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Re: Lets tear into an old Diebold safe

PostPosted: Sat Jul 13, 2019 4:06 pm
by Oldfast
Again, some interesting stuff here, and some great ingenuity.

Funny, cuz even with the pics and story line, I'm sure I probably haven't a clue as to the amount of time and effort you really put into each step. The results are always so inspiring though. Nothing like seeing new life in such an old safe.

Re: Lets tear into an old Diebold safe

PostPosted: Thu Jul 18, 2019 4:13 pm
by 00247
Along with some distractions, I wasn't rushing the bodywork as I knew it would be some time before the parts would come back from the Chrome Shop. Usually it takes at least 2 months. Imagine my surprise when UPS unexpectedly showed up with the parts in 2 weeks.

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What does it cost to have parts plated? Here is a run down. These parts are chrome plated vs nickle as I was not concerned about an original look. The shine of chrome and the durability of the finish was more important.

The dial and ring set were $125
4 button hinge finials $45
4 bearing races $40
Handle $85

I also had a handle for another safe (at the top in the picture) done which consisted of:

Handle body $45
Large handle bolt/shaft and collar $30
Handle bolt $20

So these parts plus a bolt for a motorcycle, tax, and shipping both ways, brings the total to just shy of $450. It might seem like a lot but it is a far cry from doing a fancy bank safe. :spinning:

With these parts in hand it will be time to give myself a boot in the ass and maybe get this safe done in record time.

Body work and paint coming up next.

Re: Lets tear into an old Diebold safe

PostPosted: Fri Jul 19, 2019 2:24 am
by femurat
WOW they look impressive now!

Thanks for sharing what you paid. I still feel dumb when I recall I paid 15 bucks to chrome a small jewelry box key. Now I feel relieved because it looks a correct price.

Cheers :)

Re: Lets tear into an old Diebold safe

PostPosted: Fri Jul 19, 2019 9:02 am
by L4R3L2
Just FYI, decorative chrome IS essentially bright nickel, with a very, very thin flash of chrome to prevent oxidation. The nickel is finished first as it would normally be, then the chrome is added on top of it. At least that is how we did it "back in the day". The parts look beautiful. Do you plan to repaint the dial?

Re: Lets tear into an old Diebold safe

PostPosted: Fri Aug 02, 2019 9:07 pm
by 00247
L4R3L2 wrote:Just FYI, decorative chrome IS essentially bright nickel, with a very, very thin flash of chrome to prevent oxidation.


Yes, I am fully aware of that. Something readers of these threads may not realize is there is a difference in the appearance of polished nickel and chrome. Polished nickel has a bit of a warmer, softer, slightly yellowed look to it. When the chrome layer is added (which is essentially clear) it gives a shinier, somewhat colder, but brilliant look to it. Chrome is much harder and resistant to corrosion or tarnishing vs nickel which will dull over time. When I have redone my bank safes I wanted to duplicate the original look so I went with nickel plating (chrome didn't become widely used until the 1930's) and a single stage paint to maintain the original look despite the fact that the body work, and paint are brought up to modern automotive standards. After all, if they had the technology to do it that way back in the day, surely they would have. This safe is strictly for show so it gets the chrome finish and a basecoat/clearcoat paint to maximize visual impact.

After the initial coat of epoxy primer, it is sanded and a layer of filler is added to the areas that need it. The sheet metal sides and back were in pretty good shape other than two small dents. A skim coat of filler was necessary on the top, door, inner door jamb, and the front and rear angles that surround the body.

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It actually takes a couple layers of filler with the majority of it sanded off. I can't stress enough the importance of a good base for the next steps. If the metalwork and filler are not right the following steps will be a challenge and will most likely result in sub par results. Now everybody has different standards. Some are happy with a brushed paint job. I am very anal about smooth correct surfaces in paint and do all I can to achieve them. After the filler, two coats of urethane primer are added. This primer is block sanded out till most of the primer is on the ground. Any flaws are dealt with and more urethane primer is added. This coat is wet sanded and finally the surface is ready for paint.

Here you can see the first coat of primer blocked out. Some filler and bare steel shows through. There may be a few pinholes or sand scratches left. They are taken care of before the next coat of primer.

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The next coat of primer is applied.

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After this coat of primer is wet sanded with 400/600 grit, the surface is checked with solvent which duplicates what the final finish will look like. While it may look like the final finish, this is primer with a wet coat of prep cleaner. As I said, the finish paint will only look as good as what is under it.

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Once satisfied, it is time for the base coat of black which has a dull finish. After a short flash time the clear coat gloss is added. The clear will be wet sanded with 2000 grit paper. The sanded finish will then be gold leafed for stripes and lettering. Pinstriping will be added and then it will all be cleared again.

Fresh clear over the black basecoat.

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Here the fresh clear is wet sanded with 2000 grit.

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While I wait and wait for the mask to be cut for the artwork on the door, I will refinish the inside woodwork. Stay tuned.

Re: Lets tear into an old Diebold safe

PostPosted: Sat Aug 03, 2019 4:49 pm
by Oldfast
No matter how many times I see it, lol... it's always such a treat to see your work take shape. The perfect flatness and shine. Geez.

And maybe a rather silly question that never occurred to me: What sort of work (if any) will go into the wheels this thing sets on?

Re: Lets tear into an old Diebold safe

PostPosted: Sat Aug 03, 2019 7:44 pm
by 00247
Oldfast wrote: What sort of work (if any) will go into the wheels this thing sets on?


Oh man, you had it hit me low with that question! :cry: LOL. I am ashamed to say not much. Wheels on safes are usually poor quality castings. Rougher than a corn cob and no way to really work on them. The axles are peened in like a rivet so taking the wheels out is not realistic venture. Because they are not a focal point of the safe, I normally paint them a satin black so they kind of disappear into the mass of the safe. That way when they get marked up from rolling they can be easily touched up. Hopefully the rest of the safe keeps the eyes of an onlooker from ever getting that low.

Think about it, whether your a boob man or an ass man, do you ever get down to looking at the feet? LOL


Re: Lets tear into an old Diebold safe

PostPosted: Sat Aug 03, 2019 11:15 pm
by Oldfast
00247 wrote:.....Think about it, whether your a boob man or an ass man, do you ever get down to looking at the feet? LOL

Too funny. And so true! Look how long it took me to even ask!

Reminds me of 'Shawshank Redemption', when Andy walks back to his cell wearing the Warden's shiny dress shoes.
" I mean, really, how often do you look at a man's shoes? " lol

You're right though; the material used and how they've been mounted limits the options on what you could do, even if you wanted.

Re: Lets tear into an old Diebold safe

PostPosted: Thu Sep 19, 2019 4:41 am
by 00247
I guess it's high time for an update on the Diebold safe. The project kind of stalled as I waited for the artwork mask to be cut by the sign shop. I would work on it off and on but there always seemed to be something else begging for attention. The inside of the safe was in general good condition with normal wear.

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All inside surfaces were sanded getting the old finish off. A real PITA to get in the corners and the crooks and crannies. The old varnish was on the soft side and would gum up the sandpaper quickly. Once sanded, the inside shows promise.

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The inner compartment was missing in this safe. I originally planned to use the compartment out of the junk Herring-Hall-Marvin safe I recently picked up. It was quite a bit smaller than the original. Then I happened to look in the archives (over flow of dilapidated safes) and there was another Diebold that had an almost exact size compartment with lock and keys that I had forgotten about. Jackpot! I may part that one out anyway so I robbed the compartment. I had to shim the opening slightly different than original with vintage wood from that HHM safe which was an exact match. The final fit was great.

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The compartment has been painted, the interior stained and varnished. I don't have a picture at this time so you will have to wait for the final installment to this thread.

With the safe painted, color sanded, and the mask for the art work finally done, it was time to add some gold leaf. My intentions were to bury the gold leaf and the pinstriping in clear this time. The clear was sanded to improve adhesion for the size (adhesive) for the gold and to be ready for the final coat of clear. The gold leafing process went smoothly this time for the most part. First the name of my good friend that I am giving this safe to is added to the top.

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Then the stripe is added to the door.

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The stripe gets some turning to liven it up.

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The door mounted on the engine stand was a real plus. I could rotate the door to be able to always be laying the gold in a vertical format and top to bottom which is the easiest for me. Here the gold is laid loose on the size. Note the door is turned upside down in the stand so the lettering is higher and easier to work on.

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Here is a short video of brushing the leaf into the size to smooth it out. This process always amazes me.



The name of my friends business and the Diebold name are completed. Mike questioned why I wanted a digital file of his company lettering. I said, "None of your business, trust me." lol

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Then, after some final prep more clear is added. All surfaces get a final wet color sand with 2500 grit sandpaper and a three stage buffing process. In this picture you get a good look at the ceiling of my shop and the Miller HI-LIFE beer state license plates on the wall. lol

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Here is an outside picture of the safe body. The front is not buffed yet.

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And the door.

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I have changed my original plan and will have the pinstriping on top of the clear to give a more authentic hand finished look. The pinstriper is supposed to show up on Sunday to add the pinstripes and some shadow highlighting to some lettering. There will also be a quote added to the inside door panel. Final results should be in soon.

Re: Lets tear into an old Diebold safe

PostPosted: Sat Sep 21, 2019 9:51 am
by Oldfast
00247 wrote:All inside surfaces were sanded getting the old finish off. A real PITA to get in the corners and the crooks and crannies. The old varnish was on the soft side and would gum up the sandpaper quickly. Once sanded, the inside shows promise.

Oh man, I can imagine what a task that was *shakes head*

00247 wrote:The name of my friends business and the Diebold name are completed. Mike questioned why I wanted a digital file of his company lettering. I said, "None of your business, trust me." lol

:rofl: Your friend should really be blown away. What a gorgeous piece. Gorgeous!

00247 wrote:Then, after some final prep more clear is added. All surfaces get a final wet color sand with 2500 grit sandpaper and a three stage buffing process. In this picture you get a good look at the ceiling of my shop and the Miller HI-LIFE beer state license plates on the wall. lol

Took me a while to realize what I was looking at - the top of the safe, lol! Wasn't until I re-read what you said, then clicked on the picture again. What a mirror finish.

Re: Lets tear into an old Diebold safe

PostPosted: Tue Sep 24, 2019 11:02 pm
by Riyame
Once again I am blown away. Your friend is going to be extremely happy once he sees it :D

Re: Lets tear into an old Diebold safe

PostPosted: Wed Sep 25, 2019 7:42 pm
by jeffmoss26
Wow!!

Re: Lets tear into an old Diebold safe

PostPosted: Sun Sep 29, 2019 8:41 pm
by Squelchtone
Wow. 00247, this is such quality work!

Thank you for sharing,
Squelchtone

Re: Lets tear into an old Diebold safe

PostPosted: Tue Oct 01, 2019 2:03 pm
by 00247
Well, it is high time to finish up this project. The pinstriper showed up as scheduled and I am pleased to say that he did a nice job. We had discussed the project beforehand by texting so I was pretty sure on what I wanted. I deviated from initial ideas I had in my head to a simple design. The gold leaf had turned out quite nice so I decided to let it stand on its own with some blue shadowing on the name at the top and on the Diebold name. The same blue is used for a border pinstripe on the gold leaf stripe and there are some grey accent pinstripes on the door, sides, and inner door frame and jamb. I had nonchalantly asked Mike months ago what he might consider his two favorite colors. lol

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Last time I left you guys hanging without a picture of the finished inside. Here it is sporting a new finish on the woodwork and an inner compartment which had been missing.

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The inner door panel received a personalized quote from the title of the Tom Petty song, “Runnin’ Down A Dream”. This has been an ongoing theme between us representing Mike branching out on his own as an independent financial adviser and me mastering the art of retirement. lol

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Final assembly was easy this time compared to the complicated bank safes done previously. The adjustable height of the modified engine stand slipped the door on effortlessly. I did have a problem with too much paint build up which prevented the door bolts from sliding into the holes in the jamb. Some gentle massaging took care of that. The inner door bolt work was painted and the assembly of it and the lock was straight forward. The bolts that extend through the door were zinc plated and polished to prevent rust.

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I did address the excessive drag when dialing this lock. The flys on the wheels are steel (just as thick as the wheels) and double the surface area on the inner brass shaft. The spacers between the wheels are also steel. This adds more drag than all brass parts. All surfaces where polished and a touch of light synthetic oil was added to the shaft to get this lock operating smoothly.

And finally some pictures in her final glory. I hope you all enjoyed the transformation.

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Last but not least, let’s try a video.


Re: Lets tear into an old Diebold safe

PostPosted: Tue Oct 01, 2019 2:31 pm
by MartinHewitt
I love the interior decoration! But one detail is missing! The compulsory Persian carpet. No safe is complete without it.