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I bought this safe at auction and would like to open it without damaging it so I can reuse it.
There are no identifying markings on the safe other than a serial number on the dial.

I haven't been wrong yet......today. I think your safe may be a Victor and here is why I think this: 1) shape of handle and nut. 2) handle is slightly higher than dial. 3) shape of finials. 4) L-shaped hinges.
If it is a victor, the lock will be a Yale L2. I haven't been wrong yet......today!

Rodger that thank you Bitbuster!! I will dig into it and let you know what I'm able to confirm.
I have been pulling out why little hair I have left trying to figure it out.lol

If it is a Yale L2, I do believe those are friction fence locks. If you are new to lock manipulation this is going to be a less than easy opening. They aren't impossible just difficult, I manipulated a Yale OC-5 but it took me about 6 hours total when I was manipulating more common locks like Sargent and Greenleaf nearly always in less than an hour.

From the photo I would have said they are gravity fence.

If it is a Victor, here is the Yale L2. See Oldfast's photos.
viewtopic.php?f=100&t=11840&p=109406&hilit=victor+safe#p109406

Oh, alright then, the L2 is not friction fence. It should be a relatively easy opening then but no guarantees.

Gents, thank you for all the feed back!
Just a quick update on my progress: I have been working on it for 7 hours total. I have found it difficult to distinguish between the sound of the friction fence falling into place vs the contact vibration I feel and hear as I turn the dial. I'm fairly positive I have the first number but as the other wheels engage the feeling in the dial and sounds are difficult differentiate between.
I will continue to study up on the advice given and thank you again.
This is a fun chalange !!

Have you read Femurat's introduction to manipulation? I am not sure you fully understand what you should be doing at this point, no insults intended. You need to find the contact points where the lever touches the drive cam and study how the positions of those CPs change as you manipulate the wheels. How are you confident about the first number? We need some graphs of the CPs to study to help you out.

No insult taken this is my first attempt ever to manipulate a lock.. so I will find the literature you suggested and go from there.

Thank you for the info!

Another important note. Your safe could very well NOT be a Victor as I suggested. There is that possibility.

I just want to say that it is awesome to see someone else determined and interested to learn this craft. If you have any questions I would be happy to help. I am still quite new but have manipulated quite a few locks in a short time and will contribute anything I can. That article by Femurat really is a great intro and will help you to understand what you are doing. Also look into "The National Locksmith Guide to Manipulation." That book presents all of the info found in Femurat's article but in greater detail. Like I said, posting your graphs is definitely key if you want help catered to a specific manipulation. Good luck and keep us posted!

Brandan

Brandan, thank you for the kind words.

Texan646, welcome to the forum. That's a big task for a beginner. Keep us updated and we'll help you stay on track.

Cheers

No problem Femurat. You truly are very knowledgeable and helpful. Your posts from the past as well as your responses to my posts directly have been extremely helpful to my continued learning. Reading your articles on manipulation, particularly on high/low testing really helped me to obtain the knowledge that I have obtained so far. As I am constantly saying, I am definitely still new to this but I can confidently say that I would not be as far as I am without your help and for that I thank you!

Brandan