Cracking a safe!

[JackTheGrower]

Hey I visited and old friend and she has a serious safe from the late 1800's
http://acsyellowpages.com/fairbanks/tour/images/safe.jpg

It's in don Garlet's area of this page the green one.
http://www.safeworks.net/photogallery.html

Now her's isn't restored and we have no combination or idea of whats in it.

It supposed to be a three digit combo and is a Victor Cannon Ball Safe.

One of the Safest Safes ever made so they say.

Any ideas on cracking this safe?

Just thought to ask... Ya never know.


Jack

 

[GMT]

It'll take time, but the only real way is to go through the possible combinations till you hit the right one.

 

[Nathindica]

YES! this is exciting. i have little to no input on how to crack this safe other than some sort of elaborate plan like that in the movie "the score" with deniro.

drill the hole... fill the safe up with water... drop in the charge and bam! the treasure is yours!! haha. it worked in the movies... and physically it makes perfect sense....



EDIT: on second thought.... after scoping out those pics... well ehem cough cough ur gonna have one hell of a time drilling through that. gotta go with the ole' guess and check method i suppose. good luck mate!

 

[KMK0420]

YES! this is exciting. i have little to no input on how to crack this safe other than some sort of elaborate plan like that in the movie "the score" with deniro.

drill the hole... fill the safe up with water... drop in the charge and bam! the treasure is yours!! haha. it worked in the movies... and physically it makes perfect sense....



EDIT: on second thought.... after scoping out those pics... well ehem cough cough ur gonna have one hell of a time drilling through that. gotta go with the ole' guess and check method i suppose. good luck mate!

call mythbusters!

 

[Blue Dot]

"forget the dogs, work the lock"

 

[Nathindica]

call mythbusters!

did mythbusters disprove it!? i seem to remember a safe exploding most definitely... or was that some sort of ridiculous amount of charge in there in their attempts to blow it up for tv?

 

[Blue Dot]

liquid nitrogen?

 

[Nathindica]

ooooo! i like it. thermite?

 

[MEDI-EVIL]

give this ago..

http://mathcentral.uregina.ca/QQ/database/QQ.09.07/h/mike10.html

good luck.

me.

 

[CharlesSprkleaf]

a hammer and chiesel start chipping away layer by layer...probably be about the same amount of time as figuring out a 3 digit combination

 

[GMT]

Not sure how many options per digit there are, but if there are 100 options per digit, then at 1 combination every 30 seconds it'll take you 2 and a half hours to go through every single combination. And that's only necessary if its the very last one.

 

[DogBoy]

Do we need to protect the contents? Might limit the options to open it.

As for methods, i'd be inclined to favour a good old fashioned Thermal Lance. Expensive but effective.

 

[Nathindica]

what abut the sword of a thousand truths?

 

[BeAn]

Thermite would burn anything inside, although easy to make and visualy pleasing, not the best option...GMT's idea is probably the best option, build some spliffs and take notes of the combinations you have tried.

 

[Original]

I done this not long ago with a more digital modern safe, it was still a three digit though. I took a couple hr sessions per day and I had it cracked within two days. 952. Its a shame I started at 001 rather than 999.

Go for the lengthy option and crack it by trial and error, at least your friend can re-use it once you have the code. Alternatively Brainiac fired a shell out of a challenger tank at a safe and it opened

 

[ChaosCatalunya]

I heard pros use Angle Grinders, from the back, there are very new safes out now that will withstand this, but 'aparently' pretty much anything pre 2000 will pop like that.

 

[Peanut Butter]

Not sure how many options per digit there are, but if there are 100 options per digit, then at 1 combination every 30 seconds it'll take you 2 and a half hours to go through every single combination. And that's only necessary if its the very last one.

100 #'s, 3 input digits = 1,000,000 possible combos

@ 2 combos a minute it will take 500,000 minutes....or ~49 weeks of continuous trying

even at something more realistic...say 6 per minute your still looking at a looonng time if your going with trial and error.


Drill the lock and use the fiber optic camera to witness the internal movements of the lock. That is, if you happen to know someone with one of those cameras.

 

[doodah]

maybe get a professional locksmith on the case? hurry though - we wanna know what's inside!

 

[JackTheGrower]

Yeah Me too I want to know.

The story behind it is this: It was supposed to have been lowered into a Gold mine. That mine was sealed for a time.

No one knows why...

The great Grand son sold it to my friend's then husband who wanted to crack it but he died before he could.
So for years it has sat there in the carport having been driven there by semi truck. All 3000 pounds of it. A ton and a half.

Now I tried to listen with a stethoscope but i couldn't make out any definite clicks but i see now that the front of the door isn't where the real workings are. The real guts are in the back of the door and look at the handle needed to draw back the locking bolts. It looks almost 4 feel long.

Indeed the correct thing to do is bring someone in to drill it in the right place and use the fiber optic cam to see the combination.

I was reading about that after I posted.

Well this is one hell of a safe! Not your ordinary type. This cannonball safe is the type banks trusted with the very large denominations and other high value items I have read.

I will keep everyone updated.. And post some pictures if my friend says it's alright when I come back from Amsterdam.

She has a choice.. I can work on drilling a peep hole in the two Safes ( there is a smaller one in the base ) and see what we can see or She can hire someone to drill it proper and work out the true combination. Then sell it for the value of the collectors item it is so she isn't out anything.

I'm sure the manganese steel is no match for modern gouging rods. I can cut holes in it but, then it's junk.

It is possible this safe hasn't been open since the 1940's


Not my call but I might try to work some combos... Maybe some random combinations that i can try in a few hours.

Thanks for all the feedback..

Jack

 

[Ms Carter]

I'll have to doit by touch...