The frame is all wood, 5/8 thick. The lid is one peice of wood with grain running left to right. The front and rear rails of the lid compartment are cut from the same wood with the matching grain running left to right. There are two 3 screw steel hinges, the flat head screws are. And seated correctly indicating that it has never been removed or replaced.
There is one 180 degree lid support (non magnetic apart from the centre pin so some alloy) in place and undamaged. There are also four 5/8 corner internal strengthening.
There are two alloy clasps, one on each side which operate correctly an are undamaged. The lid has dovetail d. T joints which i have. The depth of the d.
T on right front side of the rails is 0.430", on the left is 0.590". T depth on the right side is 0.560" and on the left is 0.520".
Ts and other joints follow the same pattern, however all male and female parts fit perfectly. This is professionally hand made chest by a cabinet makers as.
To using wood working/dovetailing machines. There are a few such boxes previously coming to light and a view expressed is that these were a. Of the Moore & Wright boxes, possibly from the 1920s. I could not find anything to back this up. The lid depth is 1 7/8" bottom 15/16" top making a total internal height of 2 13/16.
The front and rear rails below the lid are 2 3/8 deep. On the rear side below the rail is a plywood panel 12" x 15 1/4" recessed into the frame. Of the drawer cavity are 15 1/4" 39cms x 9 1/2" 24cms x 7 1/2 19 cms.
Very unusually the original drawer runners appear to be in place with the possible exception of the bottom left which looks like it has been. The base internal felt pads are in place. The base of the frame is attached to the sides by five dovetail joints on each side, again these appear to be hand cut. The underside of the base has some scratches but remarkably few given it's age. The box has its original. Handle, secured by brass caps.Again the condition is very good, there is darkening to the rear panel which suggests that it has been lifted bodily as. The front panel dimensions are 9 1/2" (24cms) x 15" (39cms) 0.615 thick. It is constructed of four tenoned rails measuring 2.430" (side) 2.260" (base & top). The centre panel is ply.
The lock is a "Secure" 2 lever brass lock stamped O&S (Oakden & Son Ltd). The panel centre felt is intact and remarkably good.
It appears that the panel has spent a lot of time in it's resting position under the bottom drawer as the wood colour for the concealed portion is considerably lighter them the rest of the box. The bottom rebate which fits into the bottom recess is intact along it's full length. The general construction is wood rails to the front side and rear with a 3 ply base. The front panel width is 0.650", side rails 0.440" and rear 0.480. The front panels are attached to the side rails by a "half blind lap joint" (I think I have got this right having researched cabinet joints).
The ply base and side rails are pinned in place to the rear rail. Small drawer top left: dimensions width 6 ΒΌ depth 5 1/4 height 7/8.
The drawers are entirely firm, the top two have central dividers. The felt is intact and form with some engineering marking. Small drawers top right right. Dimensions and construction as above, th height is 1 1/2 Drawers are entirely firm, the felt has some some marking but is very good in my view.Middle full length drawer, Dimensions width 164 3/8 depth 5 1/4 height 1 3/8. Construction as above apart from the front panel is a little thicker at 0.675" the side and rear rails measure 0.480". The ply base of the drawer is secured by 5 pins into the rear rail. There is very slight bowing of the base however the ply remains firm within it's recesses and remains entirely firm, the felt has a little marking but is good overall.
Bottom full length drawer, Dimensions as above height 2 3/8. The ply base on this drawer has no bowing, often it is the bottom drawers where weighty items parallels blocks etc are stored, that suffer the most from bowing. On the left hand side rail there is some minor wear visible to the last 2 of the recess. The recess width measures 0.360" opening out in the last 1/8" to 0.400.
I believe that this may correspond with the reversed runner mentioned above. The drawer itslef is entirely firm, the felt has some slight markings but is good in my view. My interest in these boxes started when I inherited my father in law's tool makers box. I have now owned a number of different types, this is the only CQR box that I have come across.
This is a lovely original box that comes with both it's keys. It has the company motif transfer clearly visible under the handle, the motif on the bottom drawer is visible but illegible. On the front of the box is a name plaque giving the name and address of the former owner. The keys have Mollins Machinery Co Ltd dog tags on them, a company operating from 1912 to date. 1 Some engrained dirt on the top, under the drawers and on the front panel. 2 Some very small nicks and scratches, nothing major.There is a 2 1/2 light piece on the rear ply panel, I don't know what has caused this. There is a spec of paint on the front panel. I have examined this box extremely critically. I have tried to photograph all the items i have referred too.
Please contact me if you require any further information. This can be collected from LE19.I would be delighted to hear from anyone with knowledge of CQR, or indeed these toolmakers boxs in general. With tool makers tools and.
Equipment and would happily travel to do so. The item "Vintage Engineers 7 Drawer CQR Early hand made box Tool makers Cabinet Chest VGC" is in sale since Friday, March 5, 2021. This item is in the category "Collectables\Tools & Collectable Hardware\Toolboxes".
The seller is "johnw1117" and is located in Leicester. This item can be shipped to United Kingdom, Antigua and barbuda, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Australia, United States, Bahrain, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, China, Israel, Hong Kong, Norway, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Bangladesh, Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia, Barbados, Brunei darussalam, Cayman islands, Dominica, Egypt, Guernsey, Gibraltar, Guadeloupe, Grenada, French guiana, Iceland, Jersey, Jordan, Cambodia, Saint kitts and nevis, Saint lucia, Liechtenstein, Sri lanka, Macao, Monaco, Maldives, Montserrat, Martinique, Nicaragua, Oman, Pakistan, Paraguay, Reunion, Turks and caicos islands, Aruba, Saudi arabia, South africa, United arab emirates, Ukraine, Chile, Bahamas, Colombia, Costa rica, Dominican republic, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Kuwait, Panama, Qatar, El salvador, Trinidad and tobago, Uruguay.