Back in the Machine(ist Chest) Shop

[BuckeyeDennis]

Chris, I just noticed those “rope-twist” (if that’s the right term) inlays that you added. I don’t recall seeing that pattern before. Very cool, and they definitely dress up the chest. Did you make the strips, or buy them somewhere?

[BuckeyeDennis]

Chris,
As I have been following your work on the B&D chest I am enjoying the work you put into rebuilding these old carcasses. I spent about an hour this morning reviewing the posts from the beginning and you have been at it for close to 6 years, probably longer.
I love the old Gerstners and you have done a wonderful job bringing them back to life. I got a chance to visit their factory, which is quite small, and was amazed at the new chests they have in their display room. While 99% of the chests I have seen are oak, the showroom is filled with chests made of cherry, walnut, maple and other hard woods. The same quality is used in the new ones and they were unloading a tractor trailer of oak while we were there.
The old building is awesome with the smell of fresh sawn oak hitting you as soon as you enter the front door.

Good luck with the current rebuild and thanks for sharing your progress.
Wiley

Wiley, does the Gerstner factory have public tours, or do you have an inside connection? I’m only about an hour away, and would love to see it sometime.

[WileyCoyote]

Dennis,

You just park and walk in the front door. The lady who greeted us was a wonderful tour guide. The old chests are just inside the front door and the showroom is just down the hall. Once she explained some of the earlier boxes she left us to look at the new models, including some of the ones they import. The building is equally interesting, historical and unique and positioned right beside the river.

Let me know and we'll do lunch and a tour.
Wiley

[nuhobby]

Thanks for your kind words

Regarding the Gerstner factory, I have not been there myself, but I recently saw a re-run of The Craftsman's Legacy episode where the host Eric went to tour the Dayton plant. Very informative... One of the Wright Bros. as well as Pres. Gerald Ford owned Gerstners.

BuckeyeDennis: I bought the 1/4" marquetry strips from Rockler. They are actually not so much rope-twists as conventional diagonal cuts. In this case, I was particularly motivated since I had cracked and re-glued the top plank of the carcass when doing the initial breakdown (really had to take the whole thing apart in order to remove obsolete tool-holding fixtures). The addition of marquetry helps conceal a long glued crack in that oak.


Best Regards,
Chris

[BuckeyeDennis]

Dennis,

You just park and walk in the front door. The lady who greeted us was a wonderful tour guide. The old chests are just inside the front door and the showroom is just down the hall. Once she explained some of the earlier boxes she left us to look at the new models, including some of the ones they import. The building is equally interesting, historical and unique and positioned right beside the river.

Let me know and we'll do lunch and a tour.
Wiley

That would be great fun, Wiley. I’ll give you a shout when I have an opportunity for a day trip. Do you know if Gerstner has any weekend hours?

[WileyCoyote]

Dennis,

Unfortunately they are only open Mon-Fri, 9-5.

[bigk01]

Beautiful work! Most of the tool chests (26”) I’ve seen in my 40+ years as a machinist/ toolmaker have been the oak or the leatherette covered boxes. At the G.M. plant that I worked at the apprentice’s would be given a new Gerstner when they became journeymen.
I always wanted a Gerstner, but couldn’t afford one, so it was Kennedy at home and at work.

Fortunately (for me) one of my fellow machinists sold me his pristine walnut Gerstner that he had at home when he retired. Finally had my Gerstner! And a walnut one to boot.
I never took it to work, but kept it at home also.

Again, beautiful job you are doing restoring the old Gerstner’s and the other wooden tool boxes.

K

[nuhobby]

And... the back is trimmed and I'll be taking a break. Thanks for watching!

Chris

Back Slats Trimmed.JPG (144.9 KiB) Viewed 15133 times

Open Chest with Back.jpg (105.89 KiB) Viewed 15133 times