It’s amazing the difference a few months, some hard work and a little care can make for a safe that’s believed to be at least 80 years old.
Yancey Hagel at Cactus Auto Body started restoring a safe that used to belong to the Estevan Mercury a few months ago. The safe was built by the J & J Taylor Safe Company, and was at one time located in a Mercury office at the intersection of Sixth Street and 13th Avenue that is now the site for Fast Gas.
The safe was found earlier this year in the basement of Gibby’s Pub, and the years had taken their toll. The paint was badly eroded away, a hole had been cut into the top of the safe, and the words “The Mercury” at the top of the safe were barely visible.
Hagel began his restoration work in May, then took the summer off. He resumed his efforts a few weeks ago, taking time out of his evenings and weekends to work on the project, and by the time he spoke with the Mercury on Friday morning, he had finished the bulk of the work.
He estimates he has spent about 40 hours on the project.
“I’m super happy with it,” Hagel told the Mercury. “It turned out really well. It’s art now, it’s so nice.”
Everybody who has seen the finished product is amazed with how it turned out.
“A lot of guys would like to have it for their man caves and their shops,” he said. “It would really add to their decor, but it’s going to my own.”
Hagel said this marked the first time he has restored a safe, and he might do another one in the future, since this one turned out so well.
“People are asking me if I want some of their safes, and a couple of people already want to give me some more,” said Hagel. “But I’m a pretty busy guy, working on cars and bikes and stuff.”
He said is used to projects like this, and compared the restoration work to the auto body work done at Cactus.
To restore the Mercury safe, Hagel said he needed to determine the combination, which he did through Google and some research. There was also a mechanism that had to be located, which he did with the assistance of a friend from Calgary who was in the Canadian Forces.
He found pictures online of how the safe would have looked many years ago, and used those photos for his restoration efforts.
“The rest was just basic grinding,” said Hagel. “I had to weld a hole up in the top where somebody had cut a hole in it. I had to fix that. I just had to do lots of body work on it, and priming and painting.”
There is one difference on the interior. Hagel added a sign that says the safe was painted by Cactus Auto Body for the inside of the door.
“They always did something very cool on those doors, so it would have had something like the Mercury sign,” said Hagel.
He still has some woodwork remaining for inside the safe. Shelves and wooden walls need to be installed and varnished, so that the interior will look as good as the outside.
“I know what it’s supposed to look like, because I have seen a few others,” said Hagel.
The safe represents a piece of Estevan’s history, he said, and people can relate to it. He’s pleased that it is now back to this condition, and that anyone who would have seen it many years ago when it was used by the Mercury would be able to recognize it.
Hagel said he would be keeping the safe at his garage at home, where he keeps his cars and other items he has restored.
