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Question
My friend has a cast emblem on it that says "Danio & Roberts Improved Fire Proof Safe Boston".
Can you provide an approximate date of manufacture since I cannot find any reference to the company on line? The safe opens with only a key and it had been misplaced since the safe was given to him. Sounds like a job for a locksmith?
Donald,
Send me photos of the safe, as many times safes are sold by distributors that "re-label" the safes (mainly for advertising purposes). Between 1840 and 1860, numerous companies in New York City and Boston manufactured fire-proof Salamander safes using the Wilder patent. Safes made by a number of these manufacturers have metal plaques with wording such as "Wilder's Patent Salamander Safe 1842," "Wilder's Improved Patent Fire-Proof Salamander Safe," or "Improved Patent Salamander Safe. C. Rich. N. York. 1842."
Some of these manufactures made safes patterned after others with their permission and some manufactures didn't. As a result there were several lawsuits over the patent infringments.
Most locksmiths these days do not have the knowledge to hand fabricate a key for a safe lock, even most safe men can not accomplish this. Very few of them have been schooled in the lost art of handmade keys. In the 1800's in order to advance from an apprenticeship to a journeyman locksmith, you had to serve at least 4 years under a master locksmith and one of the final tests was to handmake an operational lock and a key to operate it. Now no one apprentices and very few actually obtain a formal locksmith education before opening a business.
The oldest safe I have had to make keys for was close to 250 years old and had three separate keys required to operate it.
Please send me pictures of your safe so that I can get a better idea about its manufacture. Full interior/exterior and detail photos of the handle, key hole, hinges, castors, cabinetry, lock & bolt work.
Send them to me at andy@securitysafeusa.com
Andy
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| Rating(1-10) | Knowledgeability = 10 | Clarity of Response = 10 | Politeness = 10 |
| Comment | Wow! The response was fantastic! I was amazed at the amount of information available in such a short period of time. I now owe pictures of the safe. These will be only the outside, since the safe is locked shut, but they will follow shortly. Thank you again. | ||
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Answers by Expert:
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
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