Oak Machinist chest repair

[JimReed@Tallahassee]

I picked up this 9 drawer oak Sipco (Schartow Iron Products) machinist chest but it was down to 8 drawers. It is also missing its front cover. But that is no problem for a ww with time on his hands. The first order of business was to repair the tower. It was held on by six nails from above and one from the rear. It was the rear nail that caused a breakout in the drawer area. I carefully pried it off and repaired the break.




That little piece of wood is the drawer stop that I installed to keep the drawer from knocking out the rear of the chest.

I rough cut the door rabbets on a table saw (gasp!) but I trimmed them to size with my medium LN shoulder plane.




I cut the drawer side grooves with a 1/8" cutter in my #45.




And then I opened up the groove a little with my 98/99 rabbets. When they work right, they leave a long shaving right in the groove.




Which you have to clean out with the 1/8" chisel you made.




But the fun does not stop there. Each of these drawers has a bead at the top. The center drawer was originally made with the grain oriented vertically (ugh). That means a cross grain bead. So I called upon my little 10 tpi Disston panel saw.




Using a chisel and sandpaper, I was able to fashion a bead.




The original drawer held a drill index and did not have sides. My replacement has sides but is small inside. Maybe that's why they call it the "whisky drawer."




And here it is in place.




My next project is to make the front cover. Refinishing is somewhere way down the road.

[Boatman53]

Jim those middle drawers were made for holding a machinist handbook, that's what I was told at least. I've got a couple of chests that need attention, maybe this winter.

Jim

[EricU]

yeah, originally Machinery's handbook would fit in that drawer.  The book is about 3" thick nowadays, obsoleted a lot of toolboxes.

[JimReed@Tallahassee]

True that most chests (Gerstner's for example) had a handbook drawer. But thru 9 drawer Sipco had a metal drill index that was attached front, back and rear--no sides. I thought about recreating it but decided true drawer would be more useful.

[C. in Indy]

A subject dear to my heart, nice work!    Have you built a fall-front panel yet?   If the old one is missing, it's amazing how much a new one can resemble a Gerstner more than a Sipco, if you choose the frame & panel proportions that way.


Chris

[JimReed@Tallahassee]

I am working on the front cover. Here is the prototype.




I have the oak and just need to figure out a few details on how to inset the panel.

[deeno]

Jim, are you making your own locking pins for the lid or are you buying them?   I have one that is a work in progress that I am thinking of making the top lid pin myself.

[JimReed@Tallahassee]

Jim, are you making your own locking pins for the lid or are you buying them?   I have one that is a work in progress that I am thinking of making the top lid pin myself.

I got lucky because the top pins are still here and working. That is why I have the lid open in the picture. There are two pins in the lid that depress corresponding spring held pins in the body and force them into the front piece. I will have to check on how the front was held in place. My guess is that there are two dowels that fit into slides and then pivot when the front is pulled out. Post some pictures of yours when you start work.

[C. in Indy]

Hello Jim,

    From what I've seen, only the Gerstner chests have the fall-front panel fitting/sliding into storage grooves in the carcase, via small metal dowels at the left and right bottom corners of the front-panel.   For all the other Union, Craftsman, Sipco, Pilliod types of chests, the fall-front panel is just rabbeted at the bottom, so that it will fit into a groove at the bottom front of the carcase.   When the lid-pins engage, it all holds nicely, but if the lid-pins aren't engaged, the panel will fall.    The fallen panel can slide into the case, typically protected by some felt pads on the interior bottom of the case.

    Here is what I believe was a Sipco chest that I restored for a nephew in 2013.  I decided to re-proportion the front panel to look a little more like a Gerstner.  It was a fun, if drawn-out, restoration project:

<img src="http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d38/C66RUPPEL/Front%20Panels%20Compared_zpsbpley0fz.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo Front Panels Compared_zpsbpley0fz.jpg"/>

<img src="http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d38/C66RUPPEL/Bryans_Chest_Closed_zps2uluthyo.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo Bryans_Chest_Closed_zps2uluthyo.jpg"/>

Have fun!

Chris

[JimReed@Tallahassee]

You did a great job on that chest--lucky nephew. Now that you mention it, I do not remember seeing any track for front panel dowels. No wonder these things are missing. The rabbet/pin combo does seem sturdy though. Thanks for your pictures.