Building a Fireproof Safe (pt. 1 of 2)

This video was sponsored by Ariat

In this video I build a double walled fire proof safe with a four pin locking mechanism.

[obsgr]

Justin, I hope you come back soon with some more interesting content. I hope the farm life hasn't taken you away from being an amazing content creator and engineer. Really want to see where you get to with the RV, or what your wife has designed that you have milled out of wood or steel. I'm sure there's a bunch of subscribers out there that miss your content.

[cmbmx]

Hope your videos come back soon, miss watching them I've watched all your videos more than once

[TRFerron]

Having both an engineering and security background some thoughts:
- engineering is good, but you could have decoupled the metal on the outside from the inside. See how modern windows are made. So no thermal transfer occurs, or at least not so much.
- maybe add some tabs or a way to secure the safe to the ground (if you don't weld it somewhere to the ground)

Now to the main problem...
- the main reason most of the cheap fireproof safes fail to do their job is not fire proofness - its water proofness. Normally the fire dept. arrives in under 30 minutes so a 60 minute fire proofness is more than enough. But the fire dept. uses mainly water to extinguish fire. Pouring it on for hours. So the documents and most valuables which don't like water are destroyed AFTER the fire by soaking for hours in water.

Added later:
At least we now could get
Part II - making the fireproof safe waterproof !

:)

[hipairbrush]

Tip: put lipstick on the end of the locking pins to mark where to drill your holes. Great build any way you slice it. I would've drilled holes in the bottom so it can be bolted to the floor. They will often take the whole safe and leave.

[michaelrybak]

When the linkage came together, it was simply beautiful. Well done.

[tfildaed]

Having watched for years and knowing your abilities, skills, tools and ingenuity, I'm still amazed at how easy you made that look! Well done! Kudos to your photographer too!

[CheveeDodd]

It's always a good day when there's a new Rainfall Project. It's especially serendipitous today as it's raining and dreary here. Excellent work!

[wrenchdoozer]

A new Rainfall Projects video is a great way to start the day. Thanks.

[tomferrin]

Very impressive! The linkage mechanism that you came up with for the door bolts is a true work of art. My hat is off to you, sir!

[formerartstudent]

Would've been cool if you had made the backing plate with plexiglass so you could see the linkages. A+ project, all the same.

[aserta]

Three things in order, just observations, not critique:

1. in a fire proof safe the core is decoupled from the outer skin, can't help that now tho.

2. the handle needs to either be a weak link itself (small pin and only a small portion of the shaft going out) or a weak link inside, otherwise it can be used against the mechanism

3. fireproof safes fail for the most unlikely reasons, which is when the fire department arrives, their concern is to stop the fire, not save your property (or better expressed, they're not specific about what's saved, they're specific about being safe whilst stopping the fire, saving lives being their biggest concern, theirs and that of the potential victims), so it needs to be water proofed, which means you need a gasket, which itself needs to be fire proof and water proof (yup, tall order).

Source: i used to work with a safe company's engineer, learnt a few things from him.

[jimmydiresta]

now alls ya need is black and gold paint ... and it'll be Choochi👊🏻 well done

[jaypeeters]

When you where drilling with the magnetic drill, made me think of those safecracker scenes in movies.

[westweld]

Really ambitious project man your a good a welder also and for finding your locking bolt holes locations I use this stuff called dykem high spot blue its a non drying blue die and works great for stuff like this machinists use it to find high spots between mating parts just smear it on.

[daviddauphin]

the masking tape idea is great - use some lipstick on the pins = close the door and it will mark the tape. i have used this to mark drywall for outlet boxes -works great

[UncleStevesWorkshop]

Something about your videos makes me feel proud to be a country boy builder. Nothing better than getting inspiration from the way you think, build, and communicate over a Saturday morning coffee. Hope all is well out there my friend 🤠

[Bfyobrian]

“This is the Lockpicking Lawyer, and today we’re going to be taking a look at a fireproof safe built by a radish farmer.” 😂

Jk, amazing work!

[threeriversforge]

Nice build, and I really like the door's linkage. Future Tip - when you have to locate pin locations like that, you can "soot" the ends of the pin with your torch, or a daub of your wife's lipstick, to make sure you have a clear, clean impression. If you use your wife's lipstick, make sure you don't tell her you borrowed it. Wives do not take kindly to such things.

Also, the fire rating drops precipitously when you don't insulate the door or use a fire seal around the door. All that insulation on the body is for naught if you don't seal the door and insulate it every which way you can. Some 1/4" drywall/gypsum can be layered in there, making sure to get under the linkage mechanism, and some Kaowool blanket can fill the voids without worry about tangling around the mechanism. The door seals are available COTS, and help to seal things when the heat rises, but also give a more finished appearance. Without those two details, the same isn't resistant to heat/fire no matter how much insulation you put in the hollow core of the body.

[biomorphic]

That safe is super easy to open. Just place a metal bar on the wheel and you'll have so much leverage that the pin on the combinator will fall apart. But, since it's in the shop maybe it's faster using the plasma cutter.

[dropletz.]

Great Job! I do recommend to drill holes in the bottom so you can bolt it to the ground, one other suggestion it to put the door opening side in a corner so someone cant try to pry it open.