i have this thing about gerstner tool boxes. i have 3 gerstners and 1 pilloid.. never paid the silly prices asked for them on e-bay. just bought a leather * covered one. it is called a machinist/dentist box. i could see that the "leather" was in bad shape and figured that i can remove it and refinish the "oak" like the other uncovered oak boxes. here is what i found. first, it is not leather covered; and it is not oak under the covering. the covering is leatherette. under the cover is plywood and partical board. the back and bottom are plywood and the sides are fine grained.. partical board. the drawers, however are oak. i guess that gerstner saw no reason to use oak since it was going to be covered. here is the laughable part. went to the gerstner site. and guess what . they will completly refurbish this type of box for the sum of $ 2,750.00
-
Welcome back Guest! Did you know you can mentor other members here at H-M? If not, please check out our Relaunch of Hobby Machinist Mentoring Program!
Gerstner tool boxes
- Thread starter porthos
- Start date
- Joined
- Jun 7, 2013
- Messages
- 10,089
Leatherette covered Gerstner boxes have been made with cheap materials for a long time, I have one that is probably of about WW 2 vintage, given to me years ago by an old friend when he retired, the covering is off in places and the wood seems to be poplar. My box that I bought back in the mid 1960s is a W052, I think, it is the one in walnut that will take a 24" rule and has the drawer for the Machinery's Handbook, I remember that at the time the cost was $76 plus shipping., at the time, good union wages were a bit under $4/HR.
after i get the residual glue off; i will finish it with a texture black aersol paint. have a new handle in the mail and probably order 4 bottom corners. no felt on it now; will install felt on all horizontal surfaces.
- Joined
- Jan 2, 2019
- Messages
- 6,526
I don't have any of these boxes but would pick one up if the price is right. My question would be, why not recover with leatherette? Should be cheap enough and keep it kinda original....
$2750 sounds like the "dentist" side of the house....
John
$2750 sounds like the "dentist" side of the house....
John
- Joined
- Jun 7, 2013
- Messages
- 10,089
Gerstner used to sell kits to recover leatherette boxes.
i would not recover with leatherette, because, i think it will take a lot of experience to be able to do it well. you can tell that the seams are perfect and the leatherette is streched to perfection. i just ordered 2 cans of satin rustoleum texture paint and adhesive back (green) felt for the drawers . on another note, i contacted gerstner amout making 2 keys (i have none) $38.95!!. so, you see that there prices are a little (actually a lot) overboard. so. i'm going to tinker with the lock so that anything will turn it.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Jan 4, 2021
- Messages
- 1,804
I think Kennedy wants around $20 per key as does the company (now makes a lot of cabinets for medical use) that made some of the older Craftsman boxes, both plus shipping. Last year I found a deal on FB Marketplace for a Kennedy chest & base ($50 !! Not like new but cleaned up nicely): one key and only one had a lock. I lucked out and one of the local old fashioned hardware store who actually cuts keys rather than using an automated machine had a blank so I got a spare for the one with a lock. And when I bought my Kennedy chests, bases and roller cabinets 40 years ago I ordered new locks so they were all keyed alike and kept the pull-outs & keys so I had a replacement for the missing lock. I know I paid less than $500 for everything (maybe less than $400: I got a deal plus a 20% off sale), maybe $4,000+ today?
my first gerstner i paid $ 900.00. it had, probably $2500.00+.. worth of tools in it; several are as new. next was $250.00 with broken rear hinges (i replaced them). next was $300.00. i know that it is a gerstner. but no lables. all hardware is identical to gerstner, but no gerstner logos. i think that it may have been a do it yourself kit. next is a pilloid (smaller in size) for$20.00. all gerstners are the largest size, mod 052. also have 3 kennedy . a 526 and 2, 20 in ones. got lucky with the 526 it was in a hardware store (very old store) that was closing. it even had light rust on the hardware. $ 140.00. as you can see if you look around at local online sales. there is good stuff out there . some of the prices on e-bay are not too bad. i have refinished all of mine; and they look pretty much new except for some deeper nicks and scratches. i would love to know who pays the prices for new gerstner boxes. oh, i forgot to mention that i paid $75.00 for the leatherette covered box; and, it had a bunch of fly tying stuff in it. gave that to a friend.
Last edited: