looking for Gerstner toolbox drawer

[SteveM]

I picked up a Gerstner tool box for $100, but it's missing one drawer.

The drawer is 19" wide, 8" deep, and 1" tall.

A taller one could work, as I could cut it down.

Steve

[Russ Hanscom]

Find a woodworking buddy? Matching the knobs could be a challenge.

[Bill Shields]

Never seen anyone with an extra drawer laying about.

Cannot be too tough to make..4 oak sides and a bottom covered in felt. Have two such boxes but no spare drawers..

[SteveM]

Never seen anyone with an extra drawer laying about.

There are lots of them on ebay, just not this size.

Steve

[Gary Armitstead]

Why not go straight to the original source for the proper drawer for your Gerstner? The Gerstner Company STILL exists. I am restoring my Dad's Gerstner. He purchased his box (new 24 inch in the early thirties to mid-thirties). All of the original hardware and I believe they will produce a drawer for you using the original specs for your specific model and year. It will cost a bit, but hey.....your box IS a Gerstner. Do it right. That's what I am doing.

These toolboxes are collector pieces. Go to www.gerstnerusa.com.

[mcostello]

I've got a Lufkin tool box wonder if They are still making tool boxes?

[Bill Shields]

Right alongside their micrometers

[Harold_V]

These toolboxes are collector pieces. Go to www.gerstnerusa.com.

Heh! I went there and just about fell off my chair. I've owned a Gerstner since spring of 1958, although I now have a different one, because the first one was mahogany and I wanted one made of walnut.

The price is a bit shocking, a direct reflection on the value of the dollar today. I paid $125 for my first one, a 2610 Journeyman, which lists for $1,516.00 today. Gasoline was 25¢/gallon those days, and gold was $35/ounce.

I recommend the Gerstner line, in spite of cost. Tools stored in a Gerstner don't suffer rusting, very unlike tools stored in metal boxes. Mine spent four years in storage while I built our shop. Some items in my Kennedy rollaway rusted lightly, while my precision instruments remained rust free, including my 81 piece set of Webber A+ gauge blocks. They, too, are in a wooden container.

H

[Bill Shields]

Wow...about 15 years ago I purchased a Gerstner for my wife as a jewelry box.

Looking at the $$ on their www site I can guess that the box is worth more than the trinkets..

The $$ stuff is locked in the floor safe...

And I can honestly agree with Harold...none of my wife's jewelery stored in the Gerstner has rusted.

[pete]

I'm sure no wood worker, but as others have already said, making one wouldn't be that tough even without any real wood working equipment if you've got a mill. I'm pretty sure I could build a new drawer starting with a large piece of fire wood in log form of the correct wood species, an axe and my rotary planer on the mill, as well as being a bit patient about drying the wood properly so it didn't warp later. Matching a new drawer to what you already have even by stripping your box down and sanding back to as new condition might be tough though. There's a huge amount of color, grain and shading variations within the exact same wood type just due to it's local growing conditions. And it would be really tough if you still wanted to preserve the long years of patina that box has already gathered. That takes a lot of experience and almost an artists eye for figuring out the correct shade of stain with a newly built drawer or an old one. Not impossible, but maybe a lot of trial and error until it looks right. Afaik most or maybe all real Gerstner's used galvanized? sheet metal for the drawer bottoms. Aesthetics wise, the top surface is covered in felt so any sheet metal would be good enough unless you were a detail freak.

It's highly doubtful finding a spare drawer even with the correct wood type wouldn't be an obvious mismatch. You also might need to do what wood workers call distressing to sort of match the nicks, dings, dirt, oil etc to make the new or spare one look like it was an original part of that box if you wanted to preserve it's current condition. Gerstner sell all the hardware in various kit forms from just the knobs to a full metal kit including new formed corners and the correct split rivets. Afaik there were some changes over these boxes history in what was used originally verses what's available today. Obviously two brand new shiny nickel plated drawer pulls aren't going to match your old one's. But a real Gerstner box has the advantage of being quite common, desirable and has a bit of a collector status. I'd be surprised if old Gerstner hardware didn't show up once in awhile on Ebay etc that could be a fairly close match. If it were me, I think I'd do a Google search for the few websites around that are about the old company's that built these wooden machinist boxes and some that are specifically about the Gerstner brand. I'd bet somebody there might have better ideas than I do. From what I can gather and that for some people, Gerstner tool box collecting or even full restorations is almost a hobby all by itself. There's also quite a few YouTube videos around about refinishing, re-felting and adding all new metal hardware to old Gerstner boxes. Some aren't the greatest for being technically correct, but there a start.

[NP317]

Good wood "furniture" requires properly seasoned wood to prevent later warping.
My early years apprenticing to a violin maker taught me several useful techniques.
It was normal to season woods for many years before using it.
RussN

[mcostello]

I must be getting "seasoned" and "distressed" at the same time.