Got a very bad Union machinists chest is it worth saving?

[middle.road]

As stated above - save it!
I've got two basket cases sitting downstairs awaiting attention.
The one sitting on the table next to me was a swap meet score that was missing it's lid and was all beat to heck.
Wood is almost always repairable. On one of the others I had started patching the rot/soft spots with an epoxy fill that
I impregnated with brass shavings from turning projects. Looks kinda neat, well sort of. . .
The one shown below I rebuilt with only a router and hand tools 30 years ago. Now that I've got the machines and
other tooling it is time that is elusive.

 

[pebbleworm]

It was cool enough for you to drag home so there is potential. It's worth keeping to someone, if not you. Under the leatherette the wood is usually pretty nice when cleaned up. I rebuilt a moldy, smelly Gerstner a couple of years ago and am glad I did. It had been in a wet basement and had a lot of delamination of the plywood bottom. Really not that hard to fix once you start thinking like a woodworker! My favorite refinishing book is "From Gunk to Glow" by George Grotz- cheap to find, entertaining to read and chock full of interesting tips and methods.