Refurbishig a Hamilton Metal Type Cabinet
I’m refurbishing a gray metal type cabinet that needs sprucing up, as it has rust and corrosion on the faces of the type cases. The type inside is in very good condition, but not so much for the cases themselves. I have successfully removed the handles and soaked them in a citrus acid solution to remove rust. They now look brand new. But the cases are proving to be more challenging. My thought was to lightly sand the metal face and then spray paint them, but I’m having trouble finding paint that works well. I tried some glossy spray that ended up drying with a powdery like sandy surface (not good). The color is not right, either. Any suggestions? Thanks.
My first Hamilton metal type cabinet is a dark gray color. TI purchased two additional cabinets, some years later, that were dull (flat) olive green. I repainted theses two, after much sanding and work on the handles, with a Rustoleum spray paint with a “hammer finish”. This was so close a match to the original that one must really look close to find a difference. Not as durable as brush-applied paint but has held up great over the years. Hope your refurbishing goes great!
Jim
Thanks! I wondered if the Hammer finish might work. My cases are probably closer to olive or army green than gray. Not an easy color to find at big box stores What color did you end up using?
I have several grey, metal cabinets. I repainted the fronts on two cabinet with Rustoleum and was pleased with the results. Rustoleum has several greys that match Hamilton’s fronts. Both hammered and plain finish. Army Green is hard to match.
I got the best results with Krylon Fusion Hammered Finish, Cast Iron color. This goes on very nicely and dries to look very close to the original color, at least for this group of cases. Now the work begins! Thanks to all!
Can anyone help me? Trying to figure out exactly what this steel Hamilton MFG. Com. Filing Cabinet really is or what it was used for. It was left in our house when we bought it in June 1998. We just decided to take it out & that’s when we discovered they are sections. They are stackable. It has a base, two cabinets with 180 drawers altogether. The top cabinet has the two bottom rows of 6 each because they are slightly larger. The rest of the drawers are the same size. It also has a cap with the tag WOOD GOODS STEEL HAMILTON MFG. CO. TWO RIVERS WISCONSIN AND THE NUMBER 81315. The cabinet could of been painted @ one time. Color possibly brownish green. Would greatly appreciate any information or at least point me in the correct direction. I have more pictures if needed. Thanks
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Can anyone help me? Trying to figure out exactly what this steel Hamilton MFG. Com. Filing Cabinet really is or what it was used for. It was left in our house when we bought it in June 1998. They are stackable. It has a base, two cabinets with 180 drawers altogether. The top cabinet has the two bottom rows of 6 each because they are slightly larger. The rest of the drawers are the same size. It also has a cap with the tag WOOD GOODS STEEL HAMILTON MFG. CO. TWO RIVERS WISCONSIN AND THE NUMBER 81315. The cabinet could of been painted @ one time. Color possibly brownish green. Would greatly appreciate any information or at least point me in the correct direction. Thanks
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That is a sorts cabinet. Each box would hold copies of a single sort, the specials not held in normal type cases, accents, ornaments, non-standard spaces or whatever.
M&H Type had many of the smaller Monotype version of the cabinet, and there was an aisles of them with the characters needed for math composition, encyclopedia work, etc.
Nancy,
That’s an interesting cabinet.
What do the drawers look like on the inside - can you post a photo?
Thanks
Michael Vickey
Nickel Plate Press
I have seen cabinets like that used in typesetting plants, primarily Monotype, where all the side sorts and special characters were kept, and I saw a few trade plants and captive shops while I was going to college. These characters would be inserted by hand into text or other composition like technical or mathematical work.
Drawers are fully open inside no dividers. The one side of the cabinet has the number 80 painted on. Anyone know what the value this would have?
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You can see on the side of the drawers that it was painted. It was kept in a basement against a foundation/basement wall & the one side is a bit rusted but not rusted through. Was thinking maybe a using a wire brush to knock off some of the rust. Eventually we will sell it but we didn’t know what it was or the value. Any information would be helpful. Thank you to those who have answered me.
Does anyone know if the tag with Hamilton MFG. Co. are different according to the year the product was made? And if yes does anyone know what they are?
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