I have worked on and opened a few. I will see if I can dig out any pictures.
Printable View
Just found this on line supposedly the SLS Gem at UL for the TXTL60x6 test. Interestingly, on the right it shows the SLS Columbia TRTL 30x6 Which i believe was the same as the safe marketed as the Treasury in the UK, except that the body of the Columbia is a full one inch less in thickness. Any thoughts anyone?
Pretty sure the US market Columbia’s were a lower grade than the Treasury over here. It was more than likely based on our British market Jeweller or Super Commercial, both of which were made in the smaller 2316 size and rated below the Treasury.
Adding this top end offering from Tann here, over from Gerard’s Waterproof ? thread in the Safe Plates badges & Escutcheons forum. Courtesy of safeman. Not sure it’s going to work tho
Attachment 21868
Here’s the thread it’s from
https://www.antique-locks.com/showth...1756#post31756
Oldlock,
Have only come across one of these. I seem to recall that it was slightly smaller size which made door closing mechanism look even more impressive.
It was in J.W.Levy's warehouse in Barking at the time I was assembling items for the enlarged Safe Museum at Tann's factory in Borehamwood but as I had just completed the collection I had to pass it over. That was cause of much regret in later years.
That warehouse must have been awesome, I know a collector that used to try and visit very often as they used to scrap stuff quite quickly, one visit he found the scrap bins with a dozen 5 spindle letter locks in all broken down for brass ...
Oldlock,
Had a quick look in the archive and discovered that only 3 Grade 2's were made, one in 1923 and two in 1928 so perhaps the one I saw was in fact the one and only with the crane hinge.
Is seems quite strange for a free standing safe to be so designed on the basis of liquid explosive attack when there don't seem to be any such recorded incidences. There again I am not familiar with explosive attacks outside Scotland apart from theunsuccessful one illustrated which was on a Tann Dreadnought in a diamond merchants in the City in 1914.
Attachment 21869 Attachment 21870 Attachment 21871 The keylock has been removed entirely and the very heavy cross-locked relocker is engaged at the bottom. The white dust will have come from the fire-resisting chemical in the chamber which will have been blown into the interior of the safe.
TBH oldlock I was hoping that would get answered in the ultimate & one-off safes thread. From memory safeman referred to one or two he was aware of, and i think Redoubt in NZ added two more, one of which i think they’d worked on for someone else, but like you said, why the majority (chubbs) are in Australia still remains a bit of a mystery.
The reasons are probably simply logistics, in the far flung colonies if a high level of protection was required it was easier to bring in one of these units, whereas at home it was probably easier and a better result all round to build a high grade strong room and place other safes in it.