Here is what came with the house...

[MHolman]

002.JPG

I was in chat last night and left to post some pics here and go back but, it would not work for the type of file it was...lol. I took pics this morning just so you all know what I'm dealing with and to see if I am right. As I said when I introduced myself in that part of the forum, I purchased my house in April. The house was built in 1880. After doing some research, I think it is a Herring Hall Marvin Safe with a S & G lock. I am thinking it is a three dial lock.
Now reading on the net, I found some sites say 4x cc to pick up the wheels stopping on the number, 3x c stopping on the number, 2x cc stopping on the number and a mechanical stop c at or around 95. I do not have the combination for this safe. So, I want to start from scratch. I was reading here about graphing to find out the combination. I also read I should read that 30 page book also, the name escapes me right now but, I do know where it is on the forum.
You will notice someone put a wood grain paint finish on the safe...lol. Once I have it open and operational, I want to strip it, repaint and put new decals on it. It is a piece of history and would be great keeping it operational. Any advice on this safe and lock would be amazing. Also on how to pic up on how many wheels, not quite understanding the parking thing. lol Thanks in advance, Mike.

[jharveee]

Welcome.
What a Great bonus to get when buying a house.
I love the painted on wood grain.
Reading everything you can on manipulation will help.
Cutaway models of safe locks also are good tools to help understand how to park wheels where you need and
move the other wheels without messing up the others position.
Best of luck!

[GWiens2001]

Glad you are here. And agree - fantastic freebie with the house. I'd be manipulating that lock to find the combo at the first moment everything was unpacked.

Where in the house is it located? Good place to display?

Gordon

[Doogs]

Definite bonus Mike with the added knowledge you have all the time in the world to manipulate it once you get the concept and finer points into your head. I'm going to defer to the more experienced members here as I haven't even tried my S&G yet. Lots of info to be found here so don't be afraid to hunt down the links. Also check out twenglish's thread as he is in the middle of his first manipulation and you may pick up a thing or two as the lads help him along. But definitely read everything you can, print out some graph sheets, sharpen your pencil, ask all the questions you can think of and let the games begin.

Come on Gordon we all know you'd drop those boxes like hot potatoes and be glued to the front of that thing till the end of days if required.

Happy Spinning
Mike

[Deadlock]

Well well well. Years - decades - ago, I was talking with a guy I worked with and for some reason the joke about tartan paint came up. He told me there was actually such a thing as wood grain paint. This is the first time I've ever (consciously) seen it. I could never understand how it worked, but now it looks to me like you paint something and run a comb like tool over the wet paint. Yeah, maybe it looked better when it was first done...

Actually, the more I look at it, the more it's growing on me... now I want a one ton safe that looks like it's made out of wood.

[oldbiscuit]

I had an uncle years back that painted his kitchen cabinets with the wood grain. I'll have to admit that the first time I saw them, I thought he'de replaced all his old steel kitchen cabinets with new custom made wood cabinets. His really came out nice with all the grain going the same way, even showing knots in the finish (don't ask me how he did it, never saw him painting them). I saw on TV-American Restoration where they did the same thing to some old cigeratte machine, if I remember correctly.That was actually a factory finish on some items back in the late 40's - early 50's. Mark

[Mikeh727]

Welcome to the forum Mike!

That's a great safe and we'd all love to see you get it manipulated open. There are great resources here on the forum, and it sounds like you've already got a pretty good start on the knowledge end of things. Now it's time to get some experience and actually spin the dial. A cutaway helps in understanding how the dials interact but isn't absolutely required. Once you grasp the concept, it will make manipulating much easier.

Good luck and keep us posted.

-Mike

[GWiens2001]

Come on Gordon we all know you'd drop those boxes like hot potatoes and be glued to the front of that thing till the end of days if required.

Guilty as charged.

Gordon

[MHolman]

Thanks! It's in the furnace room unfortunately. Maybe in time moved into the rec room? About 10 guys and a horse needed lol
So, I have been doing a lot of reading. While I have been reading and doing some research, I made a primitive graph just so when I'm manipulating the dial I can plot what I think might be significant. I'm getting all sorts of feels and noises coming from this old combination lock. I can tell as the wheels pick up. I can tell double and single clicks. Sometimes the clicks will move an inc. or two if I back track. I'm starting to see a lot of the same areas. Sometimes the lock just stops. Not a hard stop and not often.
I need to learn more about the graph. One side of the graph is the numbers on the dial but, I read it and reread it, what is the other side of the graph from? I know wheels left and right and I understand fractional increments.
Any input on the graph, would be a huge help. I hope everyone is having a great weekend.

[jharveee]

Contact points,
are the other numbers on the graph.
You have a contact point on either side of your "drop in" area.
Which is that "V" shaped notch on the drive cam that the "nose" of the lever arm goes into.

When you say the wheels "stop" I am guessing what you are feeling is one side of your Drop in area.

[MHolman]

Good morning...lol. I understand how the lock works not too bad now. Contact points etc. Now I understand what you are saying about the contact numbers on the graph. As I do move counter clockwise, I feel resistance at around 95-97. Then back clockwise again to feel nothing but, when I go counter clockwise again, that resistance has moved to 93-95 and so forth. Could there be a fourth combination? Some numbers are definitely more noticeable than others. On to proper graphing later this afternoon.
I also found three numbers on the duct work behind me from the safe. It has WWI xx, Corps xx and WWII xx. Not even corresponding to years from the wars lol. I want to give manipulation an honest shot for awhile even before looking at this three number combination (If it is even a combination). The safe is not going anywhere and this has really got me interested.