Harbor freight machinist chest

SVTFreak

SVTFreak

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hey guys. I know some of y’all use the harbor friends machinist chest for knife storage. I got me one today.

But when I started to load it up, I had a fear surface.

Will the green dye of the felt stain my knives, especially the ivory and natural material knives?
 
I’ve seen some folks post before that the green dye from felt lining can stain knife handles. I don’t know how easy it is to remove the felt, but cork lining works much better, from what I hear.
 
Thanks trout. Sure glad I didn’t drop them in and walk off.

I have some small white clothes that I can cut up and set them on inside to protect them. Or maybe I’ll see if the felt comes out easily.
 
SVTFreak said:
Thanks trout. Sure glad I didn’t drop them in and walk off.

I have some small white clothes that I can cut up and set them on inside to protect them. Or maybe I’ll see if the felt comes out easily.
Click to expand...

Toolbox drawer liner, or basic cupboard liner.
 
This hasn't happened to any of my knives for the 2 years I've owned the HFT chest. Lately though, I've been covering the felt with blue paper shop towel sheets, cut to fit. I did this mainly to absorb any excess oil that might seep from a knife and get into the felt.

Someday I'll get around to my original idea, and get some thin sheets of cork to put in there.
 
I don't have any experience with the harbor freight ones, but I do have one from sportsmans guide that I bought a number of years back. I assume it is off shore similar to the harbor freight one. I haven't had any issues with the felt on mine reacting with knives, but YMMV
 
I have an old Gerstner Machinists Tool Box with green felt drawer lining. I was also concerned about the green color of the felt leaching into knife handles. What I did is line the drawers with clear Mylar. The green still shows through but there is now a barrier between the felt and the knives. I suppose acid free card stock would also work although cork lining sounds good also. I have had this Gerstner MTB with Mylar lined drawers for quite a few years with no green color bleeding into the knife handles. You can get the Mylar from places like Hobby Lobby.
 
I've stored knives for 3 years in a HF machinist tool chest. Brass that contacted the felt liner discolored in only a few weeks. Polishing the brass back to it's original condition I allowed it to occur a second time proving the felt was the cause of the discoloration. I then lined an area with micro fiber cloth to keep the knives with brass bolsters. Since then I've experienced no further difficulty and would recommend a HF machinist chest with that one exception.
 
Yeah, my cousin has one of these but his knives are basically all cheap and modern so I can't report on this but I do know they're a great value for the money.
 
I converted an old humidor to knife case and put thin cork shelf/ drawer liner in the trays. Works great!
 
I have a Gerstner Chest that I cut tool chest drawer liners that are slightly padded and made to handle if a bit of oil gets on it ... just because I was wondering the same about the felt.
 
I've never had an issue with colored felt discoloring the handles but it did discolor the nickel silver bolsters on most of my knives. Several years ago I changed it out for white felt that I got at Hobby Lobby and so far so good.

It's been so long ago that I can't remember what color the original felt was.
 
Thanks y’all. I’m going to order some cork sheet to line the drawers with. I’ll leave the felt in but lay the cork on top to protect my natural material knives (ivory, mammoth, bone and stag)
 
SVTFreak said:
Thanks y’all. I’m going to order some cork sheet to line the drawers with. I’ll leave the felt in but lay the cork on top to protect my natural material knives (ivory, mammoth, bone and stag)
Click to expand...

Many auto parts stores sell cork gasket material in small rolls and I have used it to line boxes
 
I've been using one of those Harbor Freight chests for a few years now. No issues with the green felt whatsoever.
 
tiguy7 said:
View attachment 835082 I use a shelf liner made out of fabricized foam rubber in my Festool drawers. It can be cut with a scissors. It keeps the stuff from sliding around.
Click to expand...
Be careful with that stuff, my wife put a big piece of it on an expensive dining room table to keep the tablecloth from sliding. After a couple years, when we getting ready to move, I pulled that stuff off, and it had off gassed, and took the finish off of the wood, the table was destroyed...
 
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