Graffunder / CB900F

[Trent]

Some time ago, we had a big discussion about safes and residential security containers in this thread:

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=703252&highlight=safe

Following up on that thread I ordered a big Graffunder safe from CB900F's outfit.

I took delivery of the 3600 pound monster on Wednesday.



It took about 4 hours to get it in place. And that's with 3 sturdy professionals running the show and me trying to stay the hell out of the way.



The safe itself is .. well, rather stunning. It was the first Graffunder that this particular safe company had ever installed. When the safe technician (who's been published in journals) saw the seam on the door, he said "oh my...". (I think he fell in love)

You can't slide a credit card in to the seam of the door. (Or in this case, my NRA card.)



The safe itself weighed in at over 3600 pounds. With that weight, and being lagged to the rebar reinforced floor, it would take a tank to pull it out.



The door weighs probably 800-1,000 pounds. These hinges are massive.



But it opens effortlessly. Well, once you get it moving, that is! The thickness of the steel is impressive. 1" thick steel door.



1/2" thick exterior body with a 3/16" inner lining (which is thicker than the OUTER shell on most commercial residential security containers..)



The interior was custom built; but I won't show it - forgot to get a "before" picture, and now it's full of my "stuff".

Overall, I'm extraordinarily happy with the build, with CB900F for providing such excellent guidance through the entire process. He really did make it hassle free.

1000% recommend them.

 

[CB900F]

Trent;

Thank you very much for the post, I truly appreciate it!

Fella's, please note the picture immediately above; the thumb and first finger are on the frame of the safe. That thickness of solid plate steel is what the bolts of the unit are locking up behind, not bent sheet metal. Look carefully at the lock-up point on the next RSC you have the chance to inspect. You're going to see a significant difference in strength due to the structural differences between bent sheet metal and solid plate steel.

Yeah, the Graffunder's are more expensive, but YGWYPF!

900F

 

[guggep]

Very Nice

 

[CTGunner]

That's really something. Congatulations.

 

[Reloadron]

Graffunder, you get what you pay for! As to CB900F? I love reading his post when it comes to safes. Congratulations on owning the best!

Ron

 

[TXdefender]

Awesome. Looks just like mine. That pickup in the picture looks like it wants to scream for help! Lol.

 

[rondog]

OK, so for us poor slobs that can only dream of buying a cheap safe, what did that monster cost? Sure, they're the best, and "you get what you pay for" (God, I hate that saying), but what was the price? If you're gonna show it off at least tell the cost too so we can really be jealous!

I need a big safe in a bad way, but a $2000 Liberty is just a pipe dream. I'd love to have a new pickup too.....hell, I'd love to have a new stereo for my old truck. Or a new windshield.

 

[Trent]

OK, so for us poor slobs that can only dream of buying a cheap safe, what did that monster cost? Sure, they're the best, and "you get what you pay for" (God, I hate that saying), but what was the price? If you're gonna show it off at least tell the cost too so we can really be jealous!

I need a big safe in a bad way, but a $2000 Liberty is just a pipe dream. I'd love to have a new pickup too.....hell, I'd love to have a new stereo for my old truck. Or a new windshield.

Safe cost somewhere around 7k (don't have the paper handy, was Feb when I ordered it so don't recall the exact amount.)

It cost me $2400 to have a local locksmith bring it out, install, and set the combination; cost $1400 for the cross country shipping.

Installing it myself was NOT an option. It took some pretty specialized tools (and big strapping dudes) to move it.

 

[rondog]

Thank you Trent! Most people wouldn't have given that info up. That's waaaaayyyy too rich for my poor blood, but I'm envious and glad you can afford it! I don't even think the slab in my garage could hold the weight.

 

[Trent]

Don't be envious. Yes, I've been fortunate financially. But my work comes with a massive amount of stress. Most of the time I'm too tired or too busy to enjoy life.

What free time I do get I spend fishing, gardening, reloading, or shooting. I prefer those simple things, they relax me. (fishing and gardening are both very cheap hobbies, $ per hour wise.. reloading and shooting not so much..)

 

[USBP379]

You bolted this to a post tension slab?

Sent from my Torque using Tapatalk 2

 

[Trent]

You bolted this to a post tension slab?

What's a post tension slab?

 

[ApacheCoTodd]

The safe's nice, thanks for posting. What really caught my eye though is that nifty cart/lift thing being used to move it. Do you have any more pictures of that unit?

 

[CB900F]

Apache;

The Rol-A-Lift lifts are produced by Skarnes Inc, Minneapolis MN (800)752-7637. We have them here at our shop. They are simply very heavy duty piano rollers. In other words two independant units that need to be strapped together.

900F

 

[Jim Watson]

The vendor who delivered my less impressive, but still too big to manhandle, RSC has a neat little trailer that appeared to be purpose built for the job. It would not accommodate anything bigger than a gun safe but it has the load rating to handle the mass of steel. It has a lower and tilt function to get the ramp on the ground. They used an industrial type pallet skid to move it from trailer to house, big panels of smooth sheet metal to get across doorsills and protect the floor, and some educated application of big pry bars to ease it off the pallet.

I can just watch people work all day.

 

[Trent]

The trailer shown was hydraulic. It lowers all the way to the ground (the entire trailer bed can be lowered to just a couple inches off the ground).

Of course, my back yard has a gentle slope to it so there was plenty of lumber used underneath to get it level when it was dropped.

The handcarts used to roll it in were strapped together, as CB900 mentioned. They operated like a hydraulic jack; the level of the item could be raised / lowered via a hydraulic cylinder, just like a car jack.

Once it was rolled in, they jacked up both sides, slid wood underneath, then let it out slow on to the wood.

Then came steel bars, and it was lowered on to the steel bars and moved the final few inches.

Then a big lever was used to remove the steel bars. The lever was about 6' long, big metal lip on the bottom end, that went under the safe; two big guys hanging off the end of it to lift the thing a quarter inch.

The fun part came when we discovered my slab wasn't perfectly level/even.

That's where the door plates came in. (He had a box of them in various thicknesses, just household door plates...) The safe was leveled, then the locking lug drilling...then done.

 

[ApacheCoTodd]

Apache;

The Rol-A-Lift lifts are produced by Skarnes Inc, Minneapolis MN (800)752-7637. We have them here at our shop. They are simply very heavy duty piano rollers. In other words two independant units that need to be strapped together.

900F

Gracias, and TRENT - thanks for that post #16. Door plates, go figure?!?

 

[a1abdj]

Here is a photo of my Rol-A-Lifts in action. Truthfully, I despise the things. They are very handy for a few things, but a real pain for others. I use custom pallet jacks 99% of the time.



As far as trailers go, we run all three of the most popular units. Our small trailer is a Safe Chariot, our medium trailer (shown in the photo above) is a JLG Triple L that lowers to the ground, and our large trailer (the big brother of the trailer shown in the OP's post) is a gooseneck Lift A Load. The nice thing about these trailers is that they raise above travel height, as well as sit down on the ground.

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[Fred Fuller]

Wow. Just ... wow. That's impressive.

The whole thread is impressive. Thanks for sharing it...

 

[xxjumbojimboxx]

I think for the 10k you put into that safe you'd have been able to pour a concrete bunker with a heavy steel door in your backyard.... That would be preferable

 

[rondog]

I think for the 10k you put into that safe you'd have been able to pour a concrete bunker with a heavy steel door in your backyard.... That would be preferable

Preferable? Certainly! 10K? I'd be amazed.....

 

[CB900F]

Fella's;

For 10K? Not gonna happen. A vault door built to the same specs as the safe, custom sized to the opening, not significantly less expensive than the safe. Because neither concrete forming or cutting is an exact science, we strongly suggest having the door built to the opening. When you're dealing with something the size & weight of a C level vault door, having problems installing it is not a pleasant situation to be in.

900F

 

[Trent]

I think for the 10k you put into that safe you'd have been able to pour a concrete bunker with a heavy steel door in your backyard.... That would be preferable

HAH! No, 10k won't cover that project.

I've already drawn up the budget - just the CONCRETE pour will cost $13,800 on the vault. (8" thick rebar walls & ceiling; 8' high x 10' deep x 16' long).

Then there's structural work, HVAC (very tricky), plumbing reroute, electrical, security, comm wiring (in case it's used as a shelter and the house lands on it), siding (so it looks like, well, not a bunker), etc...

THEN you get the vault door expense. Which is a complex enough logistics issue to spec, order, build, and ship that it's damn near a separate project all on it's own.

No, the vault is still planned, but it's waiting until next year to start.

 

[cyclopsshooter]

This is cool! Graffunder! Your safe was welded together by my buddy! Congrats on a really good safe!

 

[xxjumbojimboxx]

I have a hard time believing you couldn't weld together some rebar, and pour a concrete box with a steel hatch for 10 k. You could dig the hole youd need with a shovel over the course of a long grueling weekend.