What's in the box?! 1890s Safe [Restoration]

Hand Tool Rescue20:442024DIY & Crafts

This restoration is on the Key Combination Safe No. 40 made by the J. & E. Stevens Co. of Cromwell, Connecticut, USA in the late 1800s. The company started in 1843 and lasted about 100 years while making cast iron toys and coin banks. This specific cast iron curiosity seems to be designed for storage of some small valuable items like coins or jewelry. During my move to a new workshop, this was unfortunately left in a storage container that was not climate controlled, so the constant temperature and humidity fluctuations led to this item getting extremely rusty in a short period of time. Luckily, as we know from lesser restoration channels, short term rust does not damage the surface of the metal at very much. Concurrently, the safe was originally nickel-plated so the rust damage would have been limited. This was the first restoration where I just threw the whole thing into Evapo-Rust before taking it apart, as it would be easier to see where this thing was pinned together. The

Landed here from a link? Roll your own.

🎲 Roll the Dice

Played through the official embedded player. Watch on YouTube.