Mosler Screw Door Safe

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Good day everyone.

I picked up a Mosler Screw Door safe to keep my Victor Cannonball company. Having known about it for several years I procrastinated taking a look at it as the price was to high. Finally, I stopped in unannounced one day to take a look. The owner was tired of it being in the way and a purchase was made. Maybe the stars were aligned correctly or maybe it was just dumb luck.

The Molser:

The Victor:

The Mosler, despite being cosmetically challenged, will be a much easier project than the Victor. I won’t have to deal with all that nickel plating and engineturning design. The first issue with the Mosler was to overcome an ill fitting door with a frozen upper pivot bolt. A lot of soaking with PB Blaster and gentle heat over several weeks coaxed it to give up. The door adjusted and now works perfectly.

I do need to ask for a little help. The time lock is unfortunately missing. From what I have been able to gather, these Moslers used a Yale time lock. I believe this one should have the later model brass swirled design Yale Model Triple L. Here is a picture of a Mosler with time lock I lifted from the internet.

Can anyone confirm that this is indeed the correct time lock for this safe? I will also attach a picture of the time lock hole in the Mosler door. It shows the bolt pattern which also seems to match the Yale bolt pattern. The time lock opening also matches the dementions of a Yale. (₅″ ×4.125″)

At this point I am looking to fill the hole with a time lock. The linkage for the time lock bolt is also missing and unless parts would turn up I do not intend to make the time lock functional for now. Paint and graphics are a big enough challenge, but, so was the Victor. 🙁whew):

Thank you in advance for any input.

Doug MacQueen

Yes Yale it is. Here are some pictures.

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Thank you so much, Doug! The first two pictures seem to be a different model as there are only four mounting holes in different locations? The other pictures show the time lock very well. Now I just need to find one.

If anyone can show pictures of the time lock linkage to the bolt in one of these Moslers, please post them.

Doug MacQueen

The first 2 pictures are showing the movement platform or table removed from the case, which has to be removed to access the case mounting screws. It is all the same lock and the case has the exact 6 screw footprint you are locking for. The picture is from a different safe but the same model.

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Thank you for the clarification. The Yale is constructed quite a bit different than the Bankers Dustproof time lock in the Victor cannonball. I was fortunate that the Victor still had it’s time lock.

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Speaking of Moslers…

Anybody know about one of these?

soakes

That Mosler is one cool-looking safe!

Doug MacQueen

I haven’t seen that one but here is an earlier version. This one was owned by the late Dan Graffeo.

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Thanks again, Doug. Is there anything you don’t have information on?

It is interesting to note the differences in all three safe featured in this thread. There is quite a difference in the two double door Moslers. The doubles are also wider and have larger doors than the small Mosler I have. Note how the combination dial is centered on the front “trap” door on the double door. On the smaller safe it is off set to make room for the combination box and the bolt.

Double door:

Single door:

Another thing different on the double doors is that they do not have a cover plate on the back of the door like the smaller single door. The time locks are surface mounted and there is a smaller metal cover bent to shape to protect the time lock linkage and bolt. This double door has a different style than the one Doug posted. Unfortunately, this double is missing both time locks. I would like to buy it but I can’t find one time lock much less three. :=(:
Patients will lead to success.

Double door:

Single door:

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Jeez, how could I forget the most important part… the lock.