25 Pounder info needed.

[rob love]

Many of the British style chests use rivets for part of the retention of things like the rope handle blocks, hinges and hasps. In some cases, it was to prevent opening a locked box by simply removing some of the screws.

I would agree that the stamped corners would be to make them thicker for the use of the flat headed screws. It may have been a way to save metal. If you think about it, how many miles of metal strip twice the thickness would have been used otherwise to build crates. I have a large number of the bren chests here, and they simply used the heavier metal with countersunk holes for the corners.

[Private_collector]

That all adds up then, Rob.

My intention is to retain that rivet system, in appearance anyway. Because I've pulled the hinges over those rivets, to get them free, they won't serve their function, but I can still keep them looking right. I will shave a tiny bit more from the holes in hinges where those holes were attached with the rivet. Then they should go back together without force, and not look too far 'wrong'.
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Yesterday I chose a new piece of timber to make a pair of stiffening braces for top of the lid. I believe it's some type of oak, possibly Tasmanian. Thickness is correct, but width will require cutting down. The orignal timber braces were not healthy. One far worse than the other, but if making one, might as well make both. The original/s will be filed away for referring to in any future need.

The box and lid are now stripped back to either bare timber or initial thin coat of color. They have to dry well, before I do further work on them. Next stage is filling imperfections. I intend to try and save some original markings stamped on lower edge of both short sides. Should be easier to read once I sand there.....very lightly!

I've ordered the three types of countersunk, slot head, wood screws that were originally used. The total cost, including shipping is $77.00AUD, but that is partly due to the 'job lots' of each being in excess of quantity I need for this particular project, and partly because they are coming from UK. They'll come in handy elsewhere, so I don't worry about $$$/£££ there.
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Tonight, for want of something else to do, I made the template to cut the replacement canvas lid cover. I have heaps of the same canvas used on the tool box, so they will match. I will use same font for creating stencilling also. Didn't find any stencilling on this box. That's probably because it had 1,000 layers of badly applied paint, of several colors.
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I'll post some photos of the box in it's bare state tomorrow evening.

[Private_collector]

Sorry about not posting the photos when I indicated I would. I've had an issue arise, that took priority.
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The canvas lid cover did indeed get cut, and it's now been finished. The leather strap also in the photo, will go around the edge of the lid to secure the canvas. The manufacture of this box is quite different to the tool box I worked on some months ago. There is about a 1/2" gap between lid and box. This is because the thicker part of the hinges sit between the box & lid, instead of outside rear, as was the case with tool box. Therefore, 1/2" gap! Which I don't like, personally. Too bad, that's how it is, so I've gotta deal with it. Secondly, securing strap isn't recessed into the lid as far as tool box, making it tricky to make a satisfactory canvas cover. You will notice a rectangular hole in my canvas. That's to slip over the securing strap. The original wasn't like that, but if I copied that way 100% there would be an ugly gap in the lower 'skirt' of the canvas. Having already said there is the 1/2" gap, I didn't want to have any break in canvas to expose said gap. Hence the strap poking through my canvas. I think it looks OK.
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The box took an awful lot of filling, to get rid of the cracks and surface blemishes. The large crack I had previously filled with wood glue, and had to remove a few millimetres depth of that to have sufficient purch for the filler.
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It took several, increasingly shallower, applications of wood filler, before I was happy to proceed to the next step.
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While waiting for the various layers of filler to harden, I straightened and blasted the brackets and locking latch. I found my bottle of gun blue, which I use for etching and darkening the steel parts, was considerably emptier than I had expected. As a result, I could only make a token effort with treating the brackets. I'll get more tomorrow, on my way to Nambour.
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To be continued....

[Private_collector]

Finally satisfied with the filling, two coats of primer were applied......then almost entirely sanded off again, once dried. This showed some smaller defects not previously seen. NB: I'm due for new spectacles soon, maybe that played a part in missing the finer nicks! Another two primer coats later, I was satisfied with the result.
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As indicated earlier, I enlarged the holes in brackets where the rivets had been (still are, in the timber), so they could remain and become a feature instead of a pain to remove. It would be a shame to do away with those. They won't have any strength any more, but the screws will be sufficient to do the job, I hope. You will note the screw hole at top of the hinge is a long way off alignment. I think those (both sides are same, unfortunately) should be plugged with dowels and redrilled to correct alignment. That will be fun.
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Almost forgot I'd already made the tray for this box, then when I remembered it, couldn't find the bloody thing for about ten minutes. The welding doesn't look any better than I thought it was, either.
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Finally, this is how the canvas cover will look, once installed. The lid needs to be sanded and painted before that happens. The replacement timber braces haven't been cut to corect size yet. That may be done next weekend.
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[Private_collector]

The majority of metal components are now finished and ready for use.
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The metal plates that hold the carrying handles in place have not had the treatment yet, because I don't know if I will use the tatty originals or make new ones.
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Not having the equipment or skills to manufacture the end for my handbrake rod, I have to find another way of achieving that. A short search on internet turned up the following part. The thread on lower end (where silver bolt is sticking out) is too wide for use, so I plan to find a suitable bold to insert firmly, cut flush with the botttom of the linkage, then drill & tap to the correct thread I need. Overall length of the part is almost a perfect match for the original, so once finished it should look OK.
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The spare parts box has had an application of wiping putty, which has now been wet sanded, in the shower last night! I'll reprime it this afternoon.
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Apart from going on with making new pair of timber lid braces, and some painting, that's about all I can do for now. I'm still waiting on arrival of my new screws (3 different sizes). They will have the heads slightly sanded, before three coats of gun blue, same as the other metal parts had.

[Private_collector]

Got the days tasks finished early, so got paint on the spares box carrier, the box lid, and inside the box itself. Only the exterior of the box and the yet to be made lid braces still to be painted.
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Found, and cut to size, a nice piece of felt for inside the box.
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Enough offcuts leftover to cushion the box in it's carrier.
Don't want the footman loop fasteners to scratch the paint off.

[Private_collector]

I got bored!
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Off to bed.

[Russ Gregg]

Originally Posted by Private_collector

The thread on lower end (where silver bolt is sticking out) is too wide for use, so I plan to find a suitable bold to insert firmly, cut flush with the botttom of the linkage, then drill & tap to the correct thread I need.

Look up Keensert, they are a thread repair system that might do exactly what you need if the inner and outer threads work out for the size you need. Once installed properly they will not come out. Helicoils serve a similar purpose but are less robust and should never be used with thread locker.

[Private_collector]

Hi Russ,

Not heard of that product before. I've started looking through their website, or a site selling their parts anyway.