George L. Damon

[Yankee]

Hi Wylk,
The safe had not been opened in approximately thirty years, and the combinations had been lost/forgotten. The the opening took place about two weeks ago. For the privacy and safety of the customer, all I'll say is that the safe is located on the East Coast of the United States.

[rpd92]

Hi Wylk,
The safe had not been opened in approximately thirty years, and the combinations had been lost/forgotten. The the opening took place about two weeks ago. For the privacy and safety of the customer, all I'll say is that the safe is located on the East Coast of the United States.

Hi, I was wondering if you could give me some advice on a Damon safe I have. It is about 3'x3'x3', has two dials, has been closed for anywere from 20-100 years, and I do not know the combination. It is in what used to be the office of an old mill building in New England. If I hire a locksmith to open it, I am worried he will damage the safe. Is there a way to open it myself?

I would attempt to crack the combination myself (by listening for clicks, etc.), but I'm not sure how a two dial safe differs from a single dial. Are there two sets of 3 numbers (6 total), or would it require one number on each dial (two total)? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

[rpd92]

Hi, I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on a Damon safe I have. It is about 3'x3'x3', has two dials, has been closed for anywere from 20-100 years, and I do not know the combination. It is in what used to be the office of an old mill building in New England. If I hire a locksmith to open it, I am worried he will damage the safe. Is there a way to open it myself?

I would attempt to crack the combination myself (by listening for clicks, etc.), but I'm not sure how a two dial safe differs from a single dial. Are there two sets of 3 numbers (6 total), or would it require one number on each dial (two total)? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

[Doug MacQueen]

That Damon door is really nice. I might have to make road trip to see that one up close.

[wylk]

Another image of the Allentown door --

[wylk]

In Allentown, Pennsylvania, there is a former bank (Lehigh Valley Trust Company, founded 1886) which is now an event venue called Vault 634. There is a York door but the star of the show (for me) is a beautiful George Damon door. The boltwork is unusual and unlike other Damon doors we've seen. This example seems to be missing its lock. I suspect it is an elaboration of his US patent 609,416 (sheet 2) which was issued August 23, 1898. Part of the boltwork seems to be hidden. The corresponding vault is now a bar. (That's not me in the third image).

[Ryan Krakowsky]

Thanks for motivating me to post some of my photos, wylk. Here's some shots of the vaults you already mentioned, in order: (Burlington, VT; New Bedford, MA; and Baltimore, MD). Damon's craftsmanship was extraordinary and I spend a significant amount of time trying to find surviving examples of his work.

[wylk]

George L. Damon also sold round vault doors that are more or less conventional. He used his own boltwork which is explained in US patent 952,981, using toggle levers to move the bolts instead of gearing (used by many other compaies) or cams (as used by York). Damon claims this reduces the effort required, the angular distance required to rotate the activating plate, and results in a more durable mechanism. I believe it also requires less machining than other constructions. This is fairly similar to a mechanism used by York Safe & Lock Company and a few others.





I know of three examples. The first, above, is at an unknown location. The images were originally posted by Doug MacQueen in a thread entitled "George Damon Round Bank Vault Door" and Doug had the following to say about this door:

Round vault doors were used quite heavily here in the first half of the 1900's. Damon, better known as a lock designer from the latter 1800's (see American Genius) had several vault patents in the early 1900's. There are two that relate to this door. Interestingly, he designed a novel spring loaded hinge for these heavy doors. Also this is the only extended Yale offset drive I've ever seen. Sorry for the Mosler stickers. Their use here makes me think the LOBC lock covers had been pried off at some point.

In this case the bolts are extended in the locked position, and the floor has been built up around the door which prevents it from moving. In the first image note the protrusion at the top of the door, consistent with Damon’s spring-loaded hinges per US patent 901,425. The spring-loaded hinges were designed to solve the problem of doors sagging from wear on the hinges; the door was actually suspended slightly above their ideal height. In theory you could probably man-handle the door up and down some fraction of an inch. When closing the door, that protrusion (which was a roller) would hit a ramped attachment on the door frame which would push the door down to the ideal height for closing. I believe this might be another case of a solution looking for a problem because no other manufacturer worried about this. Perhaps hinge technology improved enough to minimize wear. Or hinges were easily adjusted to compensate for wear, so Damon's solution was just overkill.




Above, the second example is at the Main Seneca Building in Buffalo, NY, at 237 Main Street (1915, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Seneca_Building and http://www.emporis.com/building/main...buffalo-ny-usa and http://www.buffaloah.com/a/main/237/index.html). The movie Henry's Crime was filmed here and may have views of the vault but I haven't seen it yet. Found via reel-scout.com at http://search.reel-scout.com/locatio...d=064-10046012. Compared to Doug MacQueen’s images note the addition of a ringed conductor probably for an electric alarm of some sort. In this case the bolts are in the withdrawn (unlocked) position.



Above, the third example is at the Regent Wall Street in NYC at 55 Wall Street. Orignally the Merchants’ Exchange, then National City Bank Building (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/55_Wall_Street). It was rebuilt as the Regent Wall Street Hotel, and rebuilt again as condominiums (http://www.emporis.com/building/cipr...orkcity-ny-usa) called Cipriani Club Residences (http://www.cipriani.com/locations/ne...residences.php). While it was a hotel, a conference room was once a vault. As usual, no word on vault door(s) though this picture (from http://www.brownsafe.com/categories/...WSJournal.html) is encouraging. Here the bolts are shown in the locked position.

[Doug MacQueen]

Great job Jim, and thanks Ryan for posting your pictures. The unknown location in lower Manhatten of the door I posted can be determined from New Yorker John Erroll as I was with him at the time. Damon was obviously quite famous, especially on the East Coast in his day as a vault builder. His spring hinge, while a novel idea, does not appear to be any advantage against the enormous side loads that are always present on these doors and that I suspect, is the reason for its not being more popular. I may have mentioned this before but the compression systems are generally capable of generating pressure equal to at least a third of the weight of the door. I just looked at a 25" York door where there is severe cracking in the large jamb mounted receiving blocks of the compression system, showing the power that can be generated, and this is not all that unusual. Of course you don't want it rub as it is being shut but if it is, the pressure system will force it into place. And pull it back out. So who is up next? Hollar? Doug

[wylk]

George L. Damon made safes, too. I admit I haven't tried too hard to find more examples but I did give it reasonable shot.



Above: early in his career Damon worked with the American Steamship Safe Works. This example was found at http://en.allexperts.com/q/Antique-S...ld-safe-36.htm and is marked "Am. Steamship Safe Works", "Geo. L. Damon Propr." and "Boston". It is also marked "Patent Cut Off." which is a little puzzling; does anybody know what "Cut" might mean?



Above, a later safe under his own name. This example was found at http://en.allexperts.com/q/Antique-S...andad-Safe.htm.

That's about it for what I've found on Damon.

Doug: Yes, Hollar might be a good next topic, or maybe Hibbard-Rodman-Ely.