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  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2017
    Location
    Carnegie, PA
    Posts
    17
    Country: United States

    Default Pittsburg Safe Co

    Just joined the forum. It has a wealth of information.

    Picked up an old floor safe from Craigslist for $30. Made by Pittsburg Safe Co. That is Pittsburg without the H. That is an important clue about its age. Pittsburgh (without the H) was only spelled that way between 1891 and 1911. I can find no info about the company. I believe the safe had been broken into. The combination lock was gone, the handle that moves the locking bar was broken off and the shaft was twisted. Someone put a lot of torque on that shaft.

    I am a machinist and have a pretty extensive home shop with 3 lathes, 2 milling machines, 3 drill presses, 2 grinders, shaper and can make just about anything. I plan to abandon the combo lock set up and use a rim cylinder with a garage door dead bolt. I have made a few safes with this locking mechanism and it has worked out quite well. I already have a Medeco rim cylinder that I plan to use.

    Stripped the safe down and started to machine pieces for mounting the deadbolt. Will need to make a new shaft for the locking bar. Should be able to show some more progress on the locking mechanism by the weekend.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails safe1.jpg   safe2.1.jpg   safe2.jpg   safe.jpg   3010632.JPG  

    8-16-08 001.jpg   3 shop.JPG   5 shop.JPG   P1010546.JPG  
    Last edited by billygoat; 24-05-17 at 02:09 PM.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    leeds
    Posts
    609
    Country: Great Britain

    Default

    Nice, loving the workshop, thought you were a collector of beam trolleys until I saw the size of some of the chucks 8-) , you need them.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Posts
    1,754
    Country: Wales

    Default

    Welcome billygoat, great workshop I can't imagine having that much space to play with!

  4. #4
    Join Date
    May 2017
    Location
    Carnegie, PA
    Posts
    17
    Country: United States

    Default

    Started working on the door. Bolted on a 2"x2" block of steel for mounting the dead bolt. Milled a pocket for it. I was surprised that the cast iron was so hard.

    Trolleys are a necessity. The 15" Buck chuck for the 20" lathe weighs 240 lbs.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails 3.jpg   2.jpg   4.jpg   5.jpg   46 lathe.jpg  

    Last edited by billygoat; 25-05-17 at 12:46 PM.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
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    1,754
    Country: Wales

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    Quote Originally Posted by billygoat View Post
    I was surprised that the cast iron was so hard.
    Cast and chilled irons are notorious for it tbh- if it doesn't get you with a hard outer 'skin' then internal hard spots often will- and they'll decimate HSS tooling. Carbide drills, slot and end mills or the indexable lathe bits if turning, combined with very slow speeds generally get around the problem. I've had some stubs of cast bar in the past that've had hard spots so tough you'd think it was Stellite.

    But, it's not always that bad- I recently turned a large spoked flywheel the extreme maximum diameter my lathe will take (it cleared the bed by about 2mm !) and, but for black graphite dust everywhere and a coal miners face it actually turned beautifully.
    Last edited by Huw Eastwood; 25-05-17 at 07:37 PM. Reason: Grammar and typos I'm too rushed these days

  6. #6
    Join Date
    May 2017
    Location
    Carnegie, PA
    Posts
    17
    Country: United States

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    Machined a housing for the cylinder. Fit everything and welded it to the door. Works quite well. Next is to make a new shaft for the locking bar.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails 20170527_104533.jpg   20170529_143205.jpg  

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Sep 2013
    Location
    NW Wis
    Posts
    78
    Country: United States

    Default Pittsburg Safe Co

    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.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    May 2017
    Location
    Carnegie, PA
    Posts
    17
    Country: United States

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    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.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails pgh safe.jpg  

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
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    1,754
    Country: Wales

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    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.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    May 2017
    Location
    Carnegie, PA
    Posts
    17
    Country: United States

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Huw Eastwood View Post
    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.

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