Here is one I done earlier.
Boxes like Alexandria came in many shapes and sizes for all sorts of uses.
This box started life as a George 6th Cutlery Box a customer brought into me.
He had been doing the auction rounds and had picked up a couple of flint lock pistols in an earlier purchase, a while later he purchased this oak box and asked me to convert it to a lockable pistol box
Cutlery had long gone so I hadn't much of an issue tearing into it, unfortunately so had the key.
Photos 1234 is what it had looked like, photos 567, after I had finished.
Aside from showing off a little, I am making two-three points to confirm my earlier post.
The owner was convinced box was solid oak, nothing oak about it---well the very top of the lid was Oak veneer and the fret work around the escutcheon was oak but that was it, the rest, all oak stained pine, George 6th style.
Solid, Veneer and Stained wood can be difficult to detect with casual glances.
The lock photos I have must be on another HD but from my photo it is very similar to Alexandria's lock. If I recall correctly my lock had and ST stamp on it, without the Viner's name plate, it is easy to assume the lock maker and box manufacture are one and the same, they very-very rarely are but lock stamps can be useful for dating an item and the same can be said of purse. vanity cases mechanism stamps.
In my case the lock was brass, cheaply made, pin riveted, so the lock case couldn't be opened easily and was an odd size when trying to replace it.
In the end I couldn't get the correct size so took lock apart, one lever was bent so made a new lever out of brass and with a bit of filing made an old cupboard key fit and lock perfectly.
I have another which is in my work shop which I am converting to a rifle case for a customer.
It is a great pity in many respects because it started it's life as a surgeons field amputation case, it was in poor condition and is taking a huge amount of restoring and conservation but it will get another life.
