Old Safe

by **Exodus5000** » 6 Jun 2004 0:26

My grandfather has an old (probably 50 years old) safe that he forgot the combination to. He's taped it so that it can't close, and I thought I would fiddle around with it a bit (not sure of the brand, as I havn't seen it yet.) I've never worked with a safe before, so it should be some good fun.

I'm assuming the mechanisms would be similar to that of a combo padlock. Hell, since it's so old maybe I can just listen to it with my stethescope and hopefully I can hear the disks working? I realized safes are in the advanced forums, I did a search and couldn't find anything on how to work with them. If anyone feels generous to point me in the right direction I would apreciate it.

by **Exodus5000** » 6 Jun 2004 0:58

Howstuffworks owns the world.
http://www.howstuffworks.com/safecracking.htm
I guess that'll be my plan of attack, *goes to make some graphs*

by **archiebald** » 6 Jun 2004 4:55

Would need to see a picture of it first and we can go from there.

by **Darek84CJ** » 6 Jun 2004 8:16

If its open its very easy to get the combo.
Open the door, remove the plate covering the locking mechanism. You will see all the disks, etc. You should be able to figure it out from there.

by **Varjeal** » 6 Jun 2004 8:17

That's a good point. If the door is already open, deciphering the combination is as easy as taking the cover (if there) off the back of the locking mechanism.

by **Exodus5000** » 6 Jun 2004 14:40

Darek84CJ wrote:If its open its very easy to get the combo.
Open the door, remove the plate covering the locking mechanism. You will see all the disks, etc. You should be able to figure it out from there.

Amazing. I'll do that to find the combo for my grandfather right away, and then i'll try deciphering it as if i didn't know the combo and the door was closed.
wish me luck.

by **Chucklz** » 6 Jun 2004 14:47

Make sure you dont close the door even when you have the combination. If your safe has not been serviced recently (or at all), having the combo may not let you in.

by **HeadHunterCEO** » 7 Jun 2004 16:22

make sure it ain't got an auto locker or two

by **Chucklz** » 7 Jun 2004 16:38

About crazy things in safe doors.... There are tales of tear gas devices in some vault/safe doors. So, if you see a little glass vial of something..... just walk away and call someone.

by **Exodus5000** » 7 Jun 2004 22:12

Deciphered the combination today. didn't take long at all, it wasn't easy taking the plate off the door though. Then i figured it out using the method described on howstuffworks.com. That was the interesting part, and it took me like 2 hours of just playing around to get it. And i managed to do it without burning my eyes out with tear gas

grandpa was impressed, gave me an old padlock and his old trigger lock to mess with.

He described to me a lock he had on his door when he lived in chicago. It required 2 keys to always be inserted into it for it to open, one outside and one in. when you leave the house you leave the key in the inside, when you go to bed you take it out. I've NEVER heard of this type of lock before, anyone know anyhting about it?

by **Chucklz** » 8 Jun 2004 7:14

This sounds like some kind of Lever lock. Any Brits have any ideas?

Good to hear about your safe. If you dont mind, whats the manufacturer of the actual locking mechanism?

by **Exodus5000** » 8 Jun 2004 9:40

I didn't think to look for the brand name, however I was told it was a safe used in his basic training for the US navy in the 1950's.

Old Safe

Old Safe

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