MartinHewitt's Safe Chronicles

[MartinHewitt]

No. 4

The lock and dial on this LG 3330 was mounted very well. Unfortunately it took me 3 hours to open it. The gate on W1 was actually the first which I had.

The story of the safe is a very common one. It sat around for some years unused and unlocked. Then somebody spinned the dial.

I am considering getting safe stickers for my car. One sticker per opened safe.

[jharveee]

Three hours is fast.........for me anyways.
I like the sticker idea.

[Oldfast]

.

Fantastic!!

Now the dial - that looks much different than what we're use to seeing.
Is that normal there to see that type of dial connected to a LaGard?

From what I can tell from your pic, it looks ike it could make for a
more time-consuming manipulation than would the usual 1777 dial.

[MartinHewitt]

It probably comes from the Mauer-part of the company from what the name sounds:
http://www.kaba-mauer.com/en/solutions/ ... avo-f.html
So it might be only old here in Germany or Europe.

I am not a good/fast dialer, so I am not the best person to make a statement regarding dial usage, but using the tiny knob in the middle was IMHO not comfortable.

Vistaprint makes stickers for windows, but they have only 75ppi.

[Oldfast]

....I am not a good/fast dialer, so I am not the best person to make a statement
regarding dial usage, but using the tiny knob in the middle was IMHO not comfortable.

Yeah, I agree.

[MartinHewitt]

Btw. this safe has already been manipulated open about 10 years ago by the person who passed this job to me. So this safe evaded already two times a forceful entry.

[MartinHewitt]

News from the second, unopened safe in my third safe opening:

A key for the unopened safe has been found! Unfortunately before they could open the safe, they misplaced it.

[L4R3L2]

A key for the unopened safe has been found! Unfortunately before they could open the safe, they misplaced it.

Reminds me of the old joke....

The older I get, the more I think about the hereafter. I often enter a room these days and have to ask myself, "Now, what was I here after?"

[Werewolf]

Today I opened my first safe in the wild. It was a rather small wall safe where the key had been lost. I had never seen this type of lock before. What I saw from the key hole was that there were six + one levers which had non-uniform bellies. The pick had to be made for this lock and after two hours I had the safe open.

I know i'm replying to an old post, but can you explain how you made the pick for this lock ?

[MartinHewitt]

After identifying the lock as a normal double-bitted key lock the first step is to learn about the lock what can be seen. Is there a key post? How long is it? What is the diameter? Size of the key hole? Where is the bolt? How many levers? The thickness of both? Then make a basic tool based on this information. It is better to make one to large than one to small. Test first the hook for the bolt. Does it lift a lever? Does it turn far enough? It should probably be somewhere between 60° and 90°. In most cases something needs to be filed of. Then the hook for the levers is tested. Is it thin enough? Has it the correct length to move the levers? Most locks do have a control lever here. If the lock is known it can be included in the hook for the bolt. With an unknown lock I pick it with the lever hook. In all the visual steps an endoscope his helpful, but it can be done without just as I did without one in the case of my first safe opening.

[edocdab]

After identifying the lock as a normal double-bitted key lock the first step is to learn about the lock what can be seen. Is there a key post? How long is it? What is the diameter? Size of the key hole? Where is the bolt? How many levers? The thickness of both? Then make a basic tool based on this information. It is better to make one to large than one to small. Test first the hook for the bolt. Does it lift a lever? Does it turn far enough? It should probably be somewhere between 60° and 90°. In most cases something needs to be filed of. Then the hook for the levers is tested. Is it thin enough? Has it the correct length to move the levers? Most locks do have a control lever here. If the lock is known it can be included in the hook for the bolt. With an unknown lock I pick it with the lever hook. In all the visual steps an endoscope his helpful, but it can be done without just as I did without one in the case of my first safe opening.

The thing I still don't understand is why you have a detective as your username.

[MartinHewitt]

Because I love these old detective stories and they are connected thematically to safe opening and "Lady Molly" was not a good choice for me.

[edocdab]

Hi Martin, I also read my share of them. I wrote that ironically, because your post reads much like Holmes would explain his reasoning to Watson. It shows your love for the locks and detectives perfectly in that one post and I found that quite entertaining. I decided to point that out to you and others by writing that question. I am considering to call you Molly now

[MartinHewitt]

Thanks.

Lady Molly is doing all her work in Scotland Yard only to get back her beloved Captain de Mazareen. That is true love! But there is also Loveday Brooke, Amelia Butterworthy (actually the sidekick to Ebenezar Gryce) and the most honorable Judith Lee, the teacher of the deaf and dumb.

[edocdab]

My pile of unread books is too high, but I am downloading the Lady Molly audiobook on my phone. Then I can listen to those stories on my way to work