Pittsburg Safe Co

[bitbuster]

Repeating what you may already know about the safe. It's a cast iron fire safe. The missing handle would have been a T-handle with pointed ends.The lock would have been an S&G with 3 wheels and a rear mounted driver. The patent date on the dial knob would have read May 22, 1906. The dial had a 'forbidden' zone between 100 and 20. (left blank). I like what you are doing.

[billygoat]

I did come across one picture of a Pittsburg Safe that sold at auction but it is too small to see any detail. I have the dial ring with the company name on it and am trying to come up with a way to use it. I think I am going to mount the dial ring where the shaft for the locking bar is located and make a dummy dial to go with it. Haven't decided whether to make the shaft from brass or stainless. Put a ball on the end or make it straight. Decisions, decisions.

[Huw Eastwood]

Billygoat, have you considered making the parts for your damaged and attacked safes to reinstate them closer to original?

All your work making the housing sleeve and welds looks great, just seems a lot of time and effort to fit a rim cylinder which then reduces the safes security down to a door lock.
When doors are badly damaged under the dial you can utilise a similar type of welded sleeve to what you've done to take the combination spindle, and then source an antique or vintage combination lock to suit. Modifying the boltwork to fit and making a conversion mount plate for whatever lock is simple plate work.

Or, even better you could utilise the old dial front onto a modern S&G spindle (turn up an adapter sleeve and pin it) and convert the inside over to take a modern S&G 6730 or 31. That way it'd all look original externally with the advantage of modern security and reliability on the inside.

And, most importantl of all -you still get to play with the lathes, mill and welder, and have a safe with a combination lock fully protected by the door, for a similar outlay in time and works.

[billygoat]

Billygoat, have you considered making the parts for your damaged and attacked safes to reinstate them closer to original?

All your work making the housing sleeve and welds looks great, just seems a lot of time and effort to fit a rim cylinder which then reduces the safes security down to a door lock.
When doors are badly damaged under the dial you can utilise a similar type of welded sleeve to what you've done to take the combination spindle, and then source an antique or vintage combination lock to suit. Modifying the boltwork to fit and making a conversion mount plate for whatever lock is simple plate work.

Or, even better you could utilise the old dial front onto a modern S&G spindle (turn up an adapter sleeve and pin it) and convert the inside over to take a modern S&G 6730 or 31. That way it'd all look original externally with the advantage of modern security and reliability on the inside.

And most important of all - you still get to play with the lathes, mill and welder

I really don't care about originality. Functionality. This isn't a classic car. It is a rusty old safe that was saved from going to the scrap yard. From what I have read about Medeco cylinders, they are very secure. Virtually un-pickable with hardened components. I have viewed safe break-ins on YouTube and it seems quite easy to drill a couple holes to compromise a combo lock. Try that with my set-up. Besides, it was more of a challenge to do it my way. Cheaper too. The cylinder was one that I purchased a while ago ($27 Ebay) and never used. Come up with a design, make the parts and make it work. Time and effort is of no concern. Make something from nothing with minimal expense. That is the essence of this entire project. Plus, (as you correctly surmised) I get to use my toys. That is why I have them - to make things. So, now that you know my perspective, my means and methods should make more sense.

[Chubby]

The idea is to put a piece of very hard material between the bad guy and the lock. That makes matters much more difficult. Also a piece of toughened glass which will go to dust if drilled. Relockers are attached to the glass plate and fire as soon as it is drilled and before the drill gets to touch the lock face.

I can quite sympathise with your idea of using a door lock, and why you want to make things cheaply as the safe will have almost no value when it is finished. On the other side, a door lock like that is certainly a weak point in the system. Having said that, how often are safes accessed by a criminal picking a lock?

[billygoat]

Finally finished the safe. Painted it base coat - clear coat green metallic (1992 Ford) and black. Saved the original pin striping on the interior doors. Lined the shelves with green felt. I wanted to use the dial ring with the Pittsburg name on it so I machined a dummy brass combo dial to go with it. The finials are made from 1-1/8" hexagon brass bar. Works for me.