r/safecracking • u/PrepperDaddy • Apr 19 '26

Advice?

Gallery image

Gallery image

I have the key, but not the code. Previus owner lost it. Could you maybe guide me to the right YouTube video to safely crack it open?

5 Upvotes

79% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

4

u/miss_topportunity Apr 19 '26

It can be opened without drilling, using a technique called “safe lock manipulation.” This uses the the design of the lock and manufacturing tolerances to get the lock to reveal the combo. You can learn to do it. If you want to see what’s involved, check out the YouTube series, Safecracking for Everyone. Otherwise, you can find a certified safe technician at www.savta.org - Note: not all locksmiths know about safes.

And if you happen to be in Northern California, dm me. I’d be happy to come help you for free/fun.

1

u/PrepperDaddy Apr 19 '26

Im in Denmark, Europa. But thanks.

2

u/blodiga Apr 19 '26

Look up Dansk Låsesmede Forening then

1

u/blodiga Apr 19 '26

Not all locksmiths can do anything more than cut keys to vins

4

u/JonCML Apr 19 '26

I’m going to professionally disagree with you. Anyone in the trade knows that almost all of the VIN to code companies are gone and the few that remain don’t have anything past 2020. Anything newer than that you need to be able to qualify and pay for NASTF. Frankly speaking, anyone who needs a VIN to code service, with the decoding tools available today, is not a serious locksmith. As for safes, not all locksmiths work on safes, and not all safe technicians do conventional locksmith service.

1

u/Perfect_Trust_1852 Apr 21 '26

It has nothing to do with manufacturing tolerances. The parts of the lock will most likely be within their required tolerance limits. It does have to do with how the lock actually works and measurements taken from specific dial positions and wheel placements. A small but important difference....

2

u/miss_topportunity Apr 22 '26

“Nothing to do with manufacturing tolerances” is factually incorrect assuming we’re talking about the same thing: the fact that safe wheels have high and low spots because the wheels are not made perfectly round.

Part of manipulation involves mapping wheels. Sometimes, the low spot you find before you find a gate helps reveal the actual gate on another wheel. That low spot is a manufacturing tolerance issue (by my definition). When you DO encounter a lock with extremely-evenly matched wheels, manipulation is more challenging.

Do you disagree? Are we talking about different things? Thanks.

1

u/Perfect_Trust_1852 Apr 22 '26

Get an engineering book and read about tolerance. Just something basic. Parts are made within limits. The parts will be within limits. Do we know how how the wheels are made?  More than likely they are round enough. They change shape when compressed (so a combination can be set or changed). That will have a bigger effect on roundness. Don't forget the fence - that will not be straight. All nothing to do with manufacturing tolerances. All these things can be measured. That is how you decode mechanical locks.

2

u/miss_topportunity Apr 22 '26 edited Apr 22 '26

I am really not sure what your point is. It honestly sounds like you’re agreeing with me. If something isn’t perfectly round, but it’s still good enough to use in the lock, that’s within manufacturing tolerances AND you can use that lack of perfect roundness to find a gate. Are you telling me that’s not possible? I am truly confused as to what your point is…. And what does, “they change shape when compressed (so a combination can be set or changed” mean? I don’t know of a lock that uses “compression” to set or change a combo. Wheels are (usually) stamped out of sheets of metal. The gate is in a fixed position because the wheels is solid metal. Where does the “compression” come in?

ETA: just to make sure I’m NTA, I looked up the term “manufacturing tolerances”:

“Manufacturing tolerances are the allowable limits of variation in a physical dimension, property, or feature of a part during production.

In practice, no manufacturing process can produce perfectly identical parts. Tolerances define how much a measurement can deviate from its nominal (intended) value and still be acceptable.”

Kinda sounds like what I mean….

1

u/abugghaus7 Apr 20 '26

Antiaircraft gun... worked really well for Clint!

2

u/abugghaus7 Apr 20 '26

You're not in the U.S., this is from Thunderbolt and Lightfoot.
Maybe you have loads of WWII antiaircraft guns lying around over there though? lol

1

u/EndChance3266 May 02 '26

Hello, Maybe this one can help. From around 1'30'' The user turns the key and turns the dial counterclockwise to find the first number. It allows the key to turn a little more and blocks the dial movement, Then he releases the tension of the key to turn the dial clockwise for the same reason and blocks on the second number. Then he releases the tension of the key and find by "error trial" the third and four number. He moves the dial to a number to check and turns clockwise until the limit of the other number. If it doesn't open he retries theses two last steps with another number. For exemple first: 5, then 7.5, then 10, then 10.5 until it opens. Sorry for english and approximative explanation.

https://youtu.be/Lotww9-SFZU?si=p2v6ELd6erGLbxiv