Repairing a Macneale and Urban

[98G]

I would never drill one of these. But someone did...

So I've got this old safe that has multiple holes front and back. The holes are actually visible, serving as a landmark should anyone desire to drill it again. And as I suspected, they were filled with something nonmetallic.

I took a punch and a hammer and the filler material popped right out on the first tap. I followed that with a powered brush and cleaned it up in preparation for welding.

I filled the holes with a combination of A36 scrap, hardened drill bits, and welding rod stubs. The idea is to have a bit of a heat sink so that I can make the first pass very very hot. After the first pass fused everything, I followed up with 6011 rod cold and slow (50 amps) so as to deposit an excess of steel that I can grind flush and smooth and make the repairs invisible.

I started with the back, because I figured it'd be the most forgiving and the least critical and I've never repaired a safe before.

I fairly happy with it so far. I'm going to remove the lockwork before I repair the door, and I've got some hardened roller bearings I'm going to use for filler on the door.

Macneale and Urban went out of business in 1903, which makes me suspect the presence of asbestos.

I welcome any comments or criticism.

[98G]

Pics

https://ibb.co/X4LKpPp

https://ibb.co/SVGF1yC

https://ibb.co/KXZxKkb

https://ibb.co/NSj2L2W

https://ibb.co/wCTwXhS

https://ibb.co/2dPKYWq

https://ibb.co/Khyg0p4

[FranklyFlawless]

Great work, keep sharing more photos as the project progresses.

[Squelchtone]

When you share pics, you can display them right in the forum without a list of links that folks have to click through..

Click one of your links, then Right-click on the photo and click "Open image in new tab", then copy *that* direct address to the .jpg file and put it here in between the image commands like this:

Code: Select all

[image]https://i.ibb.co/g79fw8w/Screenshot-20240319-184423-Gallery.jpg[/image]


and that will look like this:

[RedStagKiller]

That looks pretty good! At my work we also build steel frames, welding them together and then grinding and sanding them off smooth. Usually we finish with a 60 grit sander and some spray paint. Id also be worried about the lead paint the safe is probably coated with because of its age. It is pretty dangerous when you make the partials airborne with the grinding and sanding (and heating).

[98G]

When you share pics, you can display them right in the forum without a list of links that folks have to click through..

Click one of your links, then Right-click on the photo and click "Open image in new tab", then copy *that* direct address to the .jpg file and put it here in between the image commands like this:

Code: Select all

[image]https://i.ibb.co/g79fw8w/Screenshot-20240319-184423-Gallery.jpg[/image]


and that will look like this:

Thanks!

[98G]

I finally got back to this project.

The holes in the door also popped right out with punch and a tap of the hammer



There were three such holes.

These got plugged with hardened bearings and then welded and ground flush, then another pass with 6011 and ground flush again.





Then I reinstalled the dial.


At this point I'm inclined to gently abrasive blast the whole thing and just paint it. My opinion is there isn't enough of the original paint in good enough condition to try to preserve any of it. I welcome any conflicting opinions...

[FranklyFlawless]

If you value the original aesthetic, it may be possible to restore it with some effort or with the help of a specialist.