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  1. #11
    Huw Eastwood's Avatar
    Huw Eastwood is offline
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    Safes Strongrooms & Vaults
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    There's also this variant Andreas, and possibly others as well, so you might need to measure between the centres of the fixing holes to determine which it is.
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  2. #12
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
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    Country: Germany

    Default Some more questions

    Hello experts,

    i managed to buy the ebay items safeman recommended...(i will get them the new year when very far relatives from scotland will bring them along....)

    I am playing with the idea of restaurating (more or less) my safe - myself.
    Maybe you can give me some advice where to pay attention, whether I should give up now or how big my chance for an aceptable result is..
    The following questions occur to me:

    Can I unmount the door?
    What about any replacement screws as there are some missing or some without head?
    (I have the tools to put new threads but will it be possible with the material?)
    What about opening the lock mechanism?
    Is there any fill material in the walls and should I replace it and with what?

    It would be no problem if this is going to be a longer project but i am only interested if i have got a realistic chance or i should be happy as it is.

    Thank you very much for your help and best regards

    Andreas

  3. #13
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    Can you unmount the door? well, anything is possible, but don't!

    Regarding the screws, yes you can tap out the holes to a modern thread size. That is my favoured option with all such safes, but I am vilified on the forum for it. I would do that and replace them with allen head screws of the correct type. Some of those old ones have sharp edges and can be truly horrible.

    Filling? It is a mixture of alum crystals and hardwood sawdust. This gives some protection against fire but over the years it will have settled down leaving voids in the upper part of the safe. So the fire resistance is bound to be somewhat compromised.

  4. #14
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    I forgot. es, you can open the lock mechanism and clean it. If you want it to work from the original key, number the levers- an ordinary pencil is as good as anything for that purpose. Make sure they go back in the correct order. Actually if there is some danger of someone else having a duplicate key (and there always is such a risk) then you should get a locksmith to rearrange the levers and cut a new key.

  5. #15
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    Country: Great Britain

    Default Good news Andreas.

    Quote Originally Posted by andreas View Post
    Hello experts,


    Can I unmount the door?
    What about any replacement screws as there are some missing or some without head?
    (I have the tools to put new threads but will it be possible with the material?)
    What about opening the lock mechanism?
    Is there any fill material in the walls and should I replace it and with what?

    It would be no problem if this is going to be a longer project but i am only interested if i have got a realistic chance or i should be happy as it is.

    Thank you very much for your help and best regards

    Andreas

    You should have no problems restoring this safe especially now that you have some door furniture. Some of the fixing holes may not coincide bur the door plate is mild steel and can easily be redrilled and tapped.

    To remove the fire-resisting chamber on the back of the lockcase should present few problems, especially if you lay the safe on it's back first as some of the chamber screws underneath can be a bit of a problem. Some of the putty covering the screw heads is already missing and if any are partly broked they could always be used underneath where they won't be seen. Clear the slot in the screwheads to ensure a clean grip with the screwdriver.

    As for fire-resistance, if there is no sign of loose dust in the interior the composition will stiil be sound. It is not intended as much for insulation as for creating moisture when heated which permeates into the interior lowering the flash point of any documents.

  6. #16
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    Sorry, when you mentioned unmounting the door I thought you meant removing it from the body. That can be done, but it would be a big and pointless job! Of course you will have to remove the back pan from the door.

    As said, those screw heads were filled an often ground. They can have edges which will give you a nasty cut, which is why I would prefer to retap and use modern ones.

  7. #17
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
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    Country: Germany

    Default Thank you! Here is the result

    Hello to all,

    finally after your very useful advice i got perfect brassware, put new threads in an got appropriate paint.
    I am very happy with my new eye catcher as well as my family who were at first slightly irritated about this project.
    Here you can see my result, how it was before see beginning of the thread.

    Best regards

    Andreas

    Click image for larger version. 

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  8. #18
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    Wisconsin
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    Country: United States

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    Very nice. It is always good to see an old safe brought back to life.

  9. #19
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    leeds
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    Country: Great Britain

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