Chubb Book Room Door Safe

This job took us back in time—working on a stunning Chubb Book Room Door safe from the early 1900s. The builders had unfortunately lost both original keys, and with no replacements available for such a historic piece, the only option was to hand-cut a new one.

Under normal circumstances, crafting a key by hand would take around two hours. However, this safe required extra care: the door pan had to be removed, and each handmade bolt carefully numbered to ensure everything went back in its original order. With the help of fellow safe engineer Dave Kneafsey, we delicately removed the pan, taking special care not to damage the surrounding marble tiles.

Inside, we found the original Chubb 7-lever lock—no longer manufactured and irreplaceable. Bit by bit, lever by lever, a master key was hand-crafted. Once perfected, a second key was machine-cut for convenience. Both keys were tested and worked flawlessly.

After reassembling the door pan and reinstalling the bolts in their correct sequence, the safe was fully operational once again. It was a satisfying result, but a costly reminder: always keep track of your keys, especially when dealing with irreplaceable heritage safes!

Safebusters saved the day, our expert Safe Engineer