At the recent N gauge show, I was doing my usual thing, rushing around trying to talk to as many people as possible, and snap plenty of photos. Several times, I passed a stand selling second hand model engineering tools - on top of which were these drawers.
Each time I passed them, I looked. And I liked what I saw. Except the price, a whopping £250.
The trouble was, I kept looking. I opened a few drawers and they slid perfectly. I tapped the top and it's a lovely bit of wood. At 58cm wide, there's plenty of space for "bits", and any modeller has plenty of those in need of organisation.
Obviously, I recognise the lineage. If you have ever seen an wooden engineers toolbox, you'll realise they have the same maker.
Based in Ashford, Emir were until very recently, still making high quality workbenches and toolboxes. Sadly, they were a casualty of Covid. When furlough ended, they had no orders to re-start the business with, ending 89 years of trading.
It's a crying shame when a firm such as this disappears. Firstly for the staff, but looking at the bigger picture, for the skills that will be lost.
My set of drawers is a beautiful thing. After much deliberation, I negotiated a 50 quid price drop at the end of the day. That's one of the most expensive pieces of furniture I own, and I'm not disappointed. A quick look online found only one other example - which was tatty, missing a drawer, and twice the price. OK, cheap plastic drawers will work just as well for a fraction of the cost, but I won't love them like I love these.
The only problem is that I need to work out how to label the drawers. Writing on them is obviously out of the question. Maybe I can use the silhouette cutter to make some labels that can be held in place with the knobs (these screw in), but that's a problem for another day. For the moment, I'll just enjoy them.
7 comments:
How about a chinagraph pencil?
should write on a suitably varnished smooth surface without leaving a permanent mark, although won't be as visible as a sticky label.
A beautiful piece of furniture Phil. One to keep and treasure. You do not often see such craftsmanship these days - certainly not at the price you paid. I am sure you will find a way to label but memory can be just as good and think of the fun in exploring each draw when you do want to find something. If you are like me you will find all sorts of items you had forgotten about!
Woody
These are beautiful. One of those things that fall into the 'a joy to own' category.
Why bother labeling the drawers. Then you'll have the additional pleasure of opening and closing them until you find what you want :-)
G'day Phil,
Where's your sense of adventure as what you have is the most beautiful 40 draw mystery box, haa hhaaa.
On the other hand, oh the joy of frustration finding what your looking for in the last draw you open.
Cheers Woz
Here's a thought; put very small feet on each bottom corner, or 2 full depth couple of millimetre high blocks to stand them on at each end and have a pull out card underneath showing what's in the drawers. Might have to have the card in 2 sections, etc to deal with the height of the drawers vs what fits underneath, but just an idea. Vintage tech equipment often had a similar pull out quick refeerence card under the item.
I love furniture like this which is both functional and a joy to look at. As for labels, it looks like there is some clearance above each drawer so how about a piece of thin card bent into an n shape and dropped over the drawer front?
Some really interesting ideas here, thanks for those.
Nice to know people appreciate quality. It seems we aren't alone - my dad visited Cheltenham Models this week, and the owner had also spotted these and was wondering where he could put them!
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