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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2016
    Posts
    1
    Country: United States

    Default Need help identifying safe!

    Hello AL community.
    Recently, a higher up in management had an old safe moved down into the main entrance of the admin building at my work, she said if we could open it, we could have whatever was inside. We tried movie tricks like using a stethoscope and listening for "clicks", but its such an old lock, its hard to differentiate clicks from rubbing, and resistance from friction of the dial. I tried lock manipulation, but had no such luck, as i dont even know the combination sequence. Like, left, right, left, or how many wheels are in the system. So i figured id start with the obvious, the safe manufacturer; only problem is, it doesnt say anywhere on the safe, just a serial number on the dial.

    So, heres my question to the antique lock community, who made this safe, what kind of lock does it have, and what sequence do i input the numbers? Thank you all so much for any help!
    Last edited by fireguy5oh; 24-01-16 at 06:11 AM. Reason: adding pictures

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Location
    Seattle WA
    Posts
    1,327
    Country: United States

    Default

    http://www.antique-locks.com/showthr...-to-your-posts

    You might find this link helpful.

    Dial diagnostics is where I would start. How many wheels, are they moving as the should, are the contacts clear or crisp. Does the dial have bind at all and can I correct this? A fair amount of training goes into the start of the job before you even think of true manipulation. Once you have a known working lock that has good feedback then it can be time consuming to do a manipulation unless you are one of those sickos that do it all day every day. Somewhere on the east coast of the USA is a person that can do most safes in under an hour.... totally sickening, but he has the talent and the practice.

    So once we have a few pictures we might be able to help with what you are looking at. We might not be much help on the opening as that really takes someone in front of the safe with the skills and tools to do the job. This is why they made safes.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Posts
    1,485
    Country: United States

    Default

    As you probably have found out, Hollywood depictions of safecracking are almost always pure fiction. Safe locks old and new are specifically designed to be difficult to crack; that's their job.

    A nice introduction to safe locks: http://www.crypto.com/papers/safelocks.pdf

    It's also been observed that very nearly every safe of this kind (open it and you get the contents) yields paper clips and dentures. But there is the challenge and mystery!

    While I'm concerned about seeing safe manipulation being discussed in an open forum, at least in any detail, you can probably Google it.

    As you alluded to, just knowing the proper dialing sequence can be important. The experts here can probably help once they see pictures.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Location
    St. Louis (63031), Missouri
    Posts
    69
    Country: United States

    Default

    fireguy,
    Age is apparently relative, and you must be relatively young, as most safes do not have serial numbers on the dial. If it does, you are probably looking at a Sentry. It is very unlikely that knowing who made it will get you in. With all due respect for your intelligence, the idea that you will learn the dialing sequence, and then manipulate the lock open is... Lets assume she is serious about the offer. Ask her if you can load it in your trunk, and treat it like the fax machine on the movie "Office Space". She probably just wants to know who will be the first to come up and ask her what the combination is... Honestly, if it were that easy to open a safe, every schmuck would be doing it.
    Good luck ;-)

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