Safe Chronicles, Part II - Beyond the Lockroom

[Oldfast]

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So sorry guys I just COULDN'T resist.

This massive beast is 9" tall, 7" wide, 6" deep








To Mosler's credit, (count 'em) FIVE bolts on this round door. lol
And a three number combo to boot. 2 wheels + drive wheel.
Though I didn't see any internal or external relockers. lol
There's a neat little bell that 'dings' tho when opened.




Believe it or not, this was actually a legit call, lol.
And I did go... but was gonna retire if I failed. Ha!

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[mdc5150]

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So sorry guys I just COULDN'T resist.

This massive beast is 9" tall, 7" wide, 6" deep








To Mosler's credit, (count 'em) FIVE bolts on this round door. lol
And a three number combo to boot. 2 wheels + drive wheel.
Though I didn't see any internal or external relockers. lol
There's a neat little bell that 'dings' tho when opened.




Believe it or not, this was actually a legit call, lol.
And I did go... but was gonna retire if I failed. Ha!

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I would love to have that little bank. What a neat piece of history.

[mercurial]

Mike : arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh! I was chomping at the bit for your writeup and pics of something quite different to the above!!

That said, I don’t post unless I have something to contribute, but I follow this thread closely & really enjoy what you share with us here. Thank you.

mdc5150 : having seen these come up fairly frequently on eBay when I used to browse there more often, I just did a search for the words “Mosler toy bank vault” (without quotes) & came up with two listings for them. Buy it now prices of $75 and $19.00. Given how common they seemed when I frequented eBay, it would be worth checking what price a good example typically fetches before pulling the trigger - they aren’t so rare that you need fear missing out unless you buy one right away.

[Oldfast]

Man, I really up'd my game yesterday guys.
Gotta call from a fella with a Mosler Bank Vault.
Was able to open it in a matter of minutes!

Can't wait to crop the photos and post.

HURRY!

LOL... when it takes longer to crop the photos than to open the safe, is that a good thing?

Mike : arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh!....

Ah man, lol... I almost feel bad. But ya gotta admit, it is kinda funny. I was gonna leave this open-ended for a couple days, but didn't have the heart to wait that long! Already had Bitbuster & Chad - hook, line, and sinker. lol

But imagine me?! His initial message never included the word 'Junior', lol. Mosler always peaks my interest. Throw in the words 'bank' or 'vault', and I'm likely to show up whether you want me to or not. Considering I was leaving a job and he was in line with my route home, I skipped my usual request for pics, and instead just called to see if the timing would be ok. Only then did the conversation develop enough to realize what he had.

Funny as it was though, it's not that far fetched. A nice older couple, both retired. The gentleman had this thing as a kid and was about 70 now. He had one of the #'s and knew he was close, but sensibly didn't want to force or damage it.

I'd imagine these are at least semi-collectible. As to the value, it's hard to say. Condition no doubt plays a factor. As mercurial mentioned, there's a couple on ebay at the moment. $19-$75 is a rather wide range. And searching only 'completed' or 'sold' listings turns up nothing for this particular model. So again, hard to say. But you're right Matt - neat little piece of history.

[L4R3L2]

Too funny, Mike! You should have "banked" this one for April Fools Day. lol. So, was the gentleman actually being serious? Or, did he have the faculties to realize it was somewhat comical? Did you use a graph?

[Oldfast]

Too funny, Mike! You should have "banked" this one for April Fools Day. lol.

I know, right?! I thought about it, but just couldn't wait that long. lol

So, was the gentleman actually being serious? Or, did he have the faculties to realize it was somewhat comical?

Oh yeah, he was definitely serious about it. But while I was there we did chuckle a bit, given what I usually tackle. Though he didn't find it quite as funny as I did... he understood. lol

Did you use a graph?

Haha! I'll tell ya what... I dunno how we got by, but somehow we managed this beast without a graph, lol. Actually, he seemed interested enough, so I kept him involved jotting down some notes for me as we went along. All good stuff. Worth the stop.

[MartinHewitt]

I'm bored, oh, so booored!

[Oldfast]

I'm bored, oh, so booored!

Yeeees, I'll admit I've been slacking a bit. lol
Not on opening safes... but on posting them.

I'll tryn' remedy that Martin

[MartinHewitt]

That would be really great!

[AL usher69]

Yes that would be great. I really enjoy the work people put in here

[Oldfast]

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Baum






























Baum's version of *Yale's OB lock. They did use others,
but this is the most prevalent lock you'll find in Baums.

3 screw-change wheels & a gravity-driven counterweighted fence.
Handle turns CW. Proper Dialing Sequence for these: LRL R to Stop.
Pickup differences were 7,14,24 (approx). Gates read 4-5 incs wide.

Contact points on this one were non-existent throughout the manipulation.
While servicing though - had they been detectable - I figured CPs @ 87 & 95.
As you can see, the RCP would likely give the best info (more gradual slope).

*NOTE: Keep in mind the drive cam is changeable in this lock, which could place
drop-in anywhere. If I recall, there were a dozen or so positions to choose from.

That being said, much of the literature I find on this lock suggests many come
to a final stop somewhere between 95 - 5. This tells me the CPs may often
be found within this general area as well - I'd say between 95 and 15.
But again, be on the lookout for contacts to pop up wherever.




The Spin:
Not much of a struggle or story to embellish upon here.
All three gates were found through sound and/or feel.
And revealed themselves in the glorious order of 123

*An interesting tidbit on Yale OB & OBB Series

OB is a 3-wheel lock. The OBB, a 4-wheel... at least that's what we've all read and been told for the last umpteen years! However, at one time there was some controversy surrounding these two titles and what each represented in terms of how many wheels the lock contained.

It was said that when Yale first published these lock offerings, the titles meant just the opposite; OB (4) and OBB (3). And apparently some rather convincing evidence was presented to support this. But the powers that be wanted nothing of it.

Of course, most any text you find over the last 70+ years will show the OB as 3-wheel and the OBB as a 4-wheel lock. Hell, at this point, it's so deeply embedded in our lingo and text... I'd say it might just be a case of "too little, too late". But it's funny to think, maybe... just maybe... we got it all wrong from the very start.

So how much does all this really matter? Maybe not much I suppose, lol. But it is, as I say... an interesting tidbit


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[madsamurai]

I think the thing I like most about safes is there are so many 'interesting tidbits.' Who would think there could be so much fascinating history in a bunch of metal boxes... it really adds a sense of character to these old things.

[MartinHewitt]

What a great posting to wake up with! Thanks!

[L4R3L2]

Wonderful! Thanks for sharing. I'm confused, though, how gates are found when no contact points are felt. Could you please elaborate?

[MartinHewitt]

Oldfast wrote:

All three gates were found through sound and/or feel.

So I assume that he heard the CPs with a microphone clicking.