Identify this wall/floor safe?

00247

It’s been kind of slow around here but with some recent activity I thought I would throw this out.

Can anyone identify this wall safe? It is very generic with no identifying marks on the safe or the lock. It is a very nice quality casting just under a foot square with one inch thick walls. A rotating door that latches with less than a quarter turn. Original paint is olive drab. (military?) The front and the rear were machine finished, the sides were left rough cast.

The lock also does not have any identifying marks. Three wheels to the wheel pack and the fence was originally spring loaded which makes me think it could be used for a floor safe. The safe was drilled at some point on the side and the lock bolt punched back into the lock. That caused damage to the fence, spring, and put a couple bulges into the lock body. It had been repaired but did not operate reliably so it sat on a shelf in a laundromat for nearly 55 years. It was picked up by my uncle who then gave it to me.

I am currently reworking it. It has had the lock refurbished so that it works reliably. Seeing that it is not a collector safe I am doing a full custom restoration. All the sides will be smooth, the knobs along with the dial and dial ring as well as the hinge will have new nickel plating. It will get gold leaf and custom lettering and stripes.

Why, you ask? It is a tribute piece that I will give back to my uncle to display in his house. He is the one who got me interested in safes and has had a big influence in my life. At 87, he is still adding to his collection of old tractors and bulldozers. In fact, I hauled one for him this week.

Body work is done and it was painted today. I will gold leaf it once the paint has cured. The shiny parts are already back from the plater in record time. Stay tuned for the finished product.

Chubby

That is an interesting piece. It would make an interesting wall safe. In that case I would have left the sides rough.

Always pleased to see any safe refurbished and saved from scrap.

Doug MacQueen

Diebold with the pre 900 lock. It may have been called a 800 model?

Huw Eastwood

Very nice, i think those were called the ‘Cashguard’, remember seeing very similar in old Locksmith Ledgers but with a radiused slot cut in the hinge plate and a single stop pin sliding within the slot. That’ll look great when it’s done and I bet he’ll love it when you present it back to him.

00247

Can anyone date it? I thought it was from the 40’s / 50’s by the quality of the casting and that the innards of the lock are more cheaply made than what I am used to in the antique safes. It came out of Chicago to Northern Wisconsin around the early 60’s. I still wonder why there are no markings of any sort.

Doug MacQueen

More like the 20’s or 30’s near as I can tell. I worked on one that was the same chest but encased in sheet metal covered concrete.

00247

Here are some pictures of the lock internals.

Doug MacQueen

That plate screwed into the lock case was an internal relocker mainly in response to wheelpost punching attacks which had become popular back in the earlier 1900’s.

Chubby

I can’t see how it works.

00247

I can see how the plate would be pushed in the case causing it to bend at the ribs in the plate essentially locking the bolt. What i don’t understand is; in this application where the bolt can only be retracted with the fence dropping in the wheel pack and the resulting rotation, a punch attack would not retract the bolt. Unless the safe could be turned sideways to get the bolt to move. Possible on my workbench but not when installed in a wall.

Doug MacQueen

Earlier designs often relied on punch proof dial spindles. In this case, the door cover and lock back cover give some resistance to a punch attack, not to mention the required force to separate the wheel post from the case. The fence lever would twist and bend as the wheel pack is forced out of the lock. Or the lever screw might shear. In the first case, accessing the lever to retract the bolt is possible, although difficult. Second case accessing the bolt directly to retract is also possible, although even more difficult. So adding the blocking plate pretty much foiled this type of attack.

00247

Finished this project and delivered it today (snuck it in) into my uncle’s house while he was down at the local watering hole. I think he will get a kick out of it.

The general consensus seems to be that it is a Diebold. On another site, there was a picture of a very similar Diebold, although there were some differences. I am surprised that there are no markings on it what so ever.

I had mentioned that this safe had been drilled on the side and the bolt punched back into the lock. This had done some damage to the lock. While it had been repaired, it was fussy and needed to be dialed carefully. The dial shaft had a slight bend in it and it took some effort to get most of it out. Once I did, it still dialed with alot of drag in both directions. Pulling the lock body discovered why. The dial was very sloppy guided by a collar stamped into the dial ring. Someone had rolled up some aluminum from a pop can and inserted it into the hole in the door. While it took up the slop it added constant drag to the dial shaft.

After eliminating it, the dial was very loose, not supported properly, and still would drag on the inner collar on the dial ring. I drilled the door hole and made a brass bushing on the lathe to support the dial shaft. Now once the dial ring is adjusted to just the right place the lock is as smooth as butter.

As I said, this stout little safe received a custom rework as a tribute to my uncle. After all, he is the one who got me started working on safes. It was a fun project after the last couple of safes which were done as original as possible. First the rough cast sides were ground and finished smooth. All the shiny parts were prepped and sent out for new nickle plating including the dial and dial ring.

I painted it with some left over green from my Victor cannonball and added some 23 karat gold leaf stripes and lettering. I then sent it out for some pinstriping, script, and highlighting. Now my uncle has his very own safe company. 🙁giggle):

I also made up a display stand for it made from a base from an old cream separator. The base footprint is a little larger than the safe so it stands quite stable.

Whadayathink?

Huw Eastwood

Wow what a transformation- you done a superb job on it. Hope he liked it !