Combo lock on antique safe seized or safety triggered

[atozede2002]

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Hi, hoping someone can help. We have an antique safe, pics attached here (hopefully), the dial says "IHS Cincinnatti OH", belonged to my great grandfather, company long gone as it dates to about 1920 or so. We have the combination, which is complicated, and we've been able to open it in the past. The problem is my elderly mom fiddled with it one too many times and now it's seized up, the dial doesn't turn, the handle either. She had tried it five times, so I'm guessing this is a built in safety trip. I've seen silly advice like "kick it a few times". Any advice. No locksmith in our area, as we're in a really rural place, nearest locksmith 1 hr away.

I'm guessing we'll have to call in someone from out of town, we don't want to drill it.

[Squelchtone]

It may be worn or was never stamped well, but your dial says T H S (The Hall's Safe) Company.

Here is a 1925 ad listing their Po Box 846 in Cincinnati.




Your safe is probably unlocked, but the bolt work is stuck. try pressing hard against the door at the top left, middle left and bottom left to relieve the pressure on the door bolts, then whack the handle downwards on each side with a mallet a few times, and see if the handle turns, or if the dial allows you to spin it again in either direction.

Do your dialing instructions mention turning the dial to 0 as a last step before turning the handle?

I do not believe there a built in safety trip where it locks you out after so many incorrect tries. More than likely something metal inside is rubbing against some other metal and needs a little TLC to loosen it up.

There is something called a relocker inside the lock, which would block the door from opening in the event someone smashed the dial and knocked the guts of the lock inside the safe, but that does not seem to be the case here. Has the safe been on it's back recently or been rolled or moved by truck? If the combination wheels were not secured, there is a chance the wheel pack fell out and that would certainly seize up the dial next time it was turned to a certain number.


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[GWiens2001]

+1 on bound bolts. Possible that something shifted when the door was being closed and maybe some paper fell down near the bolt hole and bound it, or a paper clip is wedged between the door and the frame.

Worst case, if the inner door panel is removed and something fell into the boltwork.

Squelchtone's suggestions for pressing the left side of the door and/or using a dead blow mallet to knock the door while turning the door handle are sound suggestions.

Gordon

[00247]

I'll throw my two cents of mud into the murky pool of locked safe solutions.

Squelch or Gordon, do you know what style lock this is? Maybe Martin or Bitbuster will chime in. Does this lock have a gravity fence either from the top or bottom? By the looks of the handle the bolt work seems to be in the fully extended position. My guess is that there is a fence issue where the fence is blocking the movement of the bolt work but is into the wheel pack just enough to jamb the dial. I would try jiggling the handle and or dial while wrapping on the door hoping to have the fence move. I sold my very similar Halls safe last summer so I can't go out and look.

These Halls safes can have the hinge bolts (hidden as they are bolted from the inside) loosen causing the door to sag. This safe has had this problem because the hinges have been welded. So there could be a door alignment issue. The safe has been painted so we don't know if it has been drilled before. It may have been drilled into the fence, the fence repaired and it may have an alignment issue. Seeing those welded hinges makes anything possible...

To the OP. Does anyone remember if the inner panel is on the back of the door? Halls usually have flowers painted on the panel or the company name painted there. If it was missing, something could be stuck in the bolt work. What is your combination dialing procedure? Is the number where the dial is stuck close to the last number? Does the dial wiggle back and forth a bit or is is stuck firm and won't move at all?

Kick it a few times, silly advise? Might be just what the safe needs. Back in the day a good swift kick in the ass straitened out many unruly kids. lol And who remembers whacking the old tube TVs to get them to work?

[GWiens2001]

In the Marine Corps, they referred to it as “Percussive Maintenance”. And it works.

Gordon

[stratmando]

2 more cents. Not a Safe Tech, but checked one out, Correct number dialed, fence dropped at 95. Wouldn't move the Bolt. It had a 2937 and a Relocker, [ADMIN EDIT: This is not the Advanced area. Squelchtone removed comments about drilling and punching - please check your Private Message from me]

[MartinHewitt]

Squelch or Gordon, do you know what style lock this is? Maybe Martin or Bitbuster will chime in. Does this lock have a gravity fence either from the top or bottom? By the looks of the handle the bolt work seems to be in the fully extended position. My guess is that there is a fence issue where the fence is blocking the movement of the bolt work but is into the wheel pack just enough to jamb the dial. I would try jiggling the handle and or dial while wrapping on the door hoping to have the fence move. I sold my very similar Halls safe last summer so I can't go out and look.

It should have a straight tailpiece fence lock with three wheels. The driver should have 9 false gates and is in front. With this lock there is a relocker installed, which blocks movement of the bolt work if released. Loose screws with the wheel pack falling of or forgetting to install it would be hence quite bad.