Lovely Chatwood

[Tom Gordon]

1900
Anyone got one?

[Huw Eastwood]

Wow, you've kept that one a secret until now Tom!!!
I'm totally amazed tbh, i thought we could all be 100% sure Chatwood's cylinder 'bomb' and Chubb's 'milk' safe were Britains only round door examples...
So to see that is amazing, and it gets better, as it looks to have interlocking lugs ie, a breech-lock door, so it isn't just an adaption or enlargement of their cylinder safe design, but an entirely different model. Wow !! Seeing that has made my weekend, cheers! What a beauty.

[safeman]

1900
Anyone got one?

Tom, you're just too early for April Fools Day.
This must be among the worst photo montages I've ever seen. No way that the round door can clear access to the interior.
Being from the 1910 catalogue though I cannot understand where the ad-department found an image of a circular door since it is written that Herbert Bruckshaw who joined Chatwood during the first World War to assist in munitions production didn't make his tour of the US until much later after which the company produced their first model in 1926.
Apparently it was not patented and rumoured that was because it was a copy of the 1891 Diebold Circular Door.
Perhaps some of our US contributors can identify the door in this image.

[Huw Eastwood]

Looking further at this it gets more intriguing as theres actually some pretty unusual differences compared with the most commonly seen American designs:

1- instead of the doors central area being proud covering the front bearing and rotating gear as most American designs, it is actually the opposite with the centre area recessed utilising an outer 'ring' bearing and an unusual split 2 part crane hinge which is visible at the bolted joint in the centre of the picture.

2- the gear and pinion to rotate the door which would normally be concealed under the proud central plate are thus exposed and mounted externally on the front.

3- unlike most American designs it has an additional central 'T' handle (like their cylinder 'bomb' safe) to operate the locking bolt(s) which secure the door against rotation. Unlike most American safes which didn't have separate handle operation and utilised a round bolt released off the timelocks or combo locks, this has the huge rectangular bolt visible at the '10 past' position. What an oddball !!

Also, weren't prints with a bit of 'artistic licence' pretty common back then? I recall one that you posted safeman, I think it was Hobbs, diamond or anti-violence safe where it also showed perspective/clearances that weren't quite technically right.

[Tom Gordon]

Looking further at this it gets more intriguing as theres actually some pretty unusual differences compared with the most commonly seen American designs:

1- instead of the doors central area being proud covering the front bearing and rotating gear as most American designs, it is actually the opposite with the centre area recessed utilising an outer 'ring' bearing and an unusual split 2 part crane hinge which is visible at the bolted joint in the centre of the picture.

2- the gear and pinion to rotate the door which would normally be concealed under the proud central plate are thus exposed and mounted externally on the front.

3- unlike most American designs it has an additional central 'T' handle (like their cylinder 'bomb' safe) to operate the locking bolt(s) which secure the door against rotation. Unlike most American safes which didn't have separate handle operation and utilised a round bolt released off the timelocks or combo locks, this has the huge rectangular bolt visible at the '10 past' position. What an oddball !!

Also, weren't prints with a bit of 'artistic licence' pretty common back then? I recall one that you posted safeman, I think it was Hobbs, diamond or anti-violence safe where it also showed perspective/clearances that weren't quite technically right.

It is described as a cylindrical safe, but it doesn't look like it is -just a round door...well more than just a round door.
The Chatwood bomb was I think a unique safe in having radiating bolts rather than the breech mechanism.
Chatwood copied night deposit safes and round doors from America and used flat bitted keys to some safe deposit locks but they came later as did round door vaults.
I dont think there is a UK patent for this but he may have negotiated a patent deal with the Yanks, thinking he would add some improvements but then never actually got into production - once its practicalities surfaced. Some vaults were in the factory for years before being sold and conversely this may have been a concept safe that just never got made in the end, but it might have really annoyed the Americans -something that he probably had deep wired into his brain after the Herring Safe Challenge

[Doug MacQueen]

Yes at that time the Americans would have been consumed with envy, asking themselves whether it was one safe with 2 doors or really 2 safes. Here is a selection of safes made here showing different aspects that were used.

[Huw Eastwood]

Doug many thanks for posting these, #5 with full radial boltwork and #6 recessed with both crank handle pinion for turning the door and bolt throwing handle are the real eye openers for me. I'll say it again but it's all this that make this site and forum the amazing place it is, cheers.

[Tom Gordon]

There you go! There was another round door safe with radial bolts -you learn something new every day.
Was it an HHM or do we not know?

[Doug MacQueen]

Regarding dials and faceplates on some cannonballs, here is a clue. These are Diebold safes but the info holds true for some other brands. Note how the dial is recessed in the one picture, this indicates the comb lock is deep inside the door. In the other picture the dial is on a plate and here the dial indicates a day lock, mounted to the backside of the plate. On the inside we see a timelock piggy backed on an automatic bolt motor.

[Doug MacQueen]

Forgot about the Hibbard Rodman Ely later Manganese Steel Safe Co. Of New York.