Salesman Sample Cannonball Safes and Other Salesman Sample Safes

[Cannonball Safe Collector]

Here are just some of the safes in my collection. I have more and want more so keep me in mind if you have one for sale.

[Tom Gordon]

Do any of the cannonballs and similar have shooting bolts or do they ALL have a turning cam action to lock?

[Doug MacQueen]

Tom, if I understand your question correctly, most but not all of the cannonball type safes have rotating doors of with a lug or a screw thread to hold the door shut and one or more bolts to keep it from being turned. Andrews nice little red model Mosler is a double lug. The design was almost entirely to prevent the introduction of nitro glycerine. And as far as real burglary attempts go, the safes apparently were successful.

[Tom Gordon]

Yes you did understand right- I was asking which ones did not have that type of mechanism -obviously round vault doors had multiple bolts shooting outward but which of the cannonballs did?
Cheers
Tom

[Cannonball Safe Collector]

Almost every cannonball safe that I have seen has a cannon breach type of door that locks by screwing in while the door turns. I have never seen one that has standard pins like a normal safe.

[Tom Gordon]

well........-

[wylk]

Back on February 24, 2010, Doug MacQueen posted several nice images including two different Hibbard-Rodman-Ely vault doors. The second such image (blue carpet, polished brass door) is the Point Park University Library, University Center, 414 Wood Street, Pittsburgh. Some other images are on a writer's blog at http://sbeasley.blogspot.com/2012/03/pittsburgh.html in which it can be seen that the four time locks are Diebold, probably a substitution after the originals could no longer be serviced. So this should be fairly accessible for vaultophiles. Note also the construction method on the interior with the huge clamps which I assume hold the steel plates together.

[Parautoptic]

Nice pictures, was this building originally a bank or is this where the university used to keep its exam papers? :)

[Cannonball Safe Collector]

Interesting Safe. I have not seen that one before. Who makes it? Looks very old. Can you post more pictures of it.

[Tom Gordon]

Chatwood 1928