Chubb safe.....74, 25, 45, 16.....open!!!!!!!!!

[williamjcoates]

I remember when you first posted pics of this safe. What a beautiful job you did of refurbishing it. Any thoughts on what I could do to plug the hole in the back of the safe. And what do you think a realistic price could be for selling it?

[Altashot]

I'd fix the hole with a tight fitting rod, the same size as the drill bit.
If it can be threaded, I'd use a heat treated threaded rod.
I'd make the plug just shy of the full thickness and weld at both ends.
Then I'd grind, bondo, sand, prime and paint.

To meet my personal standards, the repair MUST be invisible, otherwise, I feel like it leaves a "road map" to success. An X that marks the spot.

Sometimes, depending on the label, I inset ball bearings within the rod.
Drill a hole half way trough, insert ball, peen over. Rotate the rod 30 degrees and repeat 2 or 3 times.

Of course, once a safe has been drilled, one must remove the UL label, if so equipped, as it is no longer valid, and sell it as an "equivalent".

Yours, with the old classification system is a 3422 ABP. (it turns out that the model number is the INSIDE height and width as opposed to what I said earlier, my mistake)
It's a class 4 burglary with a 1 hour fire resistance.
OR, if it carries a UL label, it's a 3422 TLTR30X6, which the old system is equivalent to.
Meaning: TooL resistant, ToRch resistant, for 30 minutes of professional attack, on (X6) all six sides
Either way, it weighs 3075 LBS.
In my local market, repaired, serviced and re-painted, I'd ask $4500.00 and wouldn't take less than $4000.00
Your local market may be different.

I hope this helped clarify things for you without too much confusion.

M.

[Jaakko Fagerlund]

Of course, once a safe has been drilled, one must remove the UL label, if so equipped, as it is no longer valid, and sell it as an "equivalent".

That's something I too can't stress enough. Unfortunately a fellow I know that drills all the safes open and repairs them doesn't do that, just claims that "it is the same safe still" and even on fire safes. Well, in theory, something more solid than the original steel welded in place is basically better, but, technically, it isn't a tested safe anymore. I once asked this from the Finnish Finance Institution that has published safe guidelines for installation and that also oversee all the insurance companies and they said the same: it hasn't been tested with repair X, so the testing certificate is not valid at that point.

[williamjcoates]

Thanks for the info.
There is no UL label so I won't have to worry about removing that.
I definitely agree that the repair should be done to be
1. stronger than the surround if possible
2. finished in a way that the repair would not be visible.
The other fact is the position of the drill hole through the back of the safe which will help.
I know that my success was based upon a lot of luck. Based on the weight of this safe I would have been up shits creek if the safe was up against a wall. It's such a huge bugger taking up space I need to get it moved out of here but I am so hesitant to let it go. It's a real beauty in my eyes. The door on this thing feels friggin massive when I open it. What a rush......Any idea on what the weight of the door would be?

[Altashot]

I don't know exactly how much the door weigh alone, but I would guess about 600 LBS.
If you want to calculate the volume, a 12" X 12" X 1" steel plate is 40 LBS.

M.