Old Project Revisited - Woodworking Talk

GeorgeC · 03-25-2009, 10:59 PM

I made this file cabinet for my daughter about 21 years ago. She had just graduated college and was moving to Dallas for her first job.

What is unusual is that this "file cabinet" is designed to be fire resistant and also has a safe built in.

Not long after we moved here where I was assigned to Eglin AFB, the old Base Exchange burned down. This building was built in the 1940's out of heart pine and it did burn. Unfortunately for my wife and I we had two rolls of film that had been processed and printed and waiting for us to pick up. Somebody found those prints after the fire. It turns out that the container where the BX kept prints was made of hard pressed particle board. This particle board does not readily burn and our prints were saved.

This file cabinet is lined in 3/4 particle board for it's fire retardent properties.

The other unusual thing is that this cabinet contains a safe. I bought 3/16" cold rolled steel for the box and 1/4" steel for the door. The steel fabrication shop made this "safe" to the size that I had mesured would bit in the bottom of the left side of the cabinet. I used two high security, round keyed locks to make this steel box as secure as I could.

This cabinet is HEAVY. When the movers came it was all that two of them could do to get it onto the moving van.

The right side of the cabinet is just two standard sized file drawers.

George