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For Oldfast some photos of this project.

First the cash box itself. It came with a key, but not the genuine one. That key did just lock and unlock because the lock was never fully locked or fully unlocked. It just moved the stump inside the gates. There is also a red steel tray for coins, but I don't have this here at the moment. It is 17.5cm wide. It did cost 16 Euro including shipment. Lock has three levers.

This is the current state of the key. Key stem made from 6mm stainless with hole made on a lathe. Other parts are made from 2mm stainless sheet. Sawed, drilled, ground, filed. Next steps are a slot in the stem for the bow and some decoration like in an old safe key. Then everything has to be soldered together. Finally the bitting must be filed. One bit for the bolt, three for the levers and one to fill the gap between levers and front. So it will probably look like for a four or five lever lock. I considered to stamp the bow with M. HEWITT, but I am sure that won't look neat. More like letters dancing on summer solstice.

I see these quite often. They used to be quite popular in my area , probably before i was even born.
When you shut the lid , it will latch. But they are really easy to open. It only requires a key with only the first cut , to drive the bolt.

//edit: not this one. I didn't notice the square ends of the bolt. These usually have angled edges.

When they are locked , impressioning seems to work best. In fact , i will usually impression these , even if they are open and i can remove the lock.

Do you mean with "it will latch" that it locks automagically when closed? This doesn't. It must be locked with the key. Impression is a good idea. I thought about how to find the right position of the cut on the lever, because due to the void between levers and front it might be a bit tricky.

I mean that the tips of the bolt will catch the hooks on the lid. A bit like when you close a door that doesn't have a handle. It isn't locked , but it's closed.
It must be locked with the key to be secure.

edit: looking at the pictures , i can see now that the edges of the bolt is square , the ones i mean have an angled edge. Sorry about the confusion.



That is exactely the reason why i prefer impressioning on these.

Looked and impressioned the key works now and I can now safely put my gold inside. Don't ask how many tries were needed to get the bow straight enough soldered to the stem.

Btw. how are are double-bitted keys made from a lock? Impression surely does not work. Just filing with great care?

Nice work !

Indeed! What a beautiful box. And the key turned out brilliant!


So how many times did it take to get the... juuuust kidding. lol
That's what it's all about! Trial & error. You get better & better.

Thanks!

Btw. the key is 36mm long. For you guys from the US: 1 5/12 inch.

A Barrel key as its known in.. USA - great job & work martin

I use silverflow 55 - 55% silver solder and the yellow map gas for brazing - flux is required it can be used on many
metals brass being one -Alu 300 for alloys as they tend to have a much lower melting point but can be brazed if your careful
we have special cutting machines for double bitting safe keys and ward cutters for church keys - most blanks can be purchased these days -even the fancy key heads ... costly to have keys made from scratch and specialist - expert work !

I have used Ag156 = Silver-flo 56, which is very similar to Silver-flo 55=Ag155. 56 melts about 10°C lower than 55.

Neat job with the soldering and key cutting.
Job well done.