You are here:

Antique Safes/Cary Safes

Advertisement

Expert: - 9/12/2008


Question
What is in the walls of the old floor safe Is there Lead in them that makes them so heavy? I have an old Cary Safe and we had to use a fork truck to load it. So what are they made of?
Thanks Patsy

Answer
Hi Patsy,

The old safes, like the Cary's, were basically made of thin sheet steel and angle iron (for strength around the corners, like a frame).  In between the inner and outer sheet steel walls was poured a mortar mix.  If you look at the bottom of your safe you can see the last plate that was installed.  The manufacture would build the safe upside down and pour in the mortar mix.  Different manufactures used different pours, but they would range from a gypsum type mix to a concrete type mix, the latter being the heavier of the two.  There might also be reinforcing steel in the walls to keep the walls from "bowing" as the mortar would harden.  

Steel basically weighs 42 lbs per square foot, 1 inch thick.  the mortar/concrete type mix might weigh from 75 to 125 lbs per cubic foot, depending on the exact mix.
So it was easy for a safe with 6" thick walls that was around 60" tall, 40" wide and 30" deep to weigh in the neighborhood of 2000 to 2500 lbs.

This thick layer of mortar is what gives the safe most of its heat resistance.  The door and frame would have several interlocking steps that would "seal" the door to help keep the heat out.  Also because of the immense weight and the construction of the doors, it was difficult to burglarize the safes.  The weight also meant that if you wanted to break in, you had to do it on site!
Dynamite was available quite readily for many years, however in most cases when the safe was "blown" if the bad guys were not extremely careful with how much they used they would destroy not only the safe but the contents as well.  More skilled "safe crackers" would use a smaller amount of dynamite or nitroglycerin to tear the outer skin of the safe severely, but not blow it open.  They would then peel the skin from the safe and remove the broken mortar to gain access to the insides of the safe.  This method was known as "peeling" a safe.

Hope this answered your question

Andy

Antique Safes

All Answers

Answers by Expert:

Ask Experts

Volunteer

Terry V Andreasen (Andy)

Expertise

Safe and Vault related Questions; Antique Safe Repair and Restoration; With over 40 years in the Safe & Vault industry, if I can't answer your question I know where to get the answer. Current Project: Restoration of two Tilton & McFarland Safes from the 1860's. Will answer Safe & Vault related questions concerning age, value, restoration, moving, opening & repairing, parts, operation and history. Note: It is not my intention to teach you to open safes or to provide information which may aid in the unlawful opening of a safe. I will not give out drill points or information which I deem inappropriate.

Experience

40 years in the Safe & Vault Industry. Service Manager for one of the largest Safe & Vault companies on the West Coast. Graduate of Lockmasters Safe Lock Servicing, Safe lock Manipulation and Safe Deposit Lock Courses. Graduate of Locksmith Institute. Certified Instructor for the California Locksmith Association teaching Basic and Advanced Lock Servicing, Basic Safe opening and Repairing. Factory Trained by AMSEC, LORD Safes, LeFebure, Mosler, KabaMas, LaGard and Sargent & Greenleaf

Organizations
Safecrackers International and the National Antique Safe Association

Education/Credentials
Graduate of Locksmith Institute 1972 Graduate Lockmasters Safe Lock Servicing 1974 Graduate Lockmasters Safe Lock Manipulation 1975 Graduate Lockmasters Safe Deposit Lock Servicing 1985 Instructor Certified - California Locksmith Association - 1985 Factory trained by AMSEC, MAJOR, STAR, Johnson-Pacific, Kaba-MAS, Allied-Gary, ISM, Lord, Brown Safe, EXL, Mosler, Diebold.

Awards and Honors
2009, 2010 & 2011 Listed in AllExperts top 50 Experts. All Experts Categories - Safes & Security Containers, Locksmithing, Antique Safes. Retired US Army Reserve Chief Warrant Officer (CW3), with 32 years of total service. With numerous awards from Vietnam, Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom. US Navy - 1971-1981 US Army Reserve 1984-2006 US Army Retired Reserve 2006-present

Past/Present Clients
US Secret Service, FBI, BATF, Local Law enforcment agencies, Diebold, Hamilton Pacific, Red Hawk Int., Chubb International, Bank of America, Wells Fargo Bank, Mechanics Bank, El Dorado Savings Bank, many Credit unions and smaller banks. McDonalds, Togos, BurgerKing, TacoBell, Carls Jr. FoodMaxx, SaveMart, Lucky's, Albertson's, Raley's, Safeway, NobHill, Bell Markets, PW Markets. Great America, Century Theatres, Cinemark Theatres, UA Cinemas, and many homeowners and small businesses. Provide warranty service for lock and safe manufactures. Service area is Northern California - Fresno to Oregon, including western Nevada

©2012 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company. All rights reserved.