Hello All !!!
My story starts here....
Being an avid gun collector (beginner), I started with a hand full, and found myself with 32 rifles after 1.5 years. Obviously needing a larger safe, I began doing internet searches for "Large Safe". I immediately fell in love with antique safes....their uniqueness, mechanical art, and just the history and untold stories. I ended up settling on a cheap 36 gun Stack-On safe, but continued to search "Antique Safes" ever since. Some weird fascination, and an itch to restore one to its former glory I suppose. Inquired about a few but ended up passing on them until recent.
After browsing Kijiji, I cam across a nice large J.&J. Taylor with double doors that caught my eye. The ad read.....
"Well over 100 years old, an original from the old factory in Toronto. We do not know the code to open. My grandparents had it for many years and never had it opened." ....and had an asking price of $700.
Long story short..... We went back and forth a bit, and I scored it for $400 (Canadian). Luckily they had a John Deere tractor to load it in my truck. Definitely a very heavy safe, and it made the F150 squat several inches (Probably close to the stops, lol)....
Front steering was a little on the light side, but managed to get it home safe and sound. I was fortunate enough to borrow a fork lift to get it off the truck and near the door (Where it rests now). The ground was to soft to attempt getting it in the side door though. I ended up breaking numerous concrete slabs on our walk way due to the weight of the safe, and fork lift combined. I have a tracked skid steer with forks coming on Monday to get it through the door.....
So here it sits awaiting the next step, and also what brought me to this forum.....
After searching the internet and the valuable information on this site, I have come to the conclusion that I will learn the art of lock manipulation and gain access myself. After a couple evenings of browsing and collecting information, I find myself mesmerized with the thought and art of lock manipulation. I have tons of reading and learning to do, and am looking forward filling my head, and learning this art. I'm sure I will have many questions along the way, but....promise to use the search tool first, lol!
I'm very anxious to get it open to see it's contents (if any), but I am more excited to get it open to see the internal condition and get my restoration started
Cheers, Cheesy!
Couple additional pics if anyone is able to pin point the year of my safe or additional information, it would always be appreciated....
(84858)
(71254) I think?...