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I did it! The lock is a group 2 Ilco-Unican 673000 that I bought off ebay. It was advertised as having been a display model and was already mounted to a black plastic stand. I actually opened it previously but that was with the back plate removed and peeking occasionally so it didn't count. This time I had the combination set to an unknown number by my lovely "combo-change girl". I didn't peek, but I do admit to having confirmed the first two numbers with her verbally after finding them so it wasn't a totally pure test of my skill. I got stumped about half-way through and posted my first post on this forum clarifying some details of how to do a correct high-low test(thanks for that guys) and in the process realized I had made the very newbie mistake of thinking the third combination number correllated to the third wheel. Duh. So I threw out everything execept for my first graph and continued from there. Then I busted it open in one session. Someone on the forum here said feeling the nose drop into the gates was like picking a thousand locks. True story. I'm looking forward to a lot more fun with these.

I ran this one starting with AWL. I'm goind to get the combination changed and try running it 3-2-1 and try it again starting AWR. Does anyone have any other ideas to squeeze more experience out of a single lock or should I get another one after that?

[quote="rohare"]...and in the process realized I had made the very newbie mistake of thinking the third combination number correllated to the third wheel....


Uh-oh, I am a fellow Newb and I thought this was how it worked. To say it another way, I thought the wheel closest to the dial is called wheel #1 and is FIRST number in the combo, etc. Is that wrong???

I have still only cracked that first safe and it was without a practice lock or seeing anything. Do I have a fundamental misunderstanding??

EXPERTS, I NEED HELP!

CPT1911, I'm using the terminology in the National Locksmith Guide to Manipulation. There might be other sets of terminology that might be different. In the NLGM the authors describe the wheel closest to the dial wheel 3 and the one farthest away as wheel 1. Wheel 3 is the first combination number and wheel 1 is the last combination number. Wheel 2 is obviously the second combination number regardless of how you look at it.

The number one wheel, and first number, is the wheel FARTHEST from the DRIVE CAM. It is not necessarily the closest or farthest from the dial. It can be either, depending on how the wheels are mounted. The farthest wheel from the drive cam is going to "park" first, then the middle wheel, and then the closest. This of course assumes a 3 wheel lock is involved. A Mosler 301/401 is opposite of a S&G 6730.

Mastersmith, I like that definition better. It's more clear and consistant. Does that come from some standard text on the subject or is it just commonly agreed upon terminology?