H. Gerstner & Sons Wood Machinist Tool Chest

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
 
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!
 

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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.
 
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