bc_z , hope you can restore the drawers. Very likely will be worth the time, and they don't have to be perfect to be enjoyed.
The box I picked up was stained in several places, door was broken, handle broken, and looked liked a lost cause. I did not buy it when I first saw it because it was so bad. But I tracked down the seller and purchased it a couple days later. And I am NOT a wood worker, but saw the potential in the box. I went with the view of restoring it to a working box, with all the imperfections time had dealt it. I sanded it down and shellacked right over the stains, wire brushed the corner braces and spray painted them, formed and sewed the ugly handle, and just laid the new felt on top of the old. The only place I splurged was to replace the nuts and bolts on the front panel with brass. Still need to replace the lock yet.
So I have a working box that looks cool to me and is an excellent place to store the tools I love the most. Now, I didn't buy a partial box a couple of weeks ago, leather covered (ugh), missing the front panel and the bottom drawer. Hmm, now I gotta track down this guy... I can clean the remaining drawers and use them to store my keepers in also!
Brian L.