Diebold Full Automatic Bankers Safe

jacobrules

Just so Vlad doesn’t get to have all the fun here are some pic’s of mine.

Paul Prescott

Very nice indeed, I am allways very impressed by the sheer quality of these. Is there a timelock on the inner coffer ?

jacobrules

No timelock on the inner chest but there is a trapdoor for extra storage in the floor. Safe is fully functional and retracts the bolts as it should and I have the bolt motor winding handle. The first time I tried it (with the door open for good reason) the bolts did not fully retract and I found a screw blocking one of the lower bolts and I had to disassemble the bolt work to get it out. After that it works perfectly.

wylk

Beautiful. Two questions:

1 - It looks like you made, or found, a custom slot in the wall for it. What’s the story?

2 - There appears to be a catalog page for the safe attached to its front. Would you mind scanning and posting this for us to see?

Thanks in advance.

Jim

jacobrules

This safe is sitting in my office on the second floor. When we built this new building they drywalled around some ducting and it turned out to be just the right size for the safe so I put a ½″ plate down on the floor and moved the safe onto the plate before the laid the tile and after they painted. I used a reach lift and stuck it through the second story window. before I set it up I moved that electrical outlet up so it would be above the safe so I could use it if I wanted to. The scanned catalog page isn’t for an automatic but it is close. This safe weighs 2950 lbs.
Jacob

diebold-bankers-safe.pdf

607kB

mrshmenkie

Jacob, I just bought an old safe very similar to yours and am having it reighted it to me. Mine is beautifuk, but nowhere near as restored as yours is. Did you do any cleaning/polishing/restoration work on it, or is that how you got it? Also, since I have no idea what I’m doing with mine in terms of how it works, would it be okay to e-mail you to pick your brain with any question regarding how to wind this safe, etc? I promise not to be a pain and abuse it, it would just be nice to check in with someone who knows about this thing. I’ll send you pics of mine when I get it if you’d like, it’s got a two clock timer instead of your three, and mine is 27×28×46, but other than that they look pretty close to the same. Thx, your safe is truly gorgeous!

David Litt
323 655-8799

Dean Nickel

David…. don’t be shy! Post a pic of your find! Please!

mijoe

Hi Jacob,
I was showing my uncle a GSA class III secure file cabinet I acquired and he told me he had a safe I could have that was my grandfathers. He gave me some details (size, diebold, 3 clocks inside) and google lead me to your photos here. He said the safe he has is the same type as yours… can you tell me how old your safe is?

Thanks!

Dean Nickel

Find the serial numbers on the Time movements and the safe body.

Doug MacQueen

These are older posts but since the question about winding the auto was raised, I think a little precautionary information might be helpful. Bolt throwing automatics or motors as they are sometimes called can be very dangerous, most especially to collectors or the curious. The power generated can remove fingers if the auto is wound up and set to release. Normally in actual use the door is shut after setting but doing that and leaving the door open is where the danger can appear. Having your fingers on the boltwork as the trigger is released can be a disaster. Unless of course you like being known as 3 finger Sam. Most autos are triggered by some sort bracket on the door when it hits the door jamb. Some others have release timers built into them. So keep your hands clear when playing with these. And to those who want to disassemble them which is not recommended just remember they all contain strong springs under pressure. I don’t know if it is still the practise but truck tires were put in a cage after assembly to fill them with air. This way if the ring wasn’t properly seated it wouldn’t take your head off. Bolt motors can be like that.

Dean Nickel

General lock/Schlage lock made a mortice lock that was like that. If you were to open the case it could let loose one of the two or both springs and hurt you. There is a story of someone getting a spring in thru the eye.

Good to know not to play with those. 🙁y):

jacobrules

I would guess that the safe is about 1890’s.
Jacob

JackAlsip

I know this is a little late but i need some help. I need to estimate the weight of a Bankers safe i found. A steel calculator i found online is telling me that it weighs about 4500 lbs! i can imagine that. Cannonballs weigh about that much. Here are the dimensions- 35′‘ (On wheels), 33 w.out wheels./ 22’‘w, 23’'d. The walls are 3.5 inches thick, and door is 5 inches thick. There is also a jewelers chest inside, so add about 500 lbs to your estimate. It cant be that much bigger in size that the one pictured above, so how could it weigh so much more!? I am just curious as to how much it really weighs. Thanks, Jack-

jacobrules

The one that I showed in the photos at the start of this thread weighs 2950. 38″ tall with wheels, 24″ wide, 20″ deep excluding compression mechanism.

rodmiller

What model is this Diebold? It is the “brother” of the D but has a combo. Can some one furnish a good PDF of the page in the catalog?

Thanks,

Rod Miller

bitbuster

may not be much help but a photo of your safe is pictured in Dave McOmie’s Safe Opening Vol.3, pg 32.

Gordon Huse

I just acquired a Diebold Safe which is fitted with the Burton Harris device. All three timelocks, however, were over-wound and stuck at 120 hours+ and I am reluctant to “cock” the B-H Device (with door open) and see if it performs. Since the clocks are in the “wound” position (even though frozen) shouldn’t the bolt motor device operate? If so, what is the timing before the bolts will extend (lock)? In this scenario, I would need to retract the bolts manually (doing the work of the timelock for it). No way you would want to operate the B-H device with the door closed.

Doug MacQueen

As the automatic bolt motors would always be tested with the door open, I don’t see why you can’ t do the same. However, as they can be pretty efficient at taking a finger off, some precautions should be taken first. Why don’t you post some pictures so I can see what you have. Doug

jacobrules

With the door open the Bolt Motor should work. There is no timing for the motor to operate. The switch lever should be connected to the inside door jam to operate the bolts. If the the bolt motor cocks and sets then all that is needed is to throw the catch that would normally be pressed when the door is in the fully closed position and the bolts should throw out to a locked position. Like Doug said every precaution should be taken to do this with your hands away from the door. If you push the catch with your right hand while resting your left hand on the door you may be surprised at the results the next time you try to count to ten. Once thrown the bolts will not retract until the catch in the bolt motor that the timelock normally operates is then activated to retract the bolts. Keep your fingers safe. Post pics.
Jacob

Gordon Huse

jacobrules wrote
With the door open the Bolt Motor should work. There is no timing for the motor to operate. The switch lever should be connected to the inside door jam to operate the bolts. If the the bolt motor cocks and sets then all that is needed is to throw the catch that would normally be pressed when the door is in the fully closed position and the bolts should throw out to a locked position. Like Doug said every precaution should be taken to do this with your hands away from the door. If you push the catch with your right hand while resting your left hand on the door you may be surprised at the results the next time you try to count to ten. Once thrown the bolts will not retract until the catch in the bolt motor that the timelock normally operates is then activated to retract the bolts. Keep your fingers safe. Post pics.
Jacob

Problem is, there is no “switch lever” on the jamb. So, I can only assume the H-B Device works on a timer. I have another model which uses a switch lever on the inside door jam, so I know what you mean. I tried testing this apparatus by cocking the bolt motor, as suggested, and it cocked but nothing (subsequently) happened – even after 30 minutes. I reset it by manually performing the action of the snubber bar and it clanked loudly but, of course, couldn’t retract the bolts since they had never been extended. Help! PS. Excuse the partially blurred, turned pix. The glass in the timelock door is broken and I have a baggie taped over the opening to block dust.

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