Gerstner machinist chest

Old thread , but how did the Gerstner turn out ? You ever clean it up barcuna ? Reason why I'm asking is below . :)
 

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OK, here's what i did to restore my gerstner (3) and 1 pilloid tool chests. none were as bad as the leather covered one in the picture. i'm not sure how to remove the leather; but, here's what i would try. spray with a heavy coat of mineral spirits and keep it wet for maybe an hour or more and see if it will peel off. be careful not to use a scraper that will gouge the wood under the leather. once the leather is off , use a wood scraper to scrape the glue off. again, i've never removed a leather cover; so, i don't know what you will find under it. i have sanded all of the ones that i restored. depending on how hard it is to remove residual glue; start with 150-180 grit "no load" paper and finish with 220-320. use sanding blocks to keep everything flat. there will most likely be gouges and scratches ; you can't get all of them out. after this give everything a good scrubbing with mineral spirits to remove any oil stains. i've scrubbed with murphys oil soap and rinsed in water. let dry and lightly sand again. heres what i use for a finish. VELVIT OIL. you can buy it on line. by this time you should have removed all of the hardware to be polished with a buffing wheel. the great thing of velvit oil is that; you apply it by hand; there are no runs or lint. apply a generous coat and keep it wet for 10 minutes or so. use napkins to wipe it off (the more expensive napkins) they leave NO lint. after several of these coats you will start to see a good sheen. at this time i would apply 2 more coats by hand without wiping off. next is the felt. very hard to apply the felt inside the drawers. buy some 1/8 in. aluminum on line. measure the sq. feet that you need. cut to the sizes that you on the band saw less about 1/16 in use sticky back felt to cover aluminum and trim. if you do this, let us know how it works out
 
As many others have said "Reach out to Gerstner" it would be the first step in determining how it fits into your budget. I have a friend that inherited his fathers Gerstner tool box, it is beautiful (the friend's father kept it covered in the shop} it speaks of quality and craftsmanship from every angle.
Have a good day
Ray
 
mmcmdl said:
Old thread , but how did the Gerstner turn out ? You ever clean it up barcuna ? Reason why I'm asking is below . :)
Click to expand...
Apologies for the late reply. I haven't been on here for a while.
I did clean it up, replaced some screws, rivets and the felt. Used some left over billiard table felt from the last recover. Man, that stuff is very tough. Not a perfect or complete restoration, but it looks much better.
Followed the advice and contacted Gerstner, They were very helpful, just as everyone stated. The only things I bought from them was the mirror and a label.
They said this model was a O41B made for Browne and Sharpe in the '40s.
So I've still got it and I'm still on the fence about keeping or selling. Really hate to part with such a classic. I'll post a pictur or two when I get a chance.
 
Love these old boxes. Don't have one, but they are beautiful works of art to me. Would love to see what she looks like now.
 
Here's some pics. After conversing with Gertsner, they provided some great info on the history, model number, manufacturing dates, etc. When I received the logo emblem, it had the correct model number engraved, not just a generic label. I thought this was a nice touch on their part.
 
I love the craftsmenship of these boxes. My favorite are the ones with the large center drawer for the Machinists Bible.

The tour of the Gertsner facility with Adam (Abom79) was very interesting. They still make the boxes much like they did 80 years ago. Each piece is hand fitted and great care is taken in the details. You don't see that much these days. The fact that people still buy enough of these tool boxes to maintain their business and staff says volumes. Especially in this day of mass production and cheap Chinese trash.
 
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