Any one build a gun cabnet/safe

[Jostaman]

Looking for idea how to build a heavy gun cabnet, outa meatal . anyone here done it ?ideas? links? was told some one on this board would probly know. thanks.
Jim

[Aces'n'8s]

First of all, cabinet and safe aren't interchangeable.


You could always give some safe manufacturers a call and ask for their plans.:laughing:

[waywardfool]

Go to the gun shop and look at how they are built. It ain't rocket surgery.

Pick what you want to build it out of. 1/4, 3/8, or 1/2" plate? I have a safe out in the garage, it's 3/8 plate, weighs 500-600 lbs empty. Nothing in it now, but I'm thinking of filling it with stacks of newspaper clippings fronted by real 20's. Freak out anybody that's out in my shop helping on something. :)

This is one of those things that if you know how, and have the equipment, then building it yourself is simple. If you have to hire it out, you can't afford it. In that case, buy a store-bought one instead.

[BMB]

Considered it.
Wasn't worth the effort, too much time and cost compared to buying one.

That being said, I believe you can buy the door assemblies by themselves from some manufacturers. Then you could make the "box" around it.

Most starter safes are only about 1/8" plate on the top bottom and sides, with the front and door being around 1/4".

It really just works out to being a welded box with the welds ground smooth and painted over.


I'd try some of the welding boards to get more info.


BMB

[bryans98tj]

I would just buy one then build it. They are tax free as well as a tax write off. Also most insurance won't cover fire, theft and such. Better piece of mind in a good safe.

[Travis Waldher]

It really just works out to being a welded box with the welds ground smooth and painted over.
BMB

The good ones will have an inner shell of 1/8" plate, followed by an outer shell of 1/4-1/2" plate, with a about 2" of concrete in between.

[roverjohn]

A safe is just a cabinet designed to slow down thieves not withstanding the fireproofing issues. I helped a friend of mine build one that pinned together from the inside and not only fit his space perfectly it was collapsable. It was not fireproof though. Just make a reasonable plan as to how long you would want to delay a thief and then build acordingly.
John...

[cruzer75]

you can get the door assemblies. when friends built their house they had 1/4 of the basement built as a safe out of concrete with a typical safe door as the entrance/exit. The room is cool but i think you could just cut some holes in the floor and get into the safe (never seen the ceiling has a drop ceiling though so it maybe all incased in concrete)

Stew

[69CJ]

buying a door assemly isn't such a bad idea - especially if you have the space to hide the protected area behind a false wall or some other out of the way place. Harden the rest of the walls appropriately, have a reliable alarm and maybe stick to keeping the knowledge of the safe and it's contents to family members only...

Keep in mind that if have either a plasma or a torch in your garage the bad guys really don't need to bring their own tools with them if your running one of those typical single sheet gun cabinets.

The safe/cabinet should be viewed as a safety/delay measure at best and therefore should be backed up by a reliable alarm system. Perhaps one that goes off whenever the "safe" is accessed - meaining you'd have to cancel it with the alarm monitoring station every time you entered.

J.

[Aces'n'8s]

The good ones will have an inner shell of 1/8" plate, followed by an outer shell of 1/4-1/2" plate, with a about 2" of concrete in between.


Damn!


The really, really, really good ones have a full time little person living inside of it to shoot the bad guys...should they ever decide to make an unauthorized entry.


:flipoff2:

[ironpig70]

i have seen very sweet gun safes for cheaper than you could build it. and if done correctly they cannot be moved from your home with out some serious effort. the one i looked at had (4) 1/2" holes in the bottom which would sit on (4) 1/2" anchor bolts epoxyed into the floor and since the nuts are inside you cannot remove them. secondly this safe had a spring loaded device which would trigger if you dropped it on its side or rocked it hard. once triggered the door had to be cut off. aside from that it was 45 minute fire resistant. all features i think would be diffacult for a home safe builder to do.

[Travis Waldher]

Damn!


The really, really, really good ones have a full time little person living inside of it to shoot the bad guys...should they ever decide to make an unauthorized entry.


:flipoff2:

Hey, I've had to move a few like that, nearly lost my nuts doing so.

And those only had a 1 hour tamper proof rating IIRC. :eek: