KATU news in Portland Oregon aired a story about a safe that no one had been able to dial open...until a locksmith from Longview Washington gave it a shot.
NickTheSafe, you are so right. It must have been a slow news day. The media make such a big deal out of something we as locksmiths do every day, open safes. I just happed to be the guy spinnin' the dial that day.
Most of the time when I open a safe for a customer that does not know what is inside a safe, we find rubber bands and paper clips. However there has been the occasion or three when forgotten treasure is found.
5 minutes of video they put me through telling me of the mystical amazement inside an uncrackable safe that was finally opened after decades and they DON'T tell us what's in it.
I have been a safe cracker wannabe for 50 years and opened a few. I now have a 1878 Macneale & Urban that is only 42" high and about 34" tall and weigh's almost 2 ton. I Got the outer door open by luck, the dials are letters instead of numbers. The inside safe is a MOTHER, I have been working on it a month, no luck , I am getting ready to drill it. The outside door is 4" thick and has an old manual time lock. It is kicking my azz.
It's called brute force - read "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman". Some manufacturers have default combinations, but other than that, you can get through most combinations in a few hours. Likely the numbers were important dates to the cannery/owner/manager.
It makes sense that there would be nothing inside. Because safes are so big and heavy, and often secured to the floor, owners don't take them away when they move. But they do empty them of valuables, of course. Then they shut the door and spin the wheel to close it. Yet, people see a locked safe and they assume it must have contents forgetting that people usually take their stuff when they move out. Even purser's safes on sunken ships are emptied before the ship goes down.
@Praetorian27 The only Bunker Hill I have found uses an electronic keypad with an eight digit code, with a hidden key access over-ride. Good for keeping honest people honest, or to keep kids out. Sentry Safe G1459 uses an import type of mechanical lock. Of the two I would recommend the Sentry Safe.
Would have liked to know what was in the safe! To the man who cracked the code, thank you for being so humble about it, I think that was the best part congrats.
The sealed cans had bullion inside. Enough for the cannery to lay off it's workers for off season and continue to stay in busines (i.e. marketing deliveries, legal, taxation...ect.). It was actually a regular practice to hide such funding (albeit not in cans) during the depression. The value of the contents would probably be in the upper 800,000 dollar range today, if historical estimates of factory output and operating cost were adjusted. With inflation 11-16 million.
@vorkev1 I think you are referring to an auto-dialer. An auto-dialer will not work on a straight tailpiece lock like this safe has. And an auto-dialer typically takes less than 36 hours not a week.
@tingalls21 Thanks for the info! I checked out the safes I was considering, but they didn't say which lock they had. I was looking at the Sentrysafe 14 gun, and the Bunker Hill Executive. I know, they aren't great safes, but they are what I can afford right now. Do you know what mechanical locks these safes use?
the safe is worth more then the contents insides, but its cool to know they cracked it. 130 year old safe that weighs in at 1 ton hmmm... someone will buy it to collect weather a person or museum.
@tingalls21 It's hard to find a direct link for all the certified locks. You can have a look at vds.de website and also have a look at the tecnosicurezza locks. We use LaGard, Kaba & Tecnosicurezza on our safes.
I could see where they would not want the safe damaged. There are specific techniques to crack dial locks, but most lock smiths don't know how. I've heard cocky locksmiths say they refuse to crack safes because it takes too long, but IMO, it just means they aren't confident they can do it. I will admit, the people who know, don't like to give up the secret easily. ;)
Take a Stepper-Motor and a Microcontroller. This machine can then test each combination. I estimate 100 possible WheelPositions so this gaves us 100*100*100=1.000.000 combinations. Setting up the Combination shuld take about 3s, try to pull the door takes 2s. So it would take about 5mio secs--> about 2 months to surely crack it
What do you consider more secure for a gun safe...an electronic keypad, or a combination lock? I am considering both but am worried about the electronic keypad...seems like it could fail a lot more easily than a mechanical combo lock.
@tingalls21 Show us a video of it. A series of videos would be wonderful. Showing everything about your ambulance, all your locksmith tools, and explaining what they do.
yeah i have an old halls safe but its 2x the size of that one it left a scar in the pavement that washed away after a few months when we were moving it >..> infact i think ill make a video on it i would like to restore it the last owner thought it would be a good idea to paint it with latex interior paint and cover up all the nice designs i don't know what to put in it i don't feel its really safe i have a new safe for that but it is a nice conversation piece
@Dragosanz Can you post a link to VDS certified locks? Globaloks are out of Canada, The last batch I purchased were factory direct. Become a member of NSO (National Safemans Organization) and occasionally you will get terrific deals.
@blahk04 I didn't try random numbers....I do consider myself an expert in safe opening. I have been locksmithing over 25 years. I have studied the art of safe manipulation since 1992. I humbly consider myself LUCKY in the fact that this safe waited for me to allow it to be opened.
Well, I was hoping that since it was posted in 2008, and they said they would've said in a month or so what was in it, that maybe they had said something about it by now...
Yeah, I call bullshit too. If it was just canned salmon he wouldn't have asked the cannery's board of directors if it was okay to tell the public what they found in the safe and never release any picture or details in it's fate. No, it had to have been something really bad or something really valuable.
Yeah, one whole case of canned Salmon. After hearing his comment about the "Cannery Foundation Board", I bet it was full of Gold that he didn't want to return to it's rightful owner.
@ihaveairlockers lol thats funny you mention that. i juat retrieved an old safe my aunt owned and i found the lost keys. it has been in our family for years and i thought it would have some lost treasure in it....lol. just a bunch of old useless papers. and the directions it first came with. HAHA!
@tingalls21 It looks like a neat lock, i just checked out the homepage. We use VDS certified locks on 90% of our products. Maybe they shoud test it for European market. I don't see a distributor.
![[1337] My New & Improved Robotic Safe-Cracker…](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/vkk-2QEUvuk/mqdefault.jpg)
![[1337] My New & Improved Robotic Safe-Cracker…](/img/tr.png)
Jeff Sitar would open this safe in under 1 minute. The man is not human.
RIP Jeff PepeHands
The average EOD guy or Combat Engineer can probably open it even faster
Jeff Sitar led me here...
Same
even jeff sitar cant open it
he doesn't relies on numbers or combination, but the bulge or sound that he feels by rolling the dial because of the wheels.
Ask Mr puzzle
Same!!!
Hello Mr IRS agent. Yep just had old cans of fish inside. Sure.
The guy who opened it pocketed all the gold bars and cash the founder of the company left there before going to tell them it was open.
NickTheSafe, you are so right. It must have been a slow news day.
The media make such a big deal out of something we as locksmiths do
every day, open safes. I just happed to be the guy spinnin' the dial that day.
Most of the time when I open a safe
for a customer that does not know what
is inside a safe, we find rubber bands
and paper clips. However there has been
the occasion or three when forgotten
treasure is found.
5 minutes of video they put me through telling me of the mystical amazement inside an uncrackable safe that was finally opened after decades and they DON'T tell us what's in it.
I have been a safe cracker wannabe for 50 years and opened a few. I now have a 1878 Macneale & Urban that is only 42" high and about 34" tall and weigh's almost 2 ton. I Got the outer door open by luck, the dials are letters instead of numbers. The inside safe is a MOTHER, I have been working on it a month, no luck , I am getting ready to drill it. The outside door is 4" thick and has an old manual time lock. It is kicking my azz.
Canned seafood? Someone was avoiding taxes.
Yep. Probably solid gold bars
I keep all my canned goods in a safe. Don't want no one stealing that shit.
Keep out the cash food is way more important for eating just use the useless cash for toys!
" The Golden Tuna was inside "
Call Jeff Sittar, hes the best!
Awesome story. Thanks for posting it.
It's called brute force - read "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman". Some manufacturers have default combinations, but other than that, you can get through most combinations in a few hours. Likely the numbers were important dates to the cannery/owner/manager.
It makes sense that there would be nothing inside. Because safes are so big and heavy, and often secured to the floor, owners don't take them away when they move. But they do empty them of valuables, of course. Then they shut the door and spin the wheel to close it. Yet, people see a locked safe and they assume it must have contents forgetting that people usually take their stuff when they move out. Even purser's safes on sunken ships are emptied before the ship goes down.
@Praetorian27
The only Bunker Hill I have found uses an electronic keypad with an eight digit code, with a hidden key access over-ride. Good for keeping honest people honest, or to keep kids out. Sentry Safe G1459 uses an import type of mechanical lock. Of the two I would recommend the Sentry Safe.
Would have liked to know what was in the safe! To the man who cracked the code, thank you for being so humble about it, I think that was the best part congrats.
'We told him come get us if you open it'
*Finds 1.2 Million*
'Hey guys I got it open and there's 2,000 bucks in it!!'
That's exactly what I would have done lol
How about take it ALL and lock it back and say you failed? 😈
Nice work Tom! - - All those other high class, fancy trained professionals are no match for a common sense working professional like you.
The sealed cans had bullion inside. Enough for the cannery to lay off it's workers for off season and continue to stay in busines (i.e. marketing deliveries, legal, taxation...ect.). It was actually a regular practice to hide such funding (albeit not in cans) during the depression. The value of the contents would probably be in the upper 800,000 dollar range today, if historical estimates of factory output and operating cost were adjusted. With inflation 11-16 million.
Unlabeled Sealed Tin Cans..Containing?? Salmon perhaps?
That's what was inside!!!
@vorkev1
I think you are referring to an auto-dialer.
An auto-dialer will not work on a straight tailpiece lock like this safe has.
And an auto-dialer typically takes less than 36 hours not a week.
Lots of these old safes up and down the WESTCOAST! Most are full of paper work from the haydays of fishing !
Safes were made with such high quality back in the day, today half the locks wont even spin right after a few years
It is the same stuff that was in the suitcase in "Pulp Fiction".
+Paul L you mean a battery some wires and a 20 what bulb?
Scouse Wayne And that foil that goes around Ferrero Rocher.
+Scouse Wayne also called Marcellus Wallace's soul
103 years earlier:
"What are we suppose to do with this sealed metal box?"
"oy! let's dress it like a safe and annoy the hell outta people"
A simple 1,2,3,4,5
@tingalls21 Thanks for the info! I checked out the safes I was considering, but they didn't say which lock they had. I was looking at the Sentrysafe 14 gun, and the Bunker Hill Executive. I know, they aren't great safes, but they are what I can afford right now. Do you know what mechanical locks these safes use?
the safe is worth more then the contents insides, but its cool to know they cracked it. 130 year old safe that weighs in at 1 ton hmmm... someone will buy it to collect weather a person or museum.
We like a big mistery and a good conspiracy theory!!!
@tingalls21 It's hard to find a direct link for all the certified locks. You can have a look at vds.de website and also have a look at the tecnosicurezza locks. We use LaGard, Kaba & Tecnosicurezza on our safes.
The last credit you see on this video
tells what's inside.
I could see where they would not want the safe damaged. There are specific techniques to crack dial locks, but most lock smiths don't know how. I've heard cocky locksmiths say they refuse to crack safes because it takes too long, but IMO, it just means they aren't confident they can do it.
I will admit, the people who know, don't like to give up the secret easily. ;)
Take a Stepper-Motor and a Microcontroller. This machine can then test each combination. I estimate 100 possible WheelPositions so this gaves us 100*100*100=1.000.000 combinations. Setting up the Combination shuld take about 3s, try to pull the door takes 2s. So it would take about 5mio secs--> about 2 months to surely crack it
brute force all the way!
Yep. But it is easily crackable :)
Auto Dialer will not work on this safe.
Unless you create one which will try the Bolt Control Handle after each combo tried.
What do you consider more secure for a gun safe...an electronic keypad, or a combination lock? I am considering both but am worried about the electronic keypad...seems like it could fail a lot more easily than a mechanical combo lock.
This is Portland, Oregon's KATU.
@tingalls21 Show us a video of it. A series of videos would be wonderful. Showing everything about your ambulance, all your locksmith tools, and explaining what they do.
The safe contained "secret" material, such as old invoices.
They actually DID say what was inside of it. They said the contents were canned fish in the video.
yeah i have an old halls safe but its 2x the size of that one it left a scar in the pavement that washed away after a few months when we were moving it
>..> infact i think ill make a video on it i would like to restore it
the last owner thought it would be a good idea to paint it with latex interior paint and cover up all the nice designs
i don't know what to put in it i don't feel its really safe i have a new safe for that but it is a nice conversation piece
@tingalls21 I agree with LG Basic. We don't see the Globalok here in Spain, and any lock with VDS (Class B EN-1300) is a good option for a gun safe.
@Dragosanz Can you post a link to VDS certified locks? Globaloks are out of Canada, The last batch I purchased were factory direct. Become a member of NSO (National Safemans Organization) and occasionally you will get terrific deals.
Knight Solaire of Astoria was inside... Waiting for some jolly cooperation.
That's not fair!
WHAT'S INSIDEEEE
those experts must feel stupid
They took out all the valuables and left some canned fish inside as a joke
what was in it then??? More than a month has passed!
What was in then??
@tingalls21 yeah, unlabeled cans.. what was in the cans?
That guy stole the stuff inside! 100% he looks too relaxed
Yeah, but what was in the cans? Nice work mate.
Locksmith definitely pocketed the "real end of the world date" shit now we'll never know, ahhh, oh well I'm over it need to go consume now
In Astoria...it's one-eyed willy's treasure! the rich stuff!
@blahk04
I didn't try random numbers....I do consider myself an expert in safe opening. I have been locksmithing over 25 years. I have studied the art of safe manipulation since 1992. I humbly consider myself LUCKY in the fact that this safe waited for me to allow it to be opened.
Tins of fish????? My arse
title needs to be "safe cracked"
You need to call Geraldo Rivera and see if he is interested in hosting a live tv show.
That safe was actually found in Al Capone's vault...lol
Well, I was hoping that since it was posted in 2008, and they said they would've said in a month or so what was in it, that maybe they had said something about it by now...
Just bought a similar Hall's safe, locked and with unknown combination. any one know how to get ahold of Tom Gorham?
You need to go to Jeff Sitar. 8 time World Champion. I'm pretty sure he can open it and faster than anyone!
No need to drill...It's been dialed open..No damage to the safe!
are they going to say what was in the safe
did they try turning it off and on again?
Agreed. Good locksmiths have strict personal standards.
so what was in there?
Nice man. Btw nice hair =D
Sooooooooo, WHAT was in it ?
It was Empty or it had something of Worth in it..
Nobody stores can fish in a safe.. They just don't want to claim it to the IRS or banks..
bcbandit123 what the fuck does one claim to a bank?
Have they tried the handle?
It turned out to be filled with canned fish
Hat's to u man
Call Jeff sitar
take it to jeff sitar lol
why no write down all the combinations
call JEFF SITAR!
I think that the cans were probably full with gold.
Where's the saw?
Yeah, I call bullshit too. If it was just canned salmon he wouldn't have asked the cannery's board of directors if it was okay to tell the public what they found in the safe and never release any picture or details in it's fate.
No, it had to have been something really bad or something really valuable.
Or it was canned salmon and nothing special and them not telling the public was just a way to keep people talking about it...
Seems like they may be attempting to evade taxes.
+egreSS Canned Goldfish!!!
@jasongamage
That would require a hole. The owner wanted NO holes drilled.
(talk about thick!)
check the bottom, if its anything like a atm the weak spot must be there, right?
i seriously doubt there was cans of seafood in there. there was something of value and the owner doent want to pay the taxes on it.
wait the title says that its a uncrackable safe and they crack it
Yeah, one whole case of canned Salmon. After hearing his comment about the "Cannery Foundation Board", I bet it was full of Gold that he didn't want to return to it's rightful owner.
0:01 Uncrackable voice cracked.
it wont let me post the link for some reason
Probably nothing but some papers!!
Nothing But Fish
They found Geraldo Rivera.
hey i have a safe just like it cant get it open at all i really need help dont know whats in it but i really want to know but dosent want to break it
@analyzingfunny that's why u always go through one of the sides (less security, less acid, less flesh eating bacteria)
but seriously, what was in it?!?
so what was inside?
@ihaveairlockers lol thats funny you mention that. i juat retrieved an old safe my aunt owned and i found the lost keys. it has been in our family for years and i thought it would have some lost treasure in it....lol. just a bunch of old useless papers. and the directions it first came with. HAHA!
Nice work! Didn't look to be anything special about the safe, though - what lock was it?
i think safe was just mallfunctioning and someone should just kick it few times so fence can come loose and start moving so you can manipulate it
What was in the safe?
@tingalls21 It looks like a neat lock, i just checked out the homepage. We use VDS certified locks on 90% of our products. Maybe they shoud test it for European market. I don't see a distributor.
lol, sprayed with blue stuff, but holes aren't allowed.
whats in the box
roflmao i was like, theres nothing inside!!!!!!
then went... wow...