dnonac
Member
I bought an old (mid to late 1800's) safe in really poor condition that I decided to restore. I thought it would be a great place to keep a few handguns. I think it came out pretty nice and I thought some of you might like to see the project.
When I got the safe, the door was open but the combination lock was locked. Lots of surface rust, some pitting, and it had been painted a couple of times in it's long life. On the front along the outside edges, the safe had a decorative cast iron rope and a corner leaf was missing in the upper right corner.
It also had a small lock box inside (sorry, it was empty). Note there was some art work on the inside of the door that says "Hall's Patent 1849". The cover for the lock was also missing. I was able to access the lock and figure out the combination.
Here's the lock removed from the door.
I removed a leaf from another corner and made a plaster mold. Here is the plastic leaf I made (before I painted it).
As I started sanding, I could barely make out some additional artwork on the door.
I'm not any kind of artist but I was able to roughly recreate the artwork with acrylic paints. It's still a work in progress as I found I am not good painting flowers.....yet.
If you look closely in the upper right, you can see part of the painted plastic leaf that I painted. I also added some gold highlights to the rope decoration and some pinstrips to the front, top and sides.
I also restored the inside of the door...sorry no pic. This little safe weighs about 300 lbs and I also attached it to the slab.
Here's the top and sides with the new pinstriping.
I originally intended to keep 3 or 4 S&W's in the safe....but for some reason, they seem to multiply.
Guess I'll be on the lookout for another project safe.
Craig....
When I got the safe, the door was open but the combination lock was locked. Lots of surface rust, some pitting, and it had been painted a couple of times in it's long life. On the front along the outside edges, the safe had a decorative cast iron rope and a corner leaf was missing in the upper right corner.
It also had a small lock box inside (sorry, it was empty). Note there was some art work on the inside of the door that says "Hall's Patent 1849". The cover for the lock was also missing. I was able to access the lock and figure out the combination.
Here's the lock removed from the door.
I removed a leaf from another corner and made a plaster mold. Here is the plastic leaf I made (before I painted it).
As I started sanding, I could barely make out some additional artwork on the door.
I'm not any kind of artist but I was able to roughly recreate the artwork with acrylic paints. It's still a work in progress as I found I am not good painting flowers.....yet.
If you look closely in the upper right, you can see part of the painted plastic leaf that I painted. I also added some gold highlights to the rope decoration and some pinstrips to the front, top and sides.
I also restored the inside of the door...sorry no pic. This little safe weighs about 300 lbs and I also attached it to the slab.
Here's the top and sides with the new pinstriping.
I originally intended to keep 3 or 4 S&W's in the safe....but for some reason, they seem to multiply.
Guess I'll be on the lookout for another project safe.
Craig....
Thanks for posting. Great job!! 
