The manufacture of a safe

Large, heavy, square. At first glance, a relatively simple object that doesn’t look too complicated. But you could be wrong, because its task is a mighty one. This is precisely why precision work, high quality and constant innovation are of the utmost importance in the manufacture of our Swiss Made safes.

To make it clear from the outset: Unfortunately, this will not be a construction manual. But it will give you an insight behind the scenes of our production.

Welding and armouring

The construction of a safe starts with its skeleton. The steel plates are welded together according to our construction plans and then filled with the armouring material. Depending on the security level of the safe, not only the thickness of the steel changes, but also the thickness of the armouring and its composition. Ultimately, everything together ensures that the safe can withstand even the greatest loads.

The safe body

Good things take time. An old saying that holds so much truth — even if we sometimes don’t like to hear it. Despite all the truth, we don’t want to strain our customers’ patience unnecessarily. That’s why we always have a few safe deposit boxes in all sizes available in our warehouse so that we can start customising them as soon as we receive an order. The lead time for a safe order is therefore usually just 4 to 6 weeks.

Level out

What is that good for? Well, in order to achieve an even finish when painting, all irregularities, no matter how small, must be levelled out with special polyester filler. This is the only way to give the surface its beautiful, even appearance. For high-gloss safes in particular, which look like a mirror, professional levelling is the decisive prerequisite for a top result.

Incidentally, the gaps between the safe body and the safe door are kept to a minimum: This is primarily not for visual reasons but to prevent attack tools from being applied. The appearance is therefore merely a side effect of a security-relevant aspect.

Varnish

A change of scenery! Not in the NASA training room, however, but in our paint booth. Admittedly, the outfit comes pretty close to that of an astronaut and without the protective clothing it could well happen that time and space are forgotten when inhaling the vapours. After priming, the colour and finally the texture or, optionally, a clear varnish is applied to the safe. For an even result, this process requires speed and a high degree of precision. At the same time, patience is also required, as the previous layer always has to harden before the next one can be applied.

Polishing to a high gloss

Polishing — on a grand scale. It takes a lot for a high-gloss safe to achieve its final appearance and for the observer to be reflected in its surface: a lot of time, a lot of patience, a lot of sandpaper and a lot of polishing agent. To achieve the maximum gloss, the entire safe is gradually sanded with increasingly fine-grained sandpaper in several passes. However, this time-consuming process is well worth it for the impressive end result!

Finishing

You might think we’ve almost reached the end. In fact, there is still quite a lot missing for the safe to fulfil its full range of functions. In the final stage of production, the mechanical parts, such as the boltwork and the locking bars, as well as the electronic parts are installed and connected together. What follows is the chrome steel interior. It is not only made of this material for visual reasons, but is also prescribed in the standard for certification in accordance with EN 1143–1. Last but not least comes what we consider to be the most beautiful part: the installation of the customised interior fittings. This is how we breathe life into the safe and prepare it for its future.

Packaging and delivery

Speaking of the future: we have no idea about the future of the safe during the entire production process. For reasons of discretion and security, only numbers and no names are listed on our documents.

To ensure that the safe arrives undamaged at its new home, it is now being packed and will then be stored in our warehouse until it is delivered.