Milners Plaque variations?

Warren63

Hi all. I’ve always assumed safe plaques were either cast brass (heated & liquefied, poured into a mould) or pressed (thin sheet stamped onto/into a form). These three Milner plaques are a bit confusing! I would’ve thought that the all black one was cast brass because of the depth. But the small unpainted one seems hard to tell if it’s cast or pressed. It’s about a third of the thickness of the large black one, but still seems a bit too thick to be be pressed because of the thickness and the fact there’s no relief to the back. The red and black one I’ve just acquired. The paint was in a terrible condition so I had to strip it. Unfortunately it was so detailed it could hardly be seen without the pains so I had to repaint it (nightmare). It’s similar in type as the small unpainted one but even thinner again and no relief to the back. How were they made?

Warren63

I’ll try again !!!

safeman

Warren63 wrote
I’ll try again !!!

Lack knowledge in this field Warren, but have a notion that this type of safe plate is die-cast in alloy. When my company back in the 50’s required quality nameplates for our reconditioned safes we acquired them from Butler Jones in Sydenham - now extinct. They were formed in Phosphor Bronze and looked splendid, even making the safes look shabby by comparison.

They were precise in their detail just like your Milner plates and as I recall they began to appear towards the later period in their production of heavy quality safes.

[unknown]

Tom Gordon

safeman wrote
Lack knowledge in this field Warren, but have a notion that this type of safe plate is die-cast in alloy. When my company back in the 50’s required quality nameplates for our reconditioned safes we acquired them from Butler Jones in Sydenham - now extinct. They were formed in Phosphor Bronze and looked splendid, even making the safes look shabby by comparison.

They were precise in their detail just like your Milner plates and as I recall they began to appear towards the later period in their production of heavy quality safes.

Die cast or hot stamped (forged).

[unknown]

safeman

[QUOTE=safeman;
They were precise in their detail just like your Milner plates and as I recall they began to appear towards the later period in their production of heavy quality safes.[/QUOTE]

Example 1917 Milner List 2 which is surprising having such a quality plate on a low grade safe.

Warren63

I didn’t realise they were as old as that to be honest Safeman. I thought they were from the 1950s for some reason. That’s the thick one that I thought was cast brass. But as Tom has said it’s probably hot pressed. Something new I’ve learned there. They’re a really nice design as you say Safeman, lots of detail and probably quite a few different variations done that way.