made my own vault door

[Vaultdoor101]

Hello community

I am new here and because I like to learn, I thought this forum might be a good place to do so
My name is Maik and i am from Germany. I really like the old big 50+ tons vault doors from the 19th and 20th century (for example the cleveland federal reserve bank door). For about half a year I am also a member on http://www.antique-locks.com and its quite cool there.
Well I happened to be a hobby machinist and for a long long time I had this wish to actually build my own little vault door. And here we are and my door is in a pre-finished status right now. Since steel is pretty dense and therefore heavy, the little door plus frame weighs about 800 pounds. Because the door alone would be useless I got it a nice also selfmade furniture, so I can use this as a storage place and table
The last stage now is to complete the door by installing the combination locks. I have two Kromer 3-Wheel-locks for the job and i am really excited about this The locks will be driven by a remote combination viewer.

I just wanted to share this project with you, because maybe somebody else wants to build such a door. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask them and i will see what i can do

And now some pictures:

Sincerely

Maik

https://www.dropbox.com/s/zwn02a7qh0nrf ... 0.JPG?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/szzxninan03tc ... 7.JPG?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/bpj2oipy6dnwq ... 2.JPG?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/lf5o5wixj296x ... 3.JPG?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/u5or1wsdgnqco ... 5.JPG?dl=0

[sheerluck]

Excuse me while I'm looking for my jaw. I think it rolled under the couch...

[MBI]

You made that?

Wow man, that's insane. I love it. I am beyond impressed.

[Jacob Morgan]

I have heard of some very impressive projects that German machinists would do at the end of their apprenticeships, but this is serious work for a hobby. What kind of (and size of) machine tools did you use to construct it? And where did you find the chunk of steel for the door?

[GWiens2001]

He did alright for using just a dremel tool and some hand files.

That is absolutely fantastic work! Exceptionally impressive, Maik. Uhh, I mean not bad for a hobbiest.

Thank you so much for sharing. Wish I had your skills. Then I'd have a vault door in my house, too.

Gordon

[Joshua904]

I honestly don't know much about safe or vaults, so I can't possibly understand the scope of a project like this.
But I know machining, and I know craftsmanship.
This is very impressive, and something I'd be proud to own.

[YouLuckyFox]

That was nicely done. Good choice on the hinges .

[Vaultdoor101]

Hey guys

Thanks for the kind words!

I have been working on the project for a year now and well here we are Its still much to do and i hope its all going to work. Here are some points:
1. The bolt work
2. The remote combination viewer (mechanics, inner lights, installing the two locks, finishing)
3. The anchor points for the pressure bar
4. Some little filing so that the door does actually close...
5. Some handles made of brass, as you can see in the pictures are still missing.

I bought the big steelplates on eb*y and some of it i had already in my workshop.
Mainly i am using a half ton drill press and a one ton lathe, so the machinery isnt that huge compared to some other. But for a hobby guy its still big i guess...
Mostly i used some tricks to get my work done. And to cut the round parts out of the rectangular plates and the crane hinge, i got my steel to a company that would plasma cut it. But that was the only time i used some help from outside for the big parts. A friend of mine is a really impressive pantographist and he made the scale on the dial i sent to him before. I will provide pictures for that, too

https://www.dropbox.com/s/26jli4f84mg2z ... 2.jpg?dl=0

If you have further questions i would be glad to answer them

Best regards

Maik

[Vaultdoor101]

Here you can see one of the Kromer combination locks, completely made of brass

https://www.dropbox.com/s/7heddyhutd9nl ... 5.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/y1zfmr86sohg6 ... 8.jpg?dl=0

And here you can see me actually working on a part of the vault door in my workshop:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6B45B3A ... omz-DDBwPM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuI4Lth ... M&index=10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaA35Va ... omz-DDBwPM

I have to admit that I am not that big movie maker, so i just let the camera rollin for the sake of the purpose of showing me working on the parts. Therefore some of you might get bored during the clip. Also this was live, sometimes i had to change the plan or to improvise, so dont be surprised if something doesnt work out the way it was supposed to be

Best regards

Maik

[Chazza_02]

That is awesome!

[Papa Gleb]

Im speechless. I dont even have vocabulary to explain what I feel toward it. The machining looks amazing and design. Kudos mate, kudos!!!

How much did all that steel run you? Are there future plans to put the door onto a proper metal case/box? because that wooden box now gives it no justice whatsoever . If not then at least put some sheet metal around it.

[Vaultdoor101]

Hey guys

Thanks again for the nice compliments

The steel ran me about 200 €, so about 220 USD.

Well future plans... I really dont know A metal container for this door would weight about five tons, i estimated. So without any nice foundation of some house that would not work out well Furthermore imagine if the door has a malfunction. How do i reopen it? You would need really expensive tools for drilling and scoping, etc... No standard drill bit is long enough to actually reach the locks. And because of very sophisticated anti-drill-parts it would drive you crazy to drill this frame And with the wooden furniture it is very easy to get to the backside of the door by simply open up the table - no destruction, no hard working at the housing, no drilling. Also i like the clash of steel and wood very much, and my wife too

Best regards

Maik

[LocksportSouth]

Holy c**p Maik, that's seriously impressive. Love it. LOVE it. , I want one of these on my front door

[Vaultdoor101]

Hey thanks mate

[jbrint]

I thought I heard in the video you were going to give that away to one of us? My German isn't so well, but I am pretty sure that is what you said. Hopefully since I brought it up first I can be the one?

In all seriousness that is pretty amazing and a fine example of passion and dedication to a task to which I must say hats off and very well done. I also like the metal and wood together as it is a nice contrast and cool combination of materials. I bet you are pretty proud of that and you should be because it is an awesome task to take on and not something most folks could achieve even if they wanted to and had the tools. I applaud the ingenuity and drive to create something from raw materials.