Need to Open a safe

[jimalb]

I have a large safe I would like to get open so I can use or rent it out. I bought this building about 15 yrs ago from city auction (was an old marine reserve building) and nobody knows the combination to the vault door.
It has a large door (about 7' by 4') and a combination with a lever to open the door. The door has the name MOSLER and a serial number on it. I have been thinking about cutting through the wall to get in but, I don't really want to destroy the integraty of the walls and I started thinking about using a stepper and let it run through the possable combinations until the door can be opened. If I set up a stepper and something to pull the lever and just let it run untill the door opens that would be great, It would not matter if it took a year to open the door.

The problem is I have no idea how the combination type doors work. Everyone I have talked to that was stationed at this reserve seems to think it was a three number combination door.
The dial has Numbers 0 - 99 numbered every 10. When I turn the dial you can feel two dentents, one on about 0 and one on about 10, (I was told this is something to do with adding security to the combination).
If someone has some ideas this would be great, How do you do combinations as in:
cw 2 turns - stop at 1st number - ccw past 1st number -stop at 2nd number - cw - stop at 3rd number or somthing like this?
Thanks for any ideas.
Jimmy

[jpgdesigns]

Why not contact Mosler with the serial number may have to provide some, proof of ownership... they may be able to get you more info on the lock. ie 3number or 4 number or 5 number etc...

once you know that the rest is a little math and some time to let it run.

[ger21]

A quick Google search says Mosler shut it's doors in 2001, after about 135 years in business.

[Switcher]

Wikipedia says " Diebold subsequently announced programs to support former Mosler customers" (I bet that would cost a lot of $$)

**************

Start you a new web page, anyone that can crack the combo. gets 50% of whatever is in the safe.

.

[Switcher]

This Google search should find anything (MOSLER) related on the Diebold site.

Might help?


.

[Eurisko]

Jimmy,

This link describes a 4 number Mosler combination:

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Locksmith...ombination.htm

Lets assume you have 100 possibilities for the 1st number, 99 for the second, 98 for the third, and 97 for the fourth.

100*99*98*97 = 94,109,400 possible combinations.

Let's do it at human speed, say 4 seconds per combination.
That gives us 376,437,600 seconds.
Or 11.9 years.

[HuFlungDung]

Might be fun to drill a hole through the front and insert a small video cam to see what you can see of the works.

[Geof]

Post an employment opportunity notice in your local prison.

[Eurisko]

Seriously,

There would be no demand for safecrackers if they weren't able to crack safes.

If this were a Hollywood movie, Tom Cruise would open his attache case and remove...

A little rubber suction cup ( for audio amplification )
A servo motor. ( This is big-budget Hollywood )
A notebook computer.

After attaching these ( in seconds ), Cruise runs the notebook program.
The servo silently turns.
The notebook displays a graph of the amplified audio, the lock tumblers falling into place. At each audio peak, the servo reverses direction. With a final, inaudible click, the display shows a graphic of an open safe.

How hard can it be if Tom Cruise can do it ???

[martinw]

Dear Jimmy,

Do not take Geof's advice. The bosses who subcontract the craftsmen with thermic lances can be very bad for your health.

Eurisko calculated four seconds for each combination and a twelve year marathon if done manually. My guess is that it would be possible to "stepper" the combinations at about 4 Hz. Obviously, there may be mechanical time lags in the lock mechanism itself that makes this unrealistic The other problem is that you need to have some kind of indicator as to whether the combination is correct . Trying the big handle on the door is not practical at that kind of speed. Any suggestions?

Best wishes,

Martin

[BMG]

My company had a large walk in vault that was locked for a number of years - same deal - everyone forgot the combo - They contacted a vault installation company and that company put them in touch with a "Cracker". They opened it in less than an hour. Nothing of consequence was found in the safe.

[jalessi]

Jimmy,

I have a friend in Chicago that opens safes, where are you located?

Jeff...