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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2016
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    25
    Country: United States

    Default Restoration of a Diebold Banker's safe style "E"

    I recently acquired a Diebold safe with a time-lock door and two small combination vaults inside. I presume the safe dates from about the 1890's. All mechanical components including the triple timer, work perfectly. The exterior is obviously quite aged but the original pin-striping and gold leaf is still quite beautiful. My question is: is restoration generally recommended, or is the original patina a more desirable look to collectors, and for general value.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
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    Wisconsin
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    Country: United States

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    Please post a picture. If the lettering and striping are quite good I would leave it as is unless the rest of the paint is terrible. Nice originals are hard to find. It can take a lot of effort and money to restore one to high standards and few can match the nostalgic aura of an original.

  3. #3
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    Mar 2016
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    Yes, the majority of the paint is quite bad. I will post some pictures when I figure out how. Seems the resolution is too high.
    If I decide to restore, I intend to be as accurate as possible to it's period appearance. Nothing worse than a super shiny antique in modern urethane paints. I intend to use acrylic lacquer, which even though newer than the period, and now difficult to come by, will, I think give the best results. I also intend to use a talented pinstripe artist.
    Does anyone know what material was used for the door seals on these old safes?
    Mostly, I need to find a nickel plating outfit that knows how to replicate and etch the elaborate patterns on some of the brackets and main door wheel.

  4. #4
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    Mar 2016
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    here are some pictures
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails 20160408_144919_resized.jpg   20160408_145007_resized.jpg  

  5. #5
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    Mar 2016
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    A few more pictures
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails 20160408_151506_resized.jpg   20160408_151624_resized.jpg   20160408_151654_resized.jpg  

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Wisconsin
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    Country: United States

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    Nice safe! Thanks for sharing pictures.

    I would go with a single stage acrylic enamel instead of lacquer. That way you can add a hardener and the paint will be much more durable than a lacquer which tends to be more brittle. With out a clear it will look nearly identical. It will chemically cure and if you want can be color sanded and buffed to get whatever quality finish you desire. I know what you mean when some safes are buried in clear. I still appreciate them as they are beautiful and there is no better way to protect the art work.

    On one of my Moslers the metal was etched and then nickel plated. The nickle plating is quite thin and if your pieces have a heavy etch (texture) I would think it is done the same way. Most good automotive chrome shops also do nickel plating and do nice work, though pricey. Hopefully the inside plating will polish up nicely. That safe will be an enjoyable project.

    Just be glad you don't have any of this...


    168d1dg 1

  7. #7
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    Mar 2016
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    Country: United States

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    That's a good looking cannonball safe door. My problem is not finding plating shops, several can do that for me, as nickel plating is the base coat for chrome, the problem is the etched pattern on the brackets and main door wheel. no one who I have talked to so far, knows the process. Maybe you can recommend a specialist shop were maybe I could send the bright work. If you enlarge the picture of the door wheel and brackets, you can see a fairly complex etching, which I would like to replicate or preserve.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
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    1,755
    Country: Wales

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    Jerzy that's a beautiful old Diebold not half as bad as it was sounding. To me it's a no-brainer- leave as is, but then it's the old saying 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder', so I guess its only you who can make the ultimate decision.
    It looks a nice used but balanced condition, which to me at least would be a shame to remove- please don't turn it into something we need Ray Bans or Oakleys to look at!

  9. #9
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    Mar 2016
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    Thanks, MaxVaultage! That is exactly the kind of opinion that I am looking for.
    No, I would never bling it out to look like a modern hot-rod, that is why I am trying for absolute authenticity, and any information in that direction is greatly appreciated.
    1. The type of paint used back then. I am leaning towards acrylic lacquer. I know it's not the best modern paint, but the closest.(I suspect the old paint contains Lead or Mercury or some other unsavory now banned chemical)
    2. Exact replication of the nickel plating, especially the artistic etching.
    3. The material used for the door gaskets. I think it may be thin leather.
    4. The pin-striping and gold leaf I have already covered, and want it identical.
    5. The faint gold color that is on the folds of the door. Is it paint? is it a dye? is it some other process?
    6 The final varnish covering of the whole thing. Was it some kind of shellac or other kind of varnish. There is a distinctly yellowed coating of some kind of clear coat.
    These questions I must have answers for, before I would do any work on this safe.
    There are modern and cheaper ways to do everything, I know, but this is not the idea behind this project. Authenticity is the word

  10. #10
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    Mar 2016
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    25
    Country: United States

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    Does anyone have any ideas / comments, to any of those questions?

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