Old Yale safe - ideas on age & how to open

lostcauses

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liftloop

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Re: Old Yale safe - ideas on age & how to open

How was the bottum fassend.
 

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eagle77

eagle77

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Re: Old Yale safe - ideas on age & how to open

liftloop said:
How was the bottum fassend.

Looked like it was factory welded. Interesting in the construction though.
The sides are form bent and at the bottom welded. the back was bent and formed into a lip that fit a groove bent in the sides at the back (which would have made getting a pry bar impossible). The interior wall was also fit the same as the outside. The concrete mix had a chicken wire and series of 1/6 rods throughout for strength and support.

After all was done he had a local scrap iron dealer pickup the safe.
 

diggummup

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Re: Old Yale safe - ideas on age & how to open

Personally, if it did have anything good in it, I wouldn't have told anyway! :thumbsup:
 

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eagle77

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Re: Old Yale safe - ideas on age & how to open

diggummup said:
Personally, if it did have anything good in it, I wouldn't have told anyway! :thumbsup:

I wasn't there when he tore into it, so who knows, that's all he said
 

safecrac

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With all due respect. You should not give advice if you don't know the subject.

--a old stethoscope could be the ticket * SPIN THE WHEEL AROUND TWICE STOPPING AT "0"" (TO SET THE ACTION )--THEN WITH THE STETHOSCOPE IN PLACE --TURN IT TO THE RIGHT UNTIL YOU HEAR A FAINT "CLICK"--STOP!! -- (ITS THE PIN DROPPING INTO PLACE )-- THEN TURN IT TO THE LEFT VERY SLOWLY -- UNTIL YOU HEAR THE SECOND PIN "DROP" --CLICK ---STOP --THE GO RIGHT TO THE THIRD PIN "DROPS" STOP --TURN THE HANDLES THEY SHOULD TURN-- SWING THE UNLOCKED DOOR OPEN

What you have said here about opening this safe is gobelty gook. You have no idea what you're talking about. Nothing you have said here is correct in any way. What should be done is to hire a expert safe technician to open the safe properly. A layman is not capable of the task with out proper training.
 

Doubter in MD

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What you have said here about opening this safe is gobelty gook. You have no idea what you're talking about. Nothing you have said here is correct in any way. What should be done is to hire a expert safe technician to open the safe properly. A layman is not capable of the task with out proper training.

Only four years too late. Darn!
 

Boatlode

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I just wasted three minutes of my life reading a thread that was four years old.
 

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huntsman53

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I just wasted three minutes of my life reading a thread that was four years old.

LOL!! You just joined the "A Day Late and a Dollar Short" Club which many of us on TNnet belong to. I could not count how many old Threads I have read and responded to with a post only to be told later. I am sure that it will happen to me again and again.


Frank
 

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Gold Maven

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since we brought it back up, I've gone through the bottom of 2 class B safes, taking the back of the doors off to get the combo.

The 2 I did had the wheels welded to a frame/plate that was bolted to the bottom. I unbolted it, exposing the insulation, removed that, cut a hole in the sheet metal floor, and that was it.

One had a small safe inside the big one, and some rolls of pennies had fallen in behind it. I thought I hit the jackpot when rolled coins started spilling out, but it didn't amount to much.

Once I got the combos by taking the back of the doors off, I bolted the wheel-plate back on, and poured a concrete floor in the bottom.
 

safecrac

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Jun 29, 2014
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since we brought it back up, I've gone through the bottom of 2 class B safes, taking the back of the doors off to get the combo.

The 2 I did had the wheels welded to a frame/plate that was bolted to the bottom. I unbolted it, exposing the insulation, removed that, cut a hole in the sheet metal floor, and that was it.

One had a small safe inside the big one, and some rolls of pennies had fallen in behind it. I thought I hit the jackpot when rolled coins started spilling out, but it didn't amount to much.

Once I got the combos by taking the back of the doors off, I bolted the wheel-plate back on, and poured a concrete floor in the bottom.

I commend you, you are very inventive. Some antique safe have this vulnerability but most don't. I know the original posts were four years old, I just thought members would like to know from a safecracker that most of the advice was either incorrect or would result in the destruction of a nice old safe. Personally I love opening the antiques, they are a piece of history. Most are much better made than alot of contemporary safes. Anyway, I just thought I'd add my two cents on the subject.

RS in Atlanta
 

cw0909

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johna2231

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So, we'll never know if this guy got the safe open or what was in it? It's like the last page being torn out of a mystery novel.... grumble!

John
 

safecrac

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Old safes

i know nothing about old yale safes,or any safes, i looked at some imgs, see links
i dont know if the Op safe is like these, i didnt see a img posted of it
Q, what is stopping someone from popping the pin, on the hinges of these safes

http://0.tqn.com/w/experts/Locksmithing-3110/2008/09/SafeFront.jpg
http://www.antiquesnavigator.com/ebay/images/2011/380335182561.jpg
http://0.tqn.com/w/experts/Antique-Safes-3774/2010/04/Safe_92.jpg

Most all safes both old and new have what we call a dead bar or bolts that, when you close the door, protrude into the hinge side jamb of the safe, effectively locking the door into the body of the safe. So, you can completely cut the hinges off a safe and the door still won't open. I tell my customers: If you could just cut the hinges off and get in it wouldn't be a safe would it??? :-)
 

Citiboy289

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Again old thread BUT reminded me of my days in the 80's working part time at a rural auction house . The owner had found 2 identicial old safes , Both had the combination ----- He auctioned the first off telling the people at the auction , he had the combination , It went for $150.00 , No real auction , People said it was to heavy to move, Couldn't lift it and on and on.
About 4 months later he auctioned the second one , but locked it ! The response was it sold for $700.00 !
His comment after the auction was " an open safe is just a safe ------ a locked safe is The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of "
The guy was a master of Selling the story at auctions !
 

OWK

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There are machines currently in use by locksmiths, that will sequentially try every numeric combination starting with the statistically more likely, until the combination is found (and recorded by the machine).

Surprisingly, this doesn't take as long as you might think.
 

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