Hi all. Finally an update to this project. I have been pecking away at this bit by bit, and finally it is complete.
To pick up where I left off, the upper key in my previous picture turned out to be the winner after inner lock disassembly, much measuring, & figuring.
The inner lock was fairly straight forward to disassemble and figure out. Strangely the internet gave no insight to the inner workings of this type of lock & for those interested I have listed pictures of my disassembly and the final key that resulted. Works a charm. Hope these pics are of help to someone.
As for the hinge pins of the little door, I fettled 2 brass wood screws into proper sized flat head pins and lightly crimped the bottoms to affix them in place.
The tin box was removed, derusted, and treated to paint matching that of the little door.
Next came the carpet. What was there had decayed or was moth eaten to near dust. Removed tacks carefully and then treated all wood to multiple applications of tung oil.
A false bottom was then cut out to match the bottom of the tin box, as well as the floor of the safe itself using what I think was 1/8" beech plywood. I then glued what I felt was a period appropriate pattern of material to finish it off. I visit out fabric store occasionally but this time it was more fun than usual as I asked the gals on the floor if they could help me pick out a real "Tacky and Ugly pattern and color". They definitely had a bemused look on their faces until I filled them in on the details. As always, they were a great help.
I used headliner adhesive to affix the material and was quite pleased at the result.
Then another move down 7 stairs into our basement from the garage, and it has found its new home. Last 3 pics showing result. Patina is nicer than in pics, as the flash seems to bring out the blemishes much more than the naked eye sees.
Cheers & thanks to all.









