Alexandar, welcome! Great start. And a nice little safe you have to play with there.
Dunno how much help I can be at this point. I think you're learning
curve is naturally occurring, and many of your questions will prolly
be answered as you continue on with another couple sessions.
I think it would do us well though to talk a little terminology.
Most importantly is that your lingo makes sense to YOU.
However, if others come into the conversation, it becomes critical that we're all on the same page.
It's very difficult to make much headway if I'm telling you about w1 while you're looking at w3! lol
Alexandar_Case wrote:.....I just tried to make my first graph of what I believe is the third wheel, or 1st number in the combination.
In your lock, w3 is closest to the drive cam & furthest from the dial. It corresponds with the last # of the combo.
Wheel 1 then is closest to the dial and furthest from the drive cam. It corresponds with the 1st # of the combo.
We again run into problems when referring to CP's. Various books label the Left & Right CP's differently
The side of the gate that is
more gradually sloped is the RIGHT CP.
Turn left (counter-clockwise) in order to touch this side of the gate.
The side of the gate that is
more abrupt & steep is the LEFT CP.
Turn right (clockwise) in order to touch this side of the gate.
Hopefully that all helps rather than complicates? lol. As Femurat mentioned, the other CP will be helpful.
You said you couldn't hear it. That's ok. But you should still be able to feel it. From your LCP @ 99, turn
left (counter-clockwise)... you should feel the RCP around 8, 9, or 10? Although this CP is more subtle,
it will actually give you much more fluctuation and info than the LCP. Experiment taking readings at it.
If you need to, take the back cover off and watch to help you recognize and stop at the initial contact.
One other thing I'd suggest: take a quick second to make sure the drive cam & dial are solidly
connected and move as one unit. The spindle (
threaded rod that comes out of the dial and
goes through the lock) threads into the drive cam. The little piece of metal you see towards
the center of the drive cam is a spline key. It's friction fitted and ties the cam & dial together.
Hold the cam with one hand and keep an eye on it while turning the dial lightly back & forth.
There should be no play between the cam & spindle. If there is, the spline key has worked its'
way loose. There's nothing worse than trying to learn manipulation with a loose spline key!
Your readings will be anything but consistent. You'll go nuts, lol. Anyway, it's probably fine.
But it's worth checking just to make sure... and it only takes a couple of seconds.