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Thanks for the advice everyone! You guys have been very kind! I updated my location to show that I'm from the denver colorado area. Do any of you have an online supply shop that you recommend for ordering the materials and tooling for this? What do you think about these? http://www.oldwestiron.com/Clavos-Decorative-Nail-Heads-s/118.htm ? These seem to be fairly decorative but they call them nails and not rivets. Do you think they will work or are these something that would be used for a different application? The more I read all of your comments the more I'm thinking I should probably buy a welder. I've never welded...always wanted to...but I was hoping this project would be something I could try and do by hand like they did in the 1800s when this box was made. Part of that is because of the upfront cost but part of it is that I'm fascinated that this work of art could be accomplished by someone who didnt have electricity or power tools and I want to try and step into their shoes. Maybe that's being a little unrealistic given that this is my first project? Anyways, I digress.... Frosty, you make some good points. I may have to look into a proper lock set. I didnt think about fire protection but now I am haha. While I do want this to be functional on its own this will be going inside of my fireproof gun safe. The functionality is just so that it makes me feel good that I built something that works and not something that is decorative. Good tips from everyone. So far my takeaways are: make a cardboard prototype first, consider steel instead of iron, weld it to make it stronger, look into fire protection and a better locking mechanism than a padlock, and get the pieces cut from the material supplier. If anyone is from colorado and wouldnt mind letting me shadow you on a weekend or something please let me know. Thanks!

Hi all, I’m new here and have never done any blacksmithing. I never even considered it until I stumbled across this strongbox during a search for a treasure box. Now I’m obsessed with the idea of building a mini version of it for myself (albeit much simpler). This forum was my first stop. Please forgive all of my ignorance. I know it’s probably painful how little I know. In fact I know absolutely nothing. I’m a machinist by trade so metal doesn’t scare me but I think that is probably about the only benefit that will translate over. Please give me any and all insight you have to guide me through this project. I’m sure mine won’t look anything like this work of art but I want to try my best. For simplicity, I plan to use a padlock rather than their internal lock. I also realize my straps along the edge (is that what they are called? -sorry...newb) will have seams at the corners where theirs seems like one solid piece. I plan for mine to be roughly a 15” square box and probably somewhere around 8” tall. I haven’t mocked it up yet. I won’t be using decorative emblems. I want mine to be a 100% metal exterior, I prefer iron. Here are some initial question is have. 1) what are the components I will need for this? Do I use rivets or what I saw labeled as nails on a Wright iron supply site or are those the same thing? Is the edging called strap like I assume or something entirely different? 2) What thickness iron would you recommend for the panels? I want this to be a decorative and yet fully functional strongbox. It will be housing precious metals and even though it will also be stored in a safe, I want it to be much more than just decoration. I assumed I would use 3/16” or 1/4” thick material so it’s solid. I don’t want to go with flimsy sheet metal. 3) What would be a suitable interior material to protect the contents and how should I fasten it to the iron? 4) what tools will I need for this project? I don’t want to just start buying random blacksmithing tools that I won’t use for this project. I’ll pick up necessary tools for future projects. Again, I’m sorry if my questions are stupid or if I’m in the wrong place. Like I said, this was my first stop in my journey to start this project and hopefully this leads to yet another addiction...my wife will be thrilled haha.