Here’s the original Planet as it was originally launched- just pure Ellox on all 6 sides.
I briefly mentioned these when I started the ‘ultimate and one-off safes’ thread a while back.
As to it being a flop, I think it was more a matter of cost and timing really.
Later Euro Planet versions had a conventional steel shell like most safes, but these originals were just bare Ellox.
Here we had a lightweight ‘plastic’ safe which offered resistance against drills, disc-cutters and even oxy-acetylene. Even this original bare version was subjected to several furnace tests- half hour at 1090 centigrade followed by the 9 metre drop onto concrete, and the hour at 950 centigrade test where it’s left to slowly cool.
I’m no professor on plastics or polymers but have got 30 years experience working with plastics- and the composition of Ellox still seems like a technology from beyond the stars. Always failed to get an explanation- even from experts who specialized in plastics. ’There’s not a thermoplastic or a polymer on the Planet (pun intended lol) that can withstand temperatures anywhere near that’- that’s all I ever got and wish I had a quid for every time I heard it. The anti-abrasive aspect of Ellox is easily understood and achieved as the Ellox was cast with the hard nuggets randomly dispersed through it- same principle as their famous TDR alloy and many other barrier materials, but that extremely high temperature resistance really is outstanding and almost defies belief.
Incidentally the hinges and all the mountings for the locks and handles etc were all cast insitu on these original models. Light years ahead of it’s time back then- the later euro versions were extensively revamped and had a steel shell encapsulating the Ellox material the conventional way.
My own explanation for their demise is massive cost combined with timing, but others may know different- had they been available 10 or 15 years earlier things might have been very different, but timed as it was under the ‘make it only to meet the euro grade’ philosophy, and the change to cheaper overseas manufacture and they were basically going to be priced out overnight.
The Golden age of development, over-engineering and ‘make them as great as possible’ was over, the ‘make them to meet the grade’ concept was in, and to really bang the final nails in the coffin everything was also going to cheaper manufacturing overseas. In comparison the costs of producing such an expensive material, by such an expensive process in the European factory at Lips was going to be prohibitive. Plus, we need to remember Ellox did have limitations which they were obviously aware of- from memory Europlanets never went above euro grade 4, so they were never intended to be a lightweight Bankers or treasury replacement.
If memory serves me right these bare originals had about a 3 inch or 75mm wall thickness and were obviously very light. But also from memory an inch thickness wall (yes- just 25mm thick) springs to mind on the later grade 2 and 3 euro version- now think about that- just an inch wall thickness on a safe with a £35k cash rating- that’s not just amazing its bordering on miraculous!
