Forgot how to dial the combination on that old safe? Think you got the right numbers but the handle is stuck? What safe should you buy? Ask your safe questions here!
Forum rules You are posting this in This Old Safe, a public area of the forum.
Safe manipulation discussion is allowed, but safe drilling or other destructive entry is only allowed in the Advanced - Safes and Safe Locks area.
If you are a guest of the forum and have a safe you need to open, but you do not have the combination, we cannot tell you how or where to drill it.
So it is in some ways similar to the Sezam lock. Enter the combinations on each of the four areas, then use the key. No need to dial until it stops on the Sezam. But the same in that unless the correct combination is entered, the key feels like it is the wrong key, right?
Still think that the lever part of your lock would be much more difficult to pick than the open keyway and simple pin tumblers of the Sezam.
Jealous of that safe! Very sweet.
Gordon
Just when you finally think you have learned it all, that is when you learn that you don't know anything yet.
Yes it is similar to your sezam lock. Once I re assemble the locks I'll try to use the key with the wrong combo and see if I can feel what happens if I dial the combos.
Today I sanded the heads of a couple machine screws. The previous owner forced them to open the lock cover and left some marks and deformed the slots. I sanded them with 1000 grit sandpaper and then polished the screw head. You can see the progress in the picture above. Untouched screw, sanded, polished a little, polished. Now I'm wondering if I need to get them chromed again. Do you think they'll rust if I don't chrome them?
Yes. The round knob inside the door must be rotated 180 degrees. There are only 2 positions so when you open the door you rotate the knob until it stops. Then you can choose the new combo. The red dots won't move. The inner rods will move. There are 20 possible positions for each disk. Once you've set the new combo you can rotate the inner knob back to its original position. The inner and outer parts of the rotors will be connected again.
Everything will be clear once I manage to show some pictures and maybe a video.
I used a flat needle file to remove the burrs from the slot and then spent some more time with fine sandpaper to remove the file marks. Once I was satisfied I gave them a good buff. Now they look definitely better. By looking at the non threaded stem I think they were plated but I'm not sure. Let's see how good are the other parts of the lock once I clean them. If they're good, I may keep the screws like this. I'll apply some car body wax and use them like this. I can easily remove them and get them plated later, chrome or nichel. If something else needs to be plated, I'll plate everything.
So here is the safe, unaware of its destiny, patiently waiting for me in the garage for more than one year. I was a bit nervous but went ahead and started to disassemble it. Unfortunately I still don't know what was this safe original color. I was not able to find pictures of similar safes. It seems that someone spray painted it green. Then someone else gave an artistic finish with silver and brownish colors over the green.
I took everything but the safe itself and brought it to my workbench. The old combo was 1952, probably the birth year of the previous owner. I've already changed it.
I'll clean the boltwork parts with a rag. Then I'd like to apply a thick layer of car body wax. I like it more than oil and I hope that it will prevent them from rusting. Any suggestion?
Then I have to find the courage to disassemble the key lock and the combo lock. They scare me. I'm worried that I'll never be able to reassemble them, since I have never seen anything like these before. But I'll be brave and do it, some day.
I'm still waiting for the body shop call about the safe body being painted.
Sandblast? I hope I'll be able to clean it with a rag. I'll need some solvent to remove the green paint someone accidentally sprayed on the lock while painting the safe. But I have access to a small sandblasting box so it may be an option. I'll have to change the material because now there's some aggressive silica sand in it.
I'd like to know more about this safe history. But my search for old info in French didn't give good results.
Sandblasting the lock is not necessary, it's still quite good. Cleaning it is giving perfect results for me.
I started disassembling the lock to clean it and to see how it works. A small flat head screwdriver is all I needed.
Nothing to worry about till now. Then I started to be a bit worried but went ahead anyway. This is the lock core. It was quite easy to remove it from the lock assembly.
Now I expected flying springs but luckily they didn't. The levers are under light spring pressure so I managed to keep them in place by simply wrapping my hand around the steel cover while I removed it. Then I immediately put them in a small plastic box with compartments because I didn't want to loose any.
I've put a rubber band around the 8 levers to keep them up and show you the cuts. Keep in mind they're upside down. Usually they can't be pushed out because there's the steel cup around the plug, and the springs keep them pushed towards the lock center.
Here is a video I made to show how the key interacts with the levers and how the plug and the lock plate work together.
Here is the lock after I cleaned it with a toothbrush and some car body polish. Then I wiped it with a clean rag and a clean toothbrush. This lock isn't damaged or rusted so I don't think it needs more work.
I'm wondering if I need to apply some lithium grease to protect the steel surface of the lock. Since it rubs against the big cup that contains it, I think it'll need some grease over there. Do I need to oil or grease the levers too? They're in contact with brass that I'm not willing to oil or grease. As far as I know brass doesn't need oil or grease. Suggestions are welcome about this, because I'd like to reassemble the lock before going on with the restoration of other parts.
Simple and still genius on how that functions! No wonder it is still working, and good luck with forcing it. Am I correct in thinking that if you were to 'overlift' the levers, they would push out the slots too far and block rotation?
Gordon
Just when you finally think you have learned it all, that is when you learn that you don't know anything yet.
Yep, if you push the levers too much they'll start binding on the slots of the outer raised cylinder. And they may also act as a drum brake on the inner walls of what I call cup for lack of a better term. I haven't tried to pick it before disassembling it. Now that I know how it works I'm quite confident it will be easy! As long as you don't overlift the levers, since there are no false gates, it should be a straight forward pick. Obviously I'll be proved wrong
The safe body has been painted and is sitting on my work bench. It looks very nicely done to me. It's medium grey by Fiat number 653. I've been told its the colour of the old Fiat 500 Topolino.
