Affordable way to get into safe manipulation?

[spoonzor]

Awhile back I was in a shop selling safes, playing with some of the merchandise I noticed I could clearly feel the gates on most of those safes, so I want to learn more about that. The problem is those safes cost a bunch of money... Any tips how to obtain affordable practice material for this field? Or is it just a wildly expensive hobby?

With most of the locks, I buy them, play with them for a couple of weeks and after that I know the lock so well that I have to move on, but doing that with safes is breaking my budget...

[femurat]

you don't need the whole safe, just the lock... mount it on a piece of plywood and you're ready to spin
it's not a cheap hobby.
you may find cheaper used locks on ebay.

cheers

[MBI]

you don't need the whole safe, just the lock... mount it on a piece of plywood and you're ready to spin
it's not a cheap hobby.
you may find cheaper used locks on ebay.

cheers

Yep. I just buy used safe locks off ebay and from members here and on other lock forums. Although in your case, shipping might get costly sending stuff over to Thailand.

[Dogrocket]

Not sure about Thailand, but in the US Craigslist seems to have a few "Old Safe free if you remove it" every couple of weeks (It won't cost any money now, but plan on paying the chiropractor later).

They usually have a little scrap value - it might be worth checking with local junkyards.

[mechanical_nightmare]

I am also thinking about learning this art, along with lever lock picking, for which I am gathering locks and tools at the moment. Does anyone have a good source for cutaway combination locks?

[Squelchtone]

I am also thinking about learning this art, along with lever lock picking, for which I am gathering locks and tools at the moment. Does anyone have a good source for cutaway combination locks?

$160 for S&G 6730 cutaway on a plastic stand, Lockmasters sells it to professionals with an account... You can find them on ebay for $95 once in a while...

OR, buy an S&G 6730 on ebay for $30-50 bucks and use a hack saw to make it a cutaway.

As someone learning manipulation right now, a cutaway is only useful to grasp the interaction of parts, to learn dialing order, or to get an idea visually what the different noises and feels actually represent while turning the dial. Once you understand how the wheels line up and how the nose, fence, lever, and bolt work together, you will actually prefer to have a normal uncut safe lock body for manipulation practice because it ruins the fun and challange of manipulating if you happen to see the state of the wheelpack because you happen to be practicing on a cutaway lock.

I put masking tape over my cutaway while practicing, but eventually got more safe locks that I no longer have to do that. I still have my cutaways, and they're great for showing friends the concept of how a safe lock works. Everyone immediately gets it and it makes for a great conversation piece on your desk.

The take away here: cutaway safe lock will not teach you how to manipulate, but it is a cool way of learning how the parts inside all work together. buy new cutaway for $160 or buy safe lock on ebay for $30-$50 and cut lock body and cover with hacksaw and make your own cut-a-way.

A LaGard 3330 cutaway is also available from locksmith suppliers, usually for $80 bucks

Happy manipulating!
Squelchtone

[mechanical_nightmare]

Wow, Squelchtone, that was a very informative and detailed post, thank you. After thinking about it I would rather get a used S&G from ebay and cut it away myself. I already have a pretty good understanding of how they work from studying LSS, but I think that seeing a cutaway will help alot, as it helped me with SPP, even though I theoretically knew the concept behind it.

[spoonzor]

Thanks for the tips!