I'm new, please don't hurt me...

[rolledwave]

A coworker moved into an office with an old freestanding safe that has been locked for years, with the combination long since lost. We speculated about getting it open, and I volunteered to "look into it".

Should I:

a) Get a stethoscope and pretend to be James Bond, and end up looking stupid because I have no idea what I'm doing?

b) Get a hammer and a punch, knock the dial off, drive the punch through the spindle, then look stupid for destroying a cool looking old safe that may or may not open?

c) Staart drilling and hope for the best?

[Ryzom]

I don't actually know a whole lot about safe cracking, its rather different than lockpicking but in the same ball park nonetheless.

My theory is that I have to master something before I move onto something else.

Anyway if no one else has any ideas this may be a good book to look into, I started with books for lockpicking.
http://www.lockpicks.com/product.asp?0=212&1=251&3=184
its a book for safecracking techniques. *shrug*
Hope that is at least a little helpful.

[randmguy]

I vote for :

d) look everywhere for a model/serial # and contact the manufacturer.

Unless someone has had the combination reset the manufacturer can get you in. Drilling and chisels are both going give you a great idea of what its like to beat your head against a wall. I recently reinstalled a medium sized (3'dx3'wx4.5'h) safe that was built in 1922. Someone jimmied the door on the cashiers office at the student center and decided to open it by taking it to a 3rd floor balcony and tossing it off onto the concrete. Results: 4in. concrete pad broken, 2 foot deep hole and several small dents and scratches. There's a reason they always show them blowing them up in the old westerns.

[zeke79]

call your local locksmith, he may be able to open it himself or refer you to someone who can. A locksmith in my area does safework and charges between 80 and 125 dollars to open a safe and provide you with a combination.

[Chucklz]

If you have to ask these questions, especially the part about "I have no idea what I'm doing?" I STRONGLY suggest you get a SAVTA (or equivalent organisation in your part of the world) affiliated technician to work on the safe for you. Old safes may contain relockers that you may fire by pounding on it too hard, or drilling in the wrong place....and again that depends entirely on your safe. And as an absolute final word of caution, some safes may be equipped with a tear gas vial inside the door to thwart drilling/punching attacks. Definately not something you want to get into, as some of the contents are severly unfriendly to living tissues. This PROBABLY was NOT installed in your safe, but depending on its age/make/previous owners could be a possibility. If the safe contains even a bit of hardplate, I can almost guarantee that you lack the equipment to effectively drill through it.

[marso]

Call a locksmith. Or do some googling.

[rolledwave]

The boss won't spend money on what is almost certainly an empty box, so a qualified locksmith is out. I was hoping the stethoscope method was the most viable, but I'm afraid I don't understand the concept of plotting a graph to arrive at the magic numbers. Thanks for the tip on the book, it looks like a good start. Can someone chime in on the stethoscope method until it arrives?

[Chucklz]

what about the graphing method do you not understand?

[rolledwave]

I hate to admit it, but I don't understand any of it. I thought I just needed to determine whether I should be turning left or right, listen for tumblers to click, and that was it. I suppose if it was that simple, it would defeat the purpose of having a safe at all. Can someone spell out the graph method, or point me in the direction of an explanation geared toward someone who has never done it?

PS- I'm researching the model/serial # as well, good tip.

[CitySpider]

Can someone chime in on the stethoscope method until it arrives?

Just wait for it. You're right; if you don't know what you're doing, and probably even if you do, you're just going to look and feel like an idiot.

[Chucklz]

Dont be discouraged if it takes a good long while to open that safe up. Manipulation contests often have average times for beginners at 90 minutes. I would suggest takign a few good pictures of pretty much everything on the outside of the safe, and then trying to find out if you have an especially valuable antique safe. If so, the last thing you want to do is damage it in any way.

[hurri]

I would vote for the stethoscope...If you still have problem with that please contact me...I think I have a PDF file about safe cracking...

[Omikron]

I would vote for the stethoscope...If you still have problem with that please contact me...I think I have a PDF file about safe cracking...

Wow...it takes a certain kind of talent to drudge up a 2.5 year old post...

That said, I'm just going to give all of the newer folk a friendly reminder that safe manipulation discussion is one of the topics restricted to the advanced forums.

[devildog]

Well, I've found that when that's asked about the best thing to do is refer them to Matt Blaze's paper, which tells them everything they want to know, including step-by-step how to manipulate a standard Group 2 mechanical safe lock open, and it does it without violating any rules. So, for any newbs that see this, here ya go:

http://www.crypto.com/papers/safelocks.pdf

[Raccoon]

I just found a new obsession. I want a collection of mounted safe dials like those shown in the aforementioned write-up.