Gerstner & Sons Factory Tour 

Your tour of Gerstner brought tears to my eyes. I'm so glad there is someplace that still believes in quality, craftmanship, and a pride in the work. So often we're forced into buying something we know we'll throw out, or doesn't work "quite right." Anxious to see your box refurbished!

My brother in law is a senior restorationist for Gerstner. He is a retired police officer in California and recently moved to southern Utah from about 3 miles from Bar Z Industrial. We recently visited him and my sister in law where my wife got her very own Gerstner tool box (riser and top box, made from Walnut; it did not have the felt liners in the drawers and I will line them in leather for her to store her craft tools and supplies. Myself I like the metal tool boxes for my woodworking tools, mainly from a security standpoint. My wife and I just moved to the Phoenix area from Las Vegas. I will have my first air conditioned wood shop in the RV garage attached to the house we bought . I got the same Mr. Cool unit you featured in your shop. As always enjoy your videos and the great content no matter the subject matter.

This video validates an opinion I’ve had for many years, and that’s how interconnected the various trades used to be. I live in a relatively small town in NC, the lifeblood of which for 100 years or more was furniture manufacturing and textiles. Growing up in the 60’s & 70’s, I saw these industries at their peak, and during those years this town had several machine shops, welding shops, electric motor shops etc., all of which supported these two industries! The machine shops in particular did a huge business building specialized machinery like the box assembly jig you showed, and repairing existing machines. By the late 80’s, all of that industry was long gone, and only one machine shop and an electric motor shop are left, struggling to stay afloat! This was a very uplifting video! Thanks Adam!

Absolutely enjoyed this tour. Brings me back in time being with my dad while he did his woodworking. He had a similar wooden tool box and kept some of his smaller tools and measuring devices inside. I have it now and plan on using it for jewelry tools…for my new hobby.😉I feel privileged to have it.❤

Long may they reign, lovely factory filled with lovely machines, benches, work spaces, tools and skillful people.

Thank you Abom79 and Gerstner. I mean ...🇺🇸THANK YOU SO MUCH!🇺🇸 Glad to see someone still cares about American Pride.

You are such a vise nerd! No idea how you can be so familiar with a vise to know make and model from across the room in a 100 year old factory. Great video, thanks!

I worked as a journeyman machinist for nine years while going to college to become a mechanical engineer. I did not like working in an office and found that I had to have hands-on in whatever job I did. I could never afford to buy a Gerstner toolbox so I got by with a metal Kennedy Kit. I always wanted to have a Gerstner box and now that I am 80 years old I am making a range box for my pistols more or less patterned after a Gerstner machinist's chest. I watch Adam's videos a lot and am familiar with almost everything he does. I have only one or two items that I ever used a shaper for. I always had a milling machine available. My last job was as an Operating Engineer in a bakery here in Seattle for 25 years and 4 days fixing everything in it. I made many shafts and other machine components in those years and did a good bit of welding as well. I worked all those years from midnight to 8 am so I could run my own Corporation on the side. It was a "Commercial & Industrial Troubleshoot & Repair" business. I always told new customers that "if a man made it, I could fix it". They tested me often, but I was persistent enough that I always got things going again. Thanks for the tour Adam, it was great!

Man, I inherited a Gerstner model 42 from my late machinist Grandfather last year. I really appreciate seeing this tour. It means a lot.

Very nice tour of a factory that still values quality for the customer.

I now realize that these chest are worth the price. Excellent!

Still made in the same building for over 100 years. Not many can say that. Awesome video. Can't wait to see the restoration of your box.

The music at the end? Powerful, emotional tribute to American quality and to the creative liberty of a country still good in it's heart.

Thank you Gerstner & Sons for keeping people at the heart of what you do!!

Thank you for the video. Bought back some good memories.

This video got me choked up. I felt like I had the opportunity to travel back in time and see what made America great at manufacturing. "Made in America with Craftsmanship and Pride."

You did a top notch professional interview and asked all the right questions , thanks for the tour, interesting indeed. I can see why some would want a tool box like that especially when good tools do not come cheap. I absolutely loved the custom dark chest with all the brass knobs.

The way it was , shops of yesteryear. Makes me very sad to see how far we have cheapened ourselves . Going cheap driving our businesses out of the USA. We had so many factories in almost every state , till we taxed them , inspected and basically drove them away. To many hands in the pockets of corrupt states , cities , . Just makes me mad losing so much for greed. Love the Gerstner tour the boxes are the best. I'm lucky to have one. Sorry for ranting old age I guess.

Wonderful shoptour, Thanks Adam.

49 min video and somebody gave it a thumbs down three minutes after posting. Clearly just a troll that didn't watch the video. You tha man cuz. Keep up the good work.

Perfect video to celebrate American workmanship on the 4th of July!

Very well done Adam. Great questions and answers. It is nice that they do it the old way, because that is way the customers want.

Very emotional and proof some things in America still respect craftsmanship. Cheers to all the workers and thanks to ABOM to bring us a fantastic history lesson.

My dream toolbox for most of my 43 years of machining. Five years ago I bought one that is 70 years young. Still is a great box that I keep my "Keepers" in

It’s like they’re making fine musical instruments. I love this stuff. Thanks for the video!

What a great tour of a great company. For an old shop that works with wood and has for over a century, it sure looks clean. And it being clean is a testament of the pride and care the employees have for the company they work for.

Man, you're lucky! Going to all the fun places! Edit: Never seen a new one. Thought they were all over fifty years old! Absolutely amazing!

Thanks for the video, good to see heirloom quality craftsmanship, a quality that can be used and handed down to the next generations.

Hope you enjoyed your time in Dayton Ohio, ( tool and die capital of the world) Gerstner and sons make a first class product. As a side note Kennedy tool boxes are manufactured in Van Wert Ohio. Ohio loves their machinists and tool makers. Liked your video Adam

Thank-you Adam. My dad had a Gerstner machinist tool box he bought new in the late 50's. I really appreciated seeing how they were manufactured.

loved the fold up table. the coffee table show drawer was nice also. great show. I don't own enough machine tools to need nice box like these. just old drag racer trying to keep the old heap running. thanks for sharing

Its a great compliment to Adam that he is well received by such such important business professionals. Thanks Adam...............

Every man or women newly married should receive one of these chests. I remember on school field trips getting tours of the plant. You brought me back to those trips. San Gabriel mission, was one of them, La Brea Tar Pits, also a meat packing plant. Several others. My grandpa a Machinest and my Uncle and cousin are all Machinists. I did get to Cruz thru there shop when I was young. But touring a plant or manufacturer is awesome. Thanks for sharing i can't wait to see how Paul did.

I'm loving these factory tours. H. Gerstner & Sons feels like an English company, it's all older crafts, nice wholesome vibe

This is what I think of when we talk about "made in USA" the best craftsmanship you can find,the most beautiful products you can find.. no usa brand but crappy made in China. This make me still believe there is hope . Stay strong . Best regards from Leon. Norway 🇳🇴

I'm loving these tour videos. They remind me of the "This Old House" factory tours. Very professional work by both of you. Thanks for sharing American craftsmanship by American workers.

Abby's stills are awesome. Good job.

Beautiful chests. Good old American craftsmanship still going strong. Thanks for taking us along on your tour.

I hope this amazing and wonderful business never sees hard times. It is a page out of history and it's a real tear jerker seeing it still in use. The older I get the more I gravitate to this time period that I didnt experience but still have the capacity to miss it. Bless you Adam and everyone at Gerstner 💗

Nice tour Adam. Enjoyed.

Thanks for the video.I have been making their tooling for years,cool to see where it’s being used.

WOW! Thank you so much!!! I bought my first Gerstner in 1986, a model 41C. At present I have 13 Gerstners and my prize one is the cherry briefcase the guys bought me when I was promoted to Vice President / General Manager. This tour really brings home the legacy and timelessiness of Gerstner.

I really enjoyed seeing the place. I never considered one of those boxes really because like a Kennedy I felt the drawers were too shallow. Looks like they have more options than I knew of. That custom walnut stained job was fantastic!

Interesting seeing all the various jigs that were set up to cut the various components. Wonderful craftsmanship!

Adam. You made me forget that this was a RU-vid video and was watching a big production company. Your camera work, interview and editing should be award winning work. I am so pleased to see how those boxes are made and the quality they have. From the old shop made tooling to the new laser cutter for the felt, what a process. Makes me want to get one now. Thank you for the video. What a blessing for Gerstner to let you in their shop. What a great team to build these beautiful boxes. I can’t wait until you get yours back.

That first box he showed in the showroom is awesome. I would love to be able to treat my fine measuring instruments to a nice new Gerstner box.

Always loved their work. Live by them but never got to see it like this.

My dad and I bought my mom a Gerstner silverware box in 1995. Still look great after all these years. Thank you for the tour video!

Excellent. It's wonderful to see a shop like this taking so much pride in their beautiful products and process.

I have a walnut W52 and an oak O52. I'm a wood worker and I restore and use old tools, machines and even a Union Steel wooden chest. I would love to just hang out in that place and check out the old gear and smell the smells. Fantastic video.

The only other video that got me this emotional is a Porsche video of a young man in school who goes to the Porsche Dealer after school. I drove Porsche since 1964 and I get this quality craftsperson thing. Thankyou so much. I have always wanted a GERSTNER. I got too old too soon and it may never happen, now. You are looking good Big Man.

Watched this on the 4th of July. It's so heartwarming to see this old school high level craftsmanship is still alive in America. Kudo's to Gerstner for keeping with tradition, their products are truly an American icon of quality craftsmanship. Thanks Adam for posting this video!!!!

Bravo Monsieur Adams, la véritable économie est celle que font les hommes et les femmes en travaillant chaque jour pour améliorer leur condition de vie et de celle de leur communauté. B. Rooman

Awesome tour. Big thanks Adam. Pozdrowienia z Polski 🇵🇱

As a wood worker I thoroughly enjoyed this tour. Subbed to your channel for a glimpse into the machinist world, and end up being right at home.

Great presentation Adam, Made in America....I'll bet it really smelled great in there with the wood and finishes....Dave

Bought a new Journeyman Toolbox Thursday. Got it today. Very pleased, and glad to support an American worker.

Wow...saving up for my first Gerstner Chest....great to see traditional craftsmanship alive and well in the USA.

I was shocked to see Adam standing next to wood - keep up the outstanding work bud ^.^

This encouraged me to go look at the old wooden toolbox I got with $50 of machine tools. I thought it was a Gerstner at the time, but there were no markings on it. Now I know some of the tidbits of how they are built, it is definitely a Gerstner, albeit missing the tag (but the holes for it are there). A bit of digging on the net shows that I can get a new tag for it if I send Gerstner some pictures and get info to them. Well worth restoring. My pride and joy however, is still going to be the wooden toolbox my grandmother had built for her in the late 20's. It came with the receipt and a handwritten note from the guy who built it. During The War, it held the tools she used working on cash registers (remember mechanical cash registers?) for NCR. Lady was a mechanical genius.

Really Amazing! I had No Idea these were still being made. Incredible quality! So Great to see old world craftmanship still around .

Awesome work Adam and Abby, there is nothing to beat traditional craftsmanship, they are the most beautiful chests I have ever seen. I am afraid I would not have left that factory without one of those dark chests under my arm. ;-)

I snagged two Gerstner boxes full of tools from a sale a few months back. I shared them in a Facebook group and someone said it best "thats a man's whole life in those boxes." From the black and white photos pinned on the inside of the lid to the custom date stamped washers lining the lower part of the lid to remember important dates - the tools were scribed with names and dates going back to the 40s. The boxes are probably from around the same time. I hope to redo the felt and use them as display pieces and motivation / inspiration to always put my best at whatever I'm doing around the shop. They give me a feeling of comfort and organization when I look at them. All the shelfs loaded with metal cut offs taps and reamers opened up effortlessly for being probably over 50 years old. I hope to visit the factory one day and hope I could find more of these boxes to preserve and share with people who appreciate them. You sometimes hear horror stories of people coming across them at dumps / scrap yards. I'm glad the two I found won't be one of those stories, at least in my life time.

Guys, what makes a company last, and still function in America, is good old fashion management. You can see they try to diversify. When the owners care about their employees, the customers and their business, they tend to stick around. When they care only about money, they dry up. From what I can see, Gerstner & Sons is a very nice business and deserves our patronage.

This one brought tears to my eyes. Still, made in the USA. I use to live in Dayton and I saw a few people I know there.

I love this. God bless America. God bless this company, manufacturers of the finest boxes. WWG1WGA

...a national treasure ...hoping they''ll be making their gorgeous pieces for decades to come.... and then some!

It's just wood, but GD was that awesome! So much history behind these hand crafted boxes. I hope they can continue the tradition for a 100 more years too. One of my favorite vids form Sir AB.

Great tour of a well known product. I was really interested as my dad had one of the smaller boxes ( he was an engineer ) that needs restoration and happened on your video. So the process and materials used have given me a great base to work from. Thanks for the insite and a big thankyou to Gerstner for allowing you to visit and tour the workshop. Fantastic history and well explained.

I've owned my oak Gerstner for more than 40 years and it's still working great. Loved this tour! Amazing that they're still using 100 year old machines that were built in America.

my grandfather's box was like the one you have Adam..I always admired the green felt , But the red looks pretty awesome too... And that display table with the pull-out drawer with the glass top that was awesome, very beautiful craftsmanship..Thank you thank you for taking us along Adam and Abby...Gerstner thank you for having us...

Talk about an American treasure! Thanks for showing us a place we may never get to.

Glad you went so I could see it too! Thanks!

I really like that Ruger Gun box that was on the table !!

Hats off anyone you takes the time/money to restore any American treasure! That’s not only doing the job its a work of art.

Really great tour of the fabrication of a beautiful product. To still see family businesses is so special, and the way they do their productions has not changed a lot in 116 years. Thank you for the presentation. Have a nice and warm week

I hope that place never changes it’s like a working museum , absolutely outstanding hand crafted American quality right there 👏 we have lost a lot of industries like this in England .

thanx for the video. in the early eighties i needed a box to house the tools i had gathered from when i started in the tool making trade. some of the older guys i worked with had Gerstners and they looked great and i wanted one but couldn't justify the cost. i ended up with a kennedy that served me well for the better part of 20 years but i always remembered all the gerstners that were around and this video took me back to that again. thanx again for the video, well done.

this is the America i pledge my allegiance to. what a wonderful experience youve shared masterfully, great work brother! thank you

Nice tour....! Thanks for bringing us along...

Adam I want to thank you so much for videoing the beautiful man candy tool boxes. it brings back my childhood for sure. Thank you

Beautiful video! Ohio proud 🌰

I very seldom watch an entire video on You Tube, but this one made me watch every minute! I was fortunate enough to purchase a new Gerstner box in 1968 ($56.00), which I still have and use. It has been a faultless piece of my tool collection for over 50 years, and it still looks new, with a bit of maturity on the wood finish. thanks for taking this tour and sharing!

Got to be one of the very best tour vids I've ever seen.

Interesting shop they have. I love my Gerstner boxes and have been eying a new bottom chest for some time now. It's a wonder they can sell them for the price they do considering all the hand labor involved. Well done Mr Booth and thanks to H Gerstner & Sons for letting us have a peek at the inner workings of your business.

God bless these smaller companies that stay in the U.S.. Very cool to see the diversification in providing pieces & re branding for other companies.

Absolutely fascinating ! Like a candy store for machinists . A few years ago, I restored my grandfather's wooden tool chest (not a Gerstner ) that had been sitting in puddle of water in my aunt's garage . The oak had darkened from the moisture but it cleaned-up rather well . The front cover was missing and I hand-planed a new one from an old oak desktop. Grandpa didn't recognize it after 60 yrs. -- he initially thought I had found a jewelry box. That was 40 yrs ago, and it still holds my more delicate tools and instruments ... going strong after 104 yrs ! Now I must check your archives, Adam and see if you've shown your Gerstner restoration on any of your subsequent vids .

The group shot and Abby's stills at the end made me feel like I was watching something produced by PBS. Adam and Abby, thanks so much for the video. P.S. - I can't wait to see your refurbished tool box.

A beautiful little min docu. Thanks

Love this Abom. Love the product, the in depth info AND the new music. God bless.

Maybe come up to New England and get a tour of Starrett. If you do, let me know and we'll get you a tour of the last foundry left in New York too!

This is just marvelous, inspiring and giving a lot of line in what a 'small' factory looks like. Thank you ! I'm glad for their success and for this presentation !

Adam...very well done. I own about ten of these chests in all configurations. The are wonderful and I use the all. Thanks for the tour.

This is gonna be awesome. I've wanted to build a gerstner-style chest from scratch for a while now. It's a bucket list item!

Good American made quality. Love to see places like this keeping American families employed. Thanks for putting this video up Adam.

Adam you bring us some interesting things and occasional tours that are fascinating. I remember their building, I grew up in Dayton, but never went inside

Wow - so quaint and old-fashioned - didn't think there were places like this anymore - love it!

I was a Cincinnati Ohio Toolmaker and bought my 1st Gerstner chest from their factory in 1977. I can't describe my pride opening that "Journeyman's Chest" every morning for 37 years at the start of my day. (I still in use it in my home woodshop) As a proud member of The Gerstner's Owners Club for over a decade now, I visit and tour the shop every year. I still saw somethings and learned some things I didn't know before I watched this video. There are many of us that own more of these fine chests than we need, but you just can't help but collect them, treasure them and someday pass them on to your loved ones. The men and women working at Gerstner & Sons continue to show off their pride and expertise in every product they make in this historical Dayton Ohio factory so rich in early industrial American history. You've heard the phrase "They don't make em like they used to"? Well after 113 years Gerstner is the exception to that rule in every way. I enjoyed this video very much and shared with friends.......Thank you!

Adam & Abby, Awesome video tour of the Gerstner & Sons Factory thanks very much for sharing this video with us.!.!.!.

Wonderful tour. It's great seeing these legacy businesses still in operation. I'll need to help support them by buying their products.