HAMB "Vintage" Tool Box Club

My wild guess would be Huot, manufactured in Minnesota. Been around since 1926. The U.P. of Michigan would be in the upper midwest region they sold the most in. That turqoise/sea-green color is relatively unique.

Here is an old Huot top box, pull handles appear to be a similar style to your bottom chest:

ttp://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=516647

 

The color looked familiar and I dug up a little box I had as a child in the 50's. It also has the embossed circle but on the back. I wish I knew how to reproduce the color.


Oh and I found a 1950 five dollar bill that fell behind the drawers of the little one. Must be a good day!

 

Craftsman toolbox from 1968 my high school graduation present from the folks. It got a face lift last summer when I painted it to match my 1965 Barracuda. I had it at the last car show i was in and I was shocked at how many positive comments I got from the spectators! ( mostly the bored wives of the guys crawling under your car to check something out). funny.

 

I think I have the same box. Was driving dowm my parents alley and saw it laying in a trash pile so I grabbed it. Anyone have any good ideas on how to reinstall the latch and handle if I deside to remove them for restoration? Can't figure out what to use in place of those rivits that will look "right".

 

I got this one from a girlfriends brother in law when I was in high school. Its military...





I have no idea on the age of the red one... The blue one is the first new box I bought for myself.. its almost 20 years old!

 

Google turned up this little bit about a Simonsen Military Toolbox.

http://www.cyberattic.com/stores/kathy/items/601107/item601107cyberattic.html

With the covered top trays it looked like it might make a nice pinstriper or sign painter kit, till it mentioned that it weighed about 20 lbs. empty.

 

Vintage tools and toolboxes are a weakness of mine. I've only been able to procure a few so far, but I plan on collecting many many more.

This one was a $3 item at a yard sale that I bought for my wife. She is very crafty and loves to sew and was complaining that she had nowhere to put anything.







I had a friend pinstripe it, I padded and lined the insides with velvet, and she loved it.

A friend knows how much I love tool boxes, so he bought this for me at a yardsale.






This one came from my wife's great uncle who was a professional diesel mechanic. My guess is it's from the 60's but I could be wrong.








And my favorite, complete with working vintage sander.

 

I gotta keep my eyes open for one like this with the two covered top trays for a sign kit. Keep your clean, oiled brushes on one side and your Stabilo pencils, chalk, charcoal sticks, X-Acto knives, etc. on the other side. The bottom looks deep enough to maybe even hold quarts of One-Shot or Ronans. Or does this thing also weigh 20 lbs empty!

That sander and box combo is the cat's banana!

 

That red Matco box is without question the coolest tool box I have ever seen!! I am so jealous! absolutely awesome!
Willy

 

Just finishing my 1965 Snap On KRA 500 series I picked up at the Crane Cams
auction.Found a bunch of receipts under the drawers identifying the original owner as a Holman Moody employee and googling his name comes back
as an Olympic bicycle racing mechanic hall of famer. Other scraps of paper
with addresses and phone #'s for different people,Bruce Eikelberger comes
back as the first Funny car over 200 mph. Here's some of the lastest pics.







and before...

 

Great to find some other guys that are in to old tools and boxes. I collect vintage Snap On, Craftsman and S-K. Here is a 40's vintage Snap On tool box that I refinished a few years ago, it belonged to an Pan American aircraft mechanic and came with a lot of vintage tools which had a special meaning because I am a aircraft mechanic as well. The Craftsman wall cabinet was made in the early 50's and this is the carpenters version, I have the mechancs one as well. I will get some other photos posted soon.

Be safe Don

 

Hey all... I just picked this up at a swap meet.... for $5.00

KR352 Roll Cab (1953-1958)
KR422 Drawer Section (1958)

the 2 sections are riveted together...



I also have a 1944 Wooden Tool Chest that has the original contents sticker still on the inside of the lid....

 

I've got a snapon tool box that I carry my tools in when I'm on the road. I bought it at a yardsale down the road from my moms house. It was new in 1953 The guy I got it from he bought it in 53 when he was working off shore in louisiana. He hand painted his phone number on it in 53 and its still there infact I just left it. I'll get pics of it and post it soon.

 

that is gnarly! and for $5! ?
i love a good deal.

 

Can anybody give me an idea how old this Snap-On box is? I snapped a couple pics of the box and a closeup of the logo. I looked all over it, front, back, top, bottom & sides and there are no serial or model #'s to be found. Maybe it slipped out the factory without being stamped. It was left at the curb outside a big old house in a pile of junk awaiting pickup. The wife still can't understand how I could spot a toolbox in a pile of junk at 40 mph.
Any help is appreciated.

 

I would think mid-late 50's based on the logo/design, which are like mine from 1958...

the earlier ones from the 40's appear to have had a slanted logo plate....

compare the dimensions of yours to the listing here....

http://collectingsnapon.com/Site/ToolStorage-743.html

and try to match it up.... nice find on yours. it looks to be a top section like I need to find for the bottom I just found!

 

anybody ever part out one of these old snap-on roll cabs? I've got a caster wheel that's broken. all that's left is a chunck shaped like a piece of pie... doesn't roll the best

 

Here's mine. The lower box is pretty old I think....50s or 60s. The middle is 80s and top is 70s as far as I know.



Here's my other one out in the garage. I just got this top box for $25.00 a few years back and he even had the key! The bottom is a cheap ass Craftsman.

 

its not very large but i have my dads small toolbox . i can remember looking into it when i was young thinking this is every tool in the world you could need . its just a few basic tools nothing special but it sits safely in a corner of my garage

 

I posted this on another thread, but I think it belongs here. Me and my husband have an old Snap On tool box that contains a ton of Snap On tools. We have no idea what year all the stuff is, but there are someone's paycheck stubs in side from the 1950's. The tool box looks really crappy, but we haven't even tried to clean it up yet. I don't have any pictures of the tools inside, but here's a few of the tool box.

 

Take some measurements, and then compare to the Snap-On tool boxes listed at this website:

http://collectingsnapon.com/Site/ToolStorage-743.html

 

I just finished this '70 rollaway for my boys. It was pretty beat up when I bought it on CL for $44 a month ago. It's still missing a locking cover for the lower drawers.

 

That's ratrodderific.

 

OHHH MY WIFE IS GOING TO BE MAD AT YOU GUYS!

I have been following this thread for a while and have been oogling these cool old tool boxes. I decided to put out a want ad for an old Snap On tool box. It took about 4 hours and this is what I got. It needs some work and is not as old as I would like but it will do. I will post photos again once it is fixed up.

Hey mabey I should buy an old van to live in because I am dangorously close to being kicked out because of all of the "junk" that I have been dragging home.

 

Hey mabey I should buy an old van to live in because I am dangorously close to being kicked out because of all of the "junk" that I have been dragging home!

Nice setup! Just park that van down by the river!!

 

Just picked up this old machinist's chest a couple days ago for $40 but can't find a single clue as to the brand. I'm guessing it's maybe from the 50's???



I suspect it might be a Kennedy and I've seen pictures of a similar Craftsman box as well which I suppose could have been made for them by Kennedy. But it seems like most of them have a key type lock instead of the combo lock. This only really concerns me because I don't have the combination for the thing!



Also, a coworker's Kennedy chest has what looks like plastic drawer pulls with a raised diamond shape molded on the face of them. Mine has metal pulls with smooth faces in case anybody knows just what the hell that means or if it helps to identify this chest. The side handles are also solid cast jobs and most Kennedys I've seen have heavy gauge stamped handles.

But even though there's no brand name on it, one of my favorite little touches is this name tag holder on the front.



I doubt that Dallas W. Zimmerman is with us any longer, but I'd sure like to ask him what the lock combination was!

And this is my regular tool box pile-up. Kind of a "Frankenstien" affair, I'd call it. It's a newer Craftsman roll cab and a Ken Craft mid-box, but the top chest is a 60s vintage Kennedy that belonged to my late uncle. Thanks, Uncle Bud!

 

It definitely looks like a Kennedy but I've never seen one with a combination lock or side handles.I have several Kennedy machinists boxes and they all have little different details.The ones built for Sears usually have a center hasp instead of a lock and the locking pins that are activated when the lid is closed are spaced further apart.

I got three new(old)tool boxes over the weekend;two machinists boxes and one S&K small tool box complete with a set of old Duro(or Indestro)sockets and an unusual 1/2"drive extension that doubles as a breaker bar.

The Kennedy machinists box is quite old in that the top cover is square rather than rounded on the corners and the drawers are permanently attached rather than having the spring clips on the slides allowing removal.Also the name is on the inside of the lid rather than in the lower left corner of the lid.

 

have 1936 snap-on...its old paint black...not red...the snap-on man was always trying to get it...the old guy I got bought it new...