Hi and Welcome to our forum,
Traditionally this forum is a place for folks who enjoy hobby lockpicking and locksmith work, but we have not really been a place the public visits with lock problems. Because it is 2013 and many more people are on the internet than in the last 10 years, folks count on internet sites for answers to every day problems, ranging from home repair, to legal advice, to opening an old safe, and we're right now trying to figure out how lockpicking101.com forum fits in with sites like all.experts.com, Yahoo! Answers, or ChaCha.
Normally, when it comes to member to member interactions, we have some
forum rules which describe what kinds of topics can be talked about here and which sub forum category they best fit into. Normally, because of the sensitive nature of the topics, opening cars, picking ignitions, cracking safes, and bypassing doors using special tools is reserved to our Advanced area where members who have been around a while and have gotten to know everyone are trusted with that information. We would never want it used in the wrong hands, so that's why that area exists.
In the last year or two we have noticed an upturn in the general public visiting here and hoping to use the site in the same terms as Yahoo Answers, and I don't feel the current interface and forum layout allows for that because a lot of folks are in the same boat as you where you buy a house or a relative passes away and you're stuck with a cool old safe and don't really want to pay a locksmith $300-$700 dollars to crack it or drill it for you.
We're trying to figure out how we can be helpful in these situations without sounding dismissive because it doesn't fit with the current forum rules of not talking about safes in the non-Advanced areas of the forum, but each question is unique so it's difficult to have a rule that fits the bill for each person who visits here asking for help.
I hope to have something akin to "Questions from the Public" or "Ask a Locksmith" sub forum this Spring, but for now we don't have that so I'll leave your post up for the next month or so, and perhaps someone here can help you, but I ask that folks send you any instructions via Private Message and don't post specific instructions as a reply to this thread. If you find a solution or someone local to open it for you, please stop by and follow up to the post. In a month's time I will move the post to our Advanced Safe area or to a new Public questions area if we have it ready by then.
Not sure if you have considered this, but perhaps you can put an ad on craigslist with a photo of the safe and say that you can't afford a locksmith to do it for $300, but don't want a cowboy handyman with a drill for $50 bucks either, but if there is a local locksmith or safe technician who would like to try and crack it you would be welcome to the idea. Just a thought.
If you wish to post a photo of it here as well, I'm sure our members would appreciate it, so they know what they're getting into before offering help. The best way to post a photo or two right now is to visit
http://tinypic.com and upload them, then Copy/Paste the address here. A photo of the whole safe, and then a close up of the dial and handle would go a long way in giving you proper advice.
Thanks and good luck with your project,
Squelchtone
Site Admin
