Superb patina on Mosler cannonball

[Huw Eastwood]

Always love seeing any antique safe in its used 'as is' condition, as the over-restored and blinged-out examples with ten coats of lacquer make me cringe.
This original Mosler is as good as it gets- a beautiful safe with a finish and patina that for me at least, is perfection- priceless!

[00247]

That is a great original cannonball. Unfortunately, finding one in that condition is very rare. I recently posted a picture of a York/Ely Norris cannonball that is in beautiful original condition and if I had scored it I would leave it as is. Guess I'll add it here too.



Much like old cars there is junk, original, restored, and over restored. They are even building fiberglass cars that are painted to look rusty with painted dust and bird crap to make them look like fresh barn discoveries. Go figure...

Most safes are in tough shape. At best they have a brush paint job at worst a pile of rust and need some serious TLC. Having painted all of my life I can appreciate the beautiful safes like the ones that come out of Matt's Safe Restorations, especially when the graphics are true to the original. Why not bring them up to modern paint standards? Anything less and most people will find fault with them.

But I can see your point. When I did my Victor I tried to stay as true to the original as possible. I stayed with a single stage paint, hand striping and lettering, nickel plating, and exact duplication of the design in the plating. I couldn't bring myself to make it as wavy as Victor did so it is smooth, straight and shiny. I think I found a happy medium. I couldn't live with that much patina!

How I found it.


After a lot of work and money.

[Safeone]

That is a great original cannonball. Unfortunately, finding one in that condition is very rare. I recently posted a picture of a York/Ely Norris cannonball that is in beautiful original condition and if I had scored it I would leave it as is. Guess I'll add it here too.



Much like old cars there is junk, original, restored, and over restored. They are even building fiberglass cars that are painted to look rusty with painted dust and bird crap to make them look like fresh barn discoveries. Go figure...

Most safes are in tough shape. At best they have a brush paint job at worst a pile of rust and need some serious TLC. Having painted all of my life I can appreciate the beautiful safes like the ones that come out of Matt's Safe Restorations, especially when the graphics are true to the original. Why not bring them up to modern paint standards? Anything less and most people will find fault with them.

But I can see your point. When I did my Victor I tried to stay as true to the original as possible. I stayed with a single stage paint, hand striping and lettering, nickel plating, and exact duplication of the design in the plating. I couldn't bring myself to make it as wavy as Victor did so it is smooth, straight and shiny. I think I found a happy medium. I couldn't live with that much patina!

How I found it.


After a lot of work and money.

WOW !!!!!!!! I just love the Dodge Viper, pity that old safe is blocking the view :-)

Joking apart that safe is stunning and a credit to your obvious skills.

[Doug MacQueen]

Max, here is one that I found in Summerfield, OH when I was actively searching out Corliss safes. This one has had a hard life, spending many decades literally as a bump in the road, where it was buried after falling off the truck as it was being moved from the bank. Apparently the movers didn't realize the ball wasn't attached to it's wheeled platform. The bank is long gone but the safe was dug up back in the 70's and lives on as some sort of strange monument in this tiny village of about 250 people. There is no plaque indicating what it is or it's history. Doug

[Huw Eastwood]

Max, here is one that I found in Summerfield, OH when I was actively searching out Corliss safes. This one has had a hard life, spending many decades literally as a bump in the road, where it was buried after falling off the truck as it was being moved from the bank. Apparently the movers didn't realize the ball wasn't attached to it's wheeled platform. The bank is long gone but the safe was dug up back in the 70's and lives on as some sort of strange monument in this tiny village of about 250 people. There is no plaque indicating what it is or it's history. Doug

Doug thats an incredible story, there can't be many safes that can claim to have been through all that and then preserved as a nameless monument. Must be a pretty odd sight to see it there on that stone plinth.

Priceless in terms of its background and history, and even the patinas just about right for me too!
Thanks for sharing that, I love seeing and hearing about any of these oldies that have a real story behind them.

[wylk]

Here's another Corliss I'd like to know the story on. Embedding it in a wall? Or possibly building the wall around it? That does reduce the restoration effort.

[Doug MacQueen]

Yes that one was a bit of a surprise when I first saw it. It was in a working bank and I think it was still in use when I saw it around 10 years ago somewhere out in the Kansas- Missouri area. The wall was built around and they did a nice job. Certainly would surprise anyone thinking it was just some simple wall safe.

[Texaschilli]

26 March016

I have this Ely Norris cannonball. The paint is horrible. An old black and a few shards of plastic or vinyl gold pinstriping. Rough bondo or some white colored filler in places. Bare metal otherwise.


I am taking it down to bare metal then going back with a single stage black or maybe a black and clearcoat over some pinstriping.

A few questions.

(1) Where the base meets the safe there are a few places missing metal that almost looks like it corroded away. A couple of dime to nickel size chips or gouges. Would you just sand it down to remove the rust and leave it as a battle scar or would you fill it with bondo or migweld and hide the defect?

(2) The interior of this Ely Norris appears to have never been painted. It has a shiny look on parts of the very very rough metal that looks almost like it has been hit with a grinder. Would you paint the interior of a cannonball? I was thinking about an off-white so I could see inside it better.

(3) Is there anyplace to buy decals like the originals or how does one go about putting "Ely Norris" and "Manganeese Steel" back on?

Thanks


Texaschilli

[wylk]

An eBay user "TA125" sells a few decals, for example http://www.ebay.com/itm/252298020517

I don't know if other decals are available or if some can be custom made but it's a start.

A large enough sign store might be able to make you some stick-on text that looks good especially if you can find the right font.

Take some really good pictures of the existing lettering before the power sander gets turned on. But it looks mostly gone, so try to find other images online if you can as a guide.

[Texaschilli]

19 May 2016

I am getting ready to paint my Ely-Norris safe. The interior is bare metal. It is not really rusted, but does not appear to have ever been painted. Should I leave it bare? I was thinking about painting it an off white to be able to see inside better.

Any thoughts pro or con?

Texaschilli