AboutTerry Andreasen (Andy) Expertise Safe and Vault related Questions;
Antique Safe Repair and Restoration;
With over 37 years in the Safe & Vault industry, if I can't answer your question I know where to get the answer.
Current Project: Restoration of three, 36 ton steel vault doors and drop floors, in the old Federal Reserve Building, San Francisco.
Experience 37 years in the Safe & Vault Industry. Service Manager for one of the largest Safe & Vault companies on the West Coast. Graduate of Lockmasters Safe Lock Servicing, Safe lock Manipulation and Safe Deposit Lock Courses. Graduate of Locksmith Institute.
Certified Instructor for the California Locksmith Association teaching Basic and Advanced Lock Servicing, Basic Safe opening and Repairing.
Factory Trained by AMSEC, LORD Safes, LeFebure, Mosler, KabaMas, LaGard and Sargent & Greenleaf
Organizations SafeCrackers International
Education/Credentials Graduate of Locksmith Institute 1972
Graduate Lockmasters Safe Lock Servicing 1974
Graduate Lockmasters Safe Lock Manipulation 1975
Graduate Lockmasters Safe Deposit Lock Servicing 1985
Instructor Certified - California Locksmith Association - 1985
Awards and Honors Retired US Army, with many decorations and awards from Vietnam, Desert Storm and Op Iraqi Freedom.
Past/Present Clients Secret Service, FBI, Dept. of Homeland Defense, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Navy, US Marine Corps, Lawerence Livermore National Lab, Bank of America, Wells Fargo Bank, various local banks, credit unions, state agencies, Jewelers, and many commercial and residential customers.
Service Area is Northern California (Fresno to Oregon and Western Nevada)
I aquired an old safe that stands approx 6ftx3ftx2.5ft with double doors in the front. It is closed and locked. I have cut out an area in the back allowing me to drill a hole in the inner door. I then removed four tumblers minus one that is still attached. The doors still dont open. I am assuming at this point the reason for not opening is a mechanical. Help! Is it most likely rusted together? How are the cross bars released? Where are they attached? If I remove the screws holding the doorknob, will I be able to open it? The handle on the door with the combination can be jiggled about 30 degrees downward. The other handle does not move at all. To open the door, does the handle need to move to the downward position to disengage the inner bars? Is there any chance for me? I have tried to include two pictures of what I am looking at. Thanks for any advice.
Answer Matilda,
Sounds to me like you have ruined a perfectly good old safe. But since you have already cut a hole into the back of the safe, to gain access to the lock we will start there. The only picture that came through was of the dial and handle.
The back cover of the lock with the wheels attached is known as the curb or wheel post. The four wheels are the combination wheels. These are the wheels that actually have the combination for the lock. The wheel that remains in the lock is the drive wheel. It is directly attached to the dial, and transmit the motion from the dial to the lock.
Yale made several different types of locks. Some of them the last turn of the dial is to the left and some to the right. When the lever inside the lock engages the dial, it will retract the lock bolt which blocks the main locking bar from retracting the door bolts. You will need to turn the dial until it engages the lever and retracts the bolt.
Note: Many of the lock manufactures installed relocking triggers inside of the lock. Your lock may have one of these devices. The purpose of the relocking trigger is to block the movement of the lock bolt in case some one removed the wheel curb, in an attempt to open the safe. Generally this would have been activated by someone knocking off the dial and punching the wheel curb off of the lock.
If you have a relocking trigger you will have to identify it and move it back into the "un-triggered" position. Then you will be able to turn the dial and unlock the safe.
If you are able to turn the dial and retract the lock bolt, but the handle of the safe will not turn it may be because of rust. Applying force to the handle may only serve to shear it off, causing further problems. Since you already have a huge hole in the back of the safe, if you can manage to spray WD-40 or TRI-FLOW on to the bolt work, and let it sit for a day, you may be able to start working the handle back and forth to free it up.
Hopefully you have some welding skills and can reassemble the damage or the safe will basically be a boat anchor.
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