This project stems from a time when I was very young. Let me explain what I’m talking about: when I was about nine years old I started earning an allowance, just like most kids did at that age. My allowance back in the mid 60’s didn’t pay much, maybe .10 to .15 cents a week. I know that doesn’t sound like much today, but back then it was everything to me.

After a short time I had a few nickels, dimes, even a quarter or two to my name, which made me very happy. And I would keep that money in one of my dresser drawers for safe keeping. But as time went by I wanted something other than my dresser to keep my cash in. So I talked with my mom about this dilemma, one thing lead to another and we went to a little store in downtown Banning called “Plaza Drugs”. Yes they had a pharmacy, but they also had a little bit of everything (plastic models, some toys, etc). After looking around we found a small coin bank, and it even had a key. Now this key was the equivalent of what you might see a paper towel dispenser that a restaurant would use today. In other words, not very secure, but it was ‘way’ more than I expected at the time. It also had a coin slot in the lid which was very cool. And it resembled what you see below.
 

That little bank was made from thin sheet metal, not very big at 3” X 3.5” X 4” and the lock didn’t work that great either. However, I kept it for many years and in my mind…all my money was nice and secure.

Now for some reason I’d been thinking about that little bank lately and reminisced about it a few times during the summer of 2018. Then it hit me, why don't I make something for my grandson, Aidan, to keep his money in. Aidan is 10 years old, which must be the reason I had it on my heart to make this project in the first place (because I was close to his age when I started to understand what money really was).

Now this won't be a bank because I've already made him one of those. This will be a 'safe' to put his money in or something else of value that he owns. Why a safe you ask? Why not!!

Let's Get Started

I made a cardboard mock-up of what I wanted to make because that gives me a better idea of what's going on. The size is 12" wide X 12" high X 10" deep. The pencil line on the front represents the door, which will be 10" square. This should be the perfect size for him because if I had something like this when I was younger, I'd be be a happy guy.

I've also learned something else over the years, when buying a new safe, purchase a larger one than you think you need. Being a hunter, I have a few firearms and have always kept them in some kind of a safe. I'm now on my third gun safe and my current one is pretty big, so I thought I'd make Aidan something a little bigger than what I had back then.
 

I bought some mild steel for this project and had the steel company shear it so I didn't have to make a bunch of cuts. The thickness of the steel is 3/16", which is overkill, but that's what I'll be using. And you might be asking yourself, "how much is this going to weigh?" Well, I figure around 50 pounds...give or take. I'll let you know when it's finished.
 

I also bought some 1/2" square steel and 1.0" X 3/16" steel bar stock that are both four feet long. The one inch wide material will be used for the door frame and the 1/2" square material will go behind the door frame, which I'll show you later.
 

Time To Cut Some Steel

I'm cutting one of the sides here. And to make sure I keep my work piece square, I'm using a parallel that I indicated true with the Y axis (arrows). When my work piece is against it and clamped down, I know the adjacent edge will be square. I did this for all the pieces.
 

Here I'm cutting a 45 degree angle on each end before welding. Here's a little info about welding: the material I'm removing is called a 'weld prep'. Depending on the type of weld you're doing, this weld preparation is needed to end up with a strong weld.
 

Here is a close up of the weld preparations, which are on both sides. Once you fill the area that has been cut away with filler rod (from welding), I'll machine away any weld that is above my work piece. This insures that the two pieces stay together and end up being nice and strong, despite the weld being flush with the surface of my work piece.
 

While I was machining my door frame above, I looked over at my cardboard mockup and started thinking about the shape of the safe. I thought to myself, "anyone can make a basic box, how about if I do something a little different"? Notice the arrows that don't have a dimension between them any longer. I thought if I added a piece to each corner, at an angle, say 45 degrees, about one inch long each, that might look pretty cool.

What I'm going to do is cut a one inch piece off both of the sides, top and bottom (four pieces in all) right on that vertical line to make the safe look a little.....different....but hopefully a little better. Or unique. Humor me and keep reading....