fire fyter box

[raimundo]

I saw a large fire fyter safe, (firebox) that was put out behind a friends apartment bldg, it had a large black plastic number dial and what looked like a really cheap cam lock. I haven't looked at it any closer than that, but would it open from just the cam lock? Does anyone know? It appears to have been abandoned/thown out. I did try the handle and it was locked, but I won't do anymore with it until I talk to my friend again, but I would like some info on this box. Actually it looks pretty cheap construction, probably sheet metal and some sort of fire wall material. I know that trying to manipulate plastic combination tumblers is probably too frustrating to even try, plastic gives less feedback than the brass or nylon rim tumblers in a real safe.

[master in training]

if you mean what i think you mean, you get safe locks that are set up so that as you enter the code with the dial, the arm thing drops more and more into the gaps in the code wheels, then on the last one, the groove is cut different in the wheel and turning the dial actually pulls the locking part and you can then open the door, to lock it again, the dial has to be spun in the opposite direction the same number of times are there are wheels.

this probably isnt what you mean at all and i wont be able to bask in my glory of answering a question you've asked for very long, but oh well!

[HeadHunterCEO]

, plastic gives less feedback than the brass or nylon rim tumblers in a real safe.

but dows it really?

[master in training]

i would assume that in a piece of metal, the molecules are more tightly packed together than in a piece of plastic, hence things travel through it better, like feelings. its the same reason why heat travels along metal better than it does plastic (i know its melts but anyway...).

i may be totally off on this one, but its my guess as to why it happens.

[raimundo]

Two very good posts MiT. go ahead and bask, and as for the firebox, I will have to wait and see if its ok to go ahead and just pick that rediculous lock to see if the door opens. So far, I have only taken a cursory look at the thing and asked my friend who lives in the building to see what he can find out about why its laying behind the building. But if the door opens just from that little cam lock I will be very dissappointed, if fact it someone on this site tells me that is how these types work, I won't have any more intereset in it at all.

[master in training]

yay!

its a shame im not anywhere near you, i'd have bought it off you, but its a bit far

[master in training]

did you find out any more about the box raimundo?

i did a quick search on google but couldnt find much, although saying that i was going out so i didnt look at much! what kind of thing was it?

[raimundo]

I saw it again, there were no answers as to why its out there, but I picked the little cam lock, absolutely no pick resistance, but no result either, it turned 90 degrees and the door didn't open, I guess its done with the big plastic dial. This think has cheap all over it so I doubt I am interested in it any more.

[vector40]

Drill it?

[NKT]

The cam lock probably drives the boltwork, and the dial lock stops it from actually throwing the bolts until both are picked. (i.e. the discs are correctly lined up so the bolts can move back further to clear the door)

I've got one like that, there isn't a safe door handle, just the key and a dial.