The case of an old machinist’s tool chest is covered with this metal, which in its turn is covered with years’ worth of dirt and possibly corrosion and rust. The photos show one side of the “door” of the chest, partially cleaned (there is some residue of the cleaning process as well as uncleaned areas), and a closer view of an area that looks like rust.
Someone on this board has estimated this was made as a trade school project possibly around 1930. I was assuming the metal might be aluminum, but then I don’t understand the apparent rust.
Looks they might be two different metals and were painted the same color. The top one appears to look like painted aluminum or stainless steel, paint doesn’t stick well to either one without some sort of preparation. The bottom one looks to be plain old mild steel that was painted and then rusted. Looks to have both paint and rust. Does a magnet stick to one and not the other? Aluminum and stainless steels are not magnetic.
I found a magnet I had forgotten I had, and the magnet sticks to the whole thing. So it’s all steel, not stainless, which I guess makes a certain amount of sense. It’s very thin metal, I can see at the edges, but there isn’t any place peeled far enough back so that I can measure it with my micrometer.
I was going to clean it back to shiny and then do a clear coat, but if it was painted, that makes it a bit easier. I can scrub off the rust, and then re-paint over the old paint with rustoleum. Then I don’t have to settle for black, I can do another color.
This was so easy, I feel a bit stupid and senior-itis-y not having figured it for myself. Thanks for your help.
You might be able to save yourself some work, if not cash, by finding someone with a “soda blaster”. It’s like a sand or grit blaster, but uses baking soda as an abrasive.
They can remove paint from glass and other surfaces without abrading the surface underneath.
Baking soda? I used to use a soda blaster for mold remediation, and it took soda salts, which would absolutely destroy a chest like that. A walnut blaster (uses ground up/crushed walnut shells) is the device normally used for restoration projects like this.
to be fair, the gritty soda did look and have a similar texture to baking soda after having been blasted against something.
Thank you, I have decided to pursue de-rusting and re-painting the metal-clad case. I have also ordered a new lock that I think will fit – I have the key to the old lock, but it doesn’t turn, and I don’t know how to fix it. The drawers are coming along nicely, I am ready to start touching up the coloring of the wood, after scrubbing off years of grime, and I have replaced the metal drawer bottoms with HDF.
