Restoring an old tool chest

[Gant]

Newbie alert; I just retired and took up woodworking. My first solo project is the restoration of my late father-in-law’s tool chest. He was an engineer’s pattern maker for a printing works, the chest is probably his apprentice piece from the 1950s (although some of the tools were older as they were his father’s, a joiner). Unfortunately it has got damp and the base has rotted. However I have hit a snag; many of the screws have rusted and either crumble when I try to remove them, snap, or just refuse to move. Do you have any suggestions on how I can get them out?

 

[Blackswanwood]

You could try heating the head of the screw with a soldering iron. The expansion due to the heat and then contraction when it cools may loosen them.

That’s a project worthy of the Repair Shop!

 

[Awac]

1. A good fitting screwdriver, and some kind of grip, mole grips are good. Some screw drivers have a small square shank near the handle which fits a spanner. Hold the screwdriver down with pressure whilst clamped onto the shaft and turn. Tighten slightly, and then loosen, repeat.
2. Impact drivers are amazing but have to be used wisely, especially with soft brass.
3. A pin and punch and tap it around.
4. If key in head is completely ruined. High strength glue dot on head to small rod.
5. Drill the head off, then use thin nosed pliers to turn it out (you might have to dig around it), any wood damage, drill clean and insert wood with glue.

This is what has worked for me in the past. Good luck.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

Just to add to the above - unless you absolutely have to remove screws in order to effect essential repairs, leave them be. From the photos, it looks like you can clean, refinish and put the chest back to working order without dismantling it at all. Don't risk more damage unless you're forced to.

 

[Stanleymonkey]

That is a beauty of a tool chest - lots of photos please as you work on this.

 

[Gant]

Thanks all for your help. I’ll try some of these suggestions. Unfortunately the back of the lid is sprained from being opened too far so that the lock doesn’t engage any more, so ideally I would like to remove the hinges and remove the top to repair it. I will try to see if I can apply glue and clamps without taking it off. Also a couple of the blocks in the lid used to retain the tools are damaged, and I need to replace them; they will have to come out.

More photos to follow as I work on it, I promise.

 

[--Tom--]

A screwdriver bit in a brace can be useful for letting you keep downwards pressure while you apply a lot of torque quite qently. If the slots aren’t clean it’s worth a bit of time with an awl to get them tidy so you get good contact with the screwdriver bit.

If you can leave them be though I would

 

[OldWood]

Welcome - and a nice project to take on.
One of keys to this type of dismantlement that is not always known is to tighten the screw first. My first go-to would be the brace and screwdriver bit going back and forth, and then heat with a reasonable (ie not electronics scale) soldering iron, repeating as above. It may well be that impact driver is the modern way to go - I don't have much experience of them but my brother in the trade speaks highly.
I wouldn't worry to much if the rusted through screws break - a bit of careful drilling and then plugging the hole with a glued in tapered bit of wood will repair that.
Rob

 

[thetyreman]

that is a very well made chest, well worth repairing, I'd highly recommend buying a wera screwdriver flathead bit, I've tried quite a few and they give the best grip without slipping I've had yet, make sure you clean out the dirt from the slot as well.

 

[Cabinetman]

I was taught to use the screwdriver at an angle to clear out any rubbish in the groove and then put the "well fitting" screwdriver in the groove and hit it hard with a hammer, this loosens it just a little bit, usually works. Ian

 

[jcassidy]

+1 for hitting the screwdriver a thump with the hammer, as per Cabinetman. I have a small ratcheting screwdriver with a hole in the handle (for hanging up? I dunno) and I find slotting another medium-sized screwdriver through that hole provides all the torque I need. I either just get a better grip to apply more pressure, or in extremis I use it as a lever to help turn the handle whilst bearing down on the screwhead.

I think an impact driver would either just wrench the head off the screw entirely, or slip out of the slot and wander over your wooden edges. I've done both. Total pain.

 

[TheUnicorn]

I have a small ratcheting screwdriver with a hole in the handle (for hanging up? I dunno) and I find slotting another medium-sized screwdriver through that hole provides all the torque I need. I either just get a better grip to apply more pressure, or in extremis I use it as a lever to help turn the handle whilst bearing down on the screwhead.

i would assume that is exactly what the hole is for

 

[Gant]

I have finally completed the restoration of the toolchest. As I stripped off the paint and replaced the base and skirts, which had rotted, I realised that the reason the lock didn’t fit wasn’t due to the spraining of the lid hinges, it was due to the swelling of the large panel in the lid. Similarly the body of the box had moved, with some of the dovetail joints spreading a little. Of course, solving that would only be possible with the total dismantling of the chest. Bearing in mind my novice level of skill, for ‘dismantling’ please read ‘destruction’. Some compromise was required.
I replaced the base with oak boards (no beech available in the right thickness, and I have no way to dimension boards without a workshop). What I decided to do was to dovetail the skirts rather than mitre them – I realise mitres would be the traditional way, but by cutting the tails on the end skirts rather than those on the faces it would be the opposite to the dovetails on the box, and so lock the frame to prevent future loosening. It also gave me practice at dovetails, albeit chunky ones. It wasn’t easy without a bench or workholding, but I made an acceptable job of it by wedging the boards in the draws of the old chest on which I was working. They are tight and rigid, but a couple are a bit gappy. However it’s a painted toolchest, not a piece of furniture, and the gaps filled easily enough.

 

[Gant]

For the lock I just had to remove the keeper and add a fillet of wood so that the tongues could engage. It’s another compromise, but looks OK, I think.

 

[Gant]

As discussed above the screws in the lid fittings and hinges were an issue. In some cases I couldn’t even find the groove in the head to insert a ‘good fitting’ screwdriver. Torque wasn’t the issue, and the heads tended to crumble. In the end I chiselled out some of the fittings which allowed me to remove the old screws. I cut new fittings out of similar coloured wood. I just left the hinge screws. Since they hadn’t been screwed into the ?mahogany they hadn’t discoloured the wood in the same way and were not so corroded.

 

[Gant]

I sewed the pockets for markers and pencils out of some old swatches from a furniture shop and an old leather jacket. It’s mounted onto an old table mat and screwed into a position on the lid where there had been fixing for chisels (I think). However I didn’t think they were effective or useful so I did this instead.

 

[Gant]

As you can see, I have also cleaned up some of the tools. I have cleaned up the planes and sharpened them with the help of Nick from the Wharfedale Workshop – a lovely Bailey/Record No 5 and a little box plane, these were used extensively in preparing the base and skirts for the chest. The combination square is Moore and Wright, the saws are ‘W Tyzak, Sons and Turner’ products. The planes, saws and some of the chisels and gouges are marked T R Williams, who was not my father-in-law; they were Tom Williams’s, his father, and probably date back to the 1930s or 40s. I still need to sharpen the saws and gouges – a project for a future date.

 

[Jacob]

Screws loosen and you don't spoil the slot if you tighten them a touch first - just enough to break them free.
If that doesn't work you still get a 2nd shot at loosening them if you are lucky!