Help Restoring an old Barnes safe

RunRabbit

Hey everyone -

This is my first post, so I apologize if I haven’t looked everywhere on the site, before asking here. I’ve searched a couple of times, and haven’t found an more fitting spot to place this request, so if I’m not in the right spot, please let me know.

I’ve been hired to restore the face of an old Barnes Safe and Lock Co. safe. It is actually the walk-in safe that Barnes himself had built into his Pittsburgh home in 1892. The front of the door is blank (after years of neglect, and terrible paint jobs), and the inside has only a simple triple stripe around the edge of the door. Not markings, or date codes (at least none that are obvious to an untrained eye like mine) - the only reason we’re sure it’s a Barnes, is because he built the house around the massive safe.

I don’t expect to find any information on what this particular safe might have looked like from the outside, but what I’m hoping to find is some images of other safes that would have been contemporaries of this one. I’d love to piece together some representative design features that Barnes would have used back then, and give the home owner a “feeling” of the time period.

I’m attaching a couple photos, just to give you an idea of what I’m working with, just in case they help. But, I guess my biggest request is help in finding research images. Is there a handy website? Is there a book or auction catalog of Barnes examples?

thanks a lot in advance,
Andrew

wylk

First, just to nit-pick on terminology, if you can walk into it then it’s a vault (in some countries “strongroom” is used). If you can merely stick an arm into it then it’s a safe.

Try a Google Images search for “Barnes safe vault” without the quotes. Here are some possibilities:

Of course the customer could probably dictate how simple or elaborate the door should appear, depending on taste and budget. Before attempting restoration please try to examine the door carefully. From some angles you might be able to make out some of the original lettering and/or striping. By slowly sanding down some areas you might be able to expose some of the original paint.

Let us know how things go!

RunRabbit

wylk -

A vault!! That’s why I wasn’t finding anything resembling what was in front of me! Thanks for that info…

I’ve seen and combed through most of the images in a google search (and a bing search), but the problem I’m having is placing the images in a particular time period. The one I’m attaching (which was one of your links as well) is the one the owner is most taken with, but I would love to know exactly what time period that vault was made. And are the decorations one of a kind? Did they start/stop using murals at any particular time? Would the front of the vault have a mural as well? These are the types of questions I have.

And I’m also looking for higher-res versions of the image I’m attaching. I would love to zoom in on the corner flourishes/details so I could reproduce them more precisely.

thanks for your reply - and for the information…
andrew