H. Gerstner & Sons Wood Machinist Tool Chest

[4ssss]

HOW ABOUT A COUNTERFEIT GERSTNER ?

MY GRANDFATHER GOT A JOB AT THE NEW POUGHKEEPSIE IBM PLANT JUST PRIOR TO WW2 .

HE WORKED IN THE MACHINE SHOP AND WHEN HE SAW THE OTHER GUY's GERSTNER BOXES , HE
WANTED HIS OWN . THEY WERE TOO EXPENSIVE & NO ONE WAS RETIRING SO HE BUILT HIS OWN VERSION .

HE USED DIFFERENT HARDWARE & DID A NICE JOB REPRODUCING THE GERSTNER WOODWORK .
BUT IT IS DONE DIFFERENTLY IN A NUMBER OF WAYS .

THIS WAS PASSED DOWN TO MY BROTHER . HE TOOK IT APART , SANDED & REFINISHED IT .
HE USES IT TO HOUSE HIS COIN COLLECTION .

IF YOU TAKE THE DRAWERS OUT YOU CAN READ ON THE BACK WALL WRITTEN IN PENCIL
"MADE BY LES BROWER , AUGUST , 1941 "

Your grandfather was a talented craftsman

 

[MDJuggler]

I have this exact chess of the original post! My grandfather was a tool and die guy -- amazing engineer and machinist. I have been sitting with this in my garage for > 20 year since he passed away, and now I want to restore it.

Are there any good blogs on repairing these? It is in mechanically excellent shape -- but with a few problems:

• the felt needs replacing [easy]
• Missing the emblem [hopefully get get a close replica from the company]
• Leather is quite worn [ not sure how well I'll be able to restore this! ]
• hardware needs polishing (easy) but is all functinoal
• Completely missing the front cover!

The last one is the toughest I'll have to rebuild that from scratch and leather it. Not sure if I can get the right hardware.

Awesome post!

 

[Winegrower]

It's surprising that the Gerstner website still has latches, pulls, etc. for sale.

Shop - H. Gerstner & Sons

gerstnerusa.com

 

[MDJuggler]

It's surprising that the Gerstner website still has latches, pulls, etc. for sale.

Yep -- plan to use them for this restoration project

 

[benmychree]

That does not look like a Gerstner box, the corner reinforcements are not right and the lock should be imprinted with their name, also the mirror frame is wrong.