers, finish by wiping them down with Denatured Alcohol (Wear a Respirator, Safety First.)


Repairs

You may find that one or more of your drawers is damaged or does not lock properly inside the tool box. You should have discovered this issue during step one, and hopefully formulated a plan to deal with it. In my case, one of my drawers was missing its locking bracket, and needed a new one.

  1. Using a scrap piece of metal that was laying around the shop, I cut and fashioned a replacement bracket. Using a hacksaw, vice, and pliers to cut and bend the metal in order to achieve the desired shape.
  2. Someone in a past life had tried to fix this drawer previously by drilling holes and running a metal wire through them. They had miss drilled the holes by about 1/4" from where they actually needed to be. So I drilled new ones that better aligned with the where the bracket needed to attach.
  3. After drilling the new holes in the drawer, and adding holes to the newly fashioned bracket. I attached the bracket to the drawer using 1/8" pop rivets. The drawer now seats firmly in the tool box and locks in place when the upper lid is shut.
  4. Take one final look at the drawers and fix any bends or divets that may be present. Either using pliers to bend pieces back into place, or with the ball peen hammer to remove any unwanted divets in the metal.

Step 4: Masking Tape!

TAPE IT OFF!

  1. It is now time to mask off anything and everything that you do not want paint on.
  2. Start by masking off all of the drawer pulls on the drawers.
  3. Once the drawer pulls are adequately masked off, move on to the sliders on the outside of the drawers and the inside of the box.
  • Take extra care to make sure the sliders are adequately taped off. If you get paint on them they will not function properly.

Step 5: Clean, Clean, Clean

SAFETY WARNING:

Wear A Respirator! Fumes can be extremely hazardous to your health. Make sure to wear a respirator, and clean your items in an area with good ventilation. BE SAFE!


  1. You have done it once, now get ready to do it again. Wipe down EVERYTHING with Denatured Alcohol. You do not want any oils or residue on the metal when you paint. If you are unsure as to whether or not you already cleaned something, CLEAN IT AGAIN.

Step 6: Primer & Paint

SAFETY WARNING:

Wear A Respirator! Paint fumes can be extremely hazardous to your health. Make sure to wear a respirator, and paint your items in an area with good ventilation. BE SAFE!


  1. Now that all of the drawers and box body have been thoroughly cleaned. The metal can be primed for paint. In my case, I found that the Rustoleum 2in1 Primer only needed one coat. However you may find that a second is needed, depending on the brand of primer you choose to use.
  2. Be sure to follow the instructions that are labeled on the paint you have chosen. Various paints have different dry and cure times. And second and third coats can only be applied with in certain time frames.
  3. Once the Primer has adequately dried and cured. You can apply the paint of you choice. I went for a two tone Green and Gray. Using Rustoleum hammered Green for the main body, and Rustoleum Hammered Gray on the Drawers. If you choose to use a Hammered paint, be aware that it is a fine line between getting a "Hammered" look and over spraying the piece you are working on.

Step 7: Clean and Reattach Hardware

While the paint dries, you can spend some time cleaning up the hard ware.


  1. In my case, I just used a sheet of 220 grit wetordry sandpaper to polish up the screws and emblem.
  2. I then used a metal file to sharpen up the corners on the Craftsman logo, and remove any defects that were present from years of use.
  3. Once all the hardware was clean, and the tool box had dried. I re-installed all of the drawers and hardware on the newly refinished Craftsman Toolbox.

Step 8: Finishing Touches

BASK IN YOUR GLORY!

The tool box is complete and it can now be used for another 50+ years.


Whatever you decided to do with your tool box, you will have the pleasure of owning something that you gave a second life.

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