Antique Machinist Tool Box

[Randy]

This a a Machinist wooden antique tool box.
I am not sure of the date it was made.
I was cleaning out my mother in-laws basement 90 years old, it belonged to her father.
He worked for some big companies.
I recall he worked for John Inglis in Toronto which became Inglis appliances and the Sears brand in Canada.
During the Second World War he made the Bren Gun
https://urbsite.blogspot.com/2012/06/fo ... gment_&m=1
The thing that amazes me is that while my grandfather was flying escorting convoys from Canada for the RAF my grandmother was working at John Inglis in Toronto as well. She made the barrel for the gun.
On to the tool box.
The box was full of machinist tools and guages. Most I have no idea.

The box had a leather handle on the top (missing)
The front appears to be made of tirger oak, and the bottom of the drawers are lined with a nasty felt.

[Randy]

I have the felt for the bottom of the drawers and the material that arrived in the mail was not suitable to wrap the box. I went to a fabric store and found some heavy duty outdoor furniture Upholstery in black I can glue on.
I found a vintage style handle in stainless steel that I can wrap in the same upholstery material.
I have to make some tiny drawer slides and one metal front door hinge corner.
The only thing missing is one of the metal corners and the key and the catch for the lock.
I have a bunch of old brass that I can use to fabricate the catch.
The key. Well that could be interesting to find.

[Randy]

Getting a lot of stuff cleaned off my list after getting my mother in law moved. Had to make a lot of room at home for all the stuff she could not take with her.

It’s almost October and it’s time to move my cycling indoors on the Zwift trainer and treadmill. Got the wires to extend share the Apple box with the tv on the treadmill and the speakers extended too.

Yeah and the garage is cleaned up and ready for the trailer, however I would like to get some longer 4x4 posts to raise the car even higher. I will cover that in the other post.

I glued the felt in the bottoms of the drawers and put the knobs back on and I found some thin wood to make the drawer glides from. Home Depot shipped 1/4 x 6 wood instead of door casing. It’s so thin I was able to cut it with a knife to the exact size ones that fell out. They are glued back in now.

I thought I found a lock going through my mothers (mother-in-law) basement junk, buts it a bit bigger, I may have to modify the lid when I get closer to putting the material on. I am holding out as long as I can, I also still need one of the corners. There are some on a tool box her dad made but I don’t really want to steal from this for that.

I still have to make a small metal bit where the pins on the door catch the bottom of the box.

[Randy]

Made up the Ginsberg today, using tape over the other hindge and rubbing a pencil over the piece to make a pattern and then transferred it to sheet metal.

[Randy]

I finished the machinists tool box.
I may re-consider covering the exterior with fabric as I found a nice photo of an original that is very similar.

[Randy]

Here are some originals I found on line
The box mu be from at least 1900 to 1903 as there was a set of tools in the box that are dated back to that time.
It belonged to my wife’s great grandfather and was passed down when he was struck and killed by a streetcar in Toronto in 1923