Thank you so so much! I recently moved into an apartment with a wall safe where no one knew the combination anymore and finally, after 2 days I got it open thanks to your instructions! To the people wondering if it also works if the safe has an "empty space" on the combination wheel, it did for me! I just drew some lines with a marker on it because the left contact point was located there and I couldnt precisely read it without guidelines. Now the last thing I'm wondering is how to change the combination, since the "key" for this is missing. But I'll surely figure something out (or just keep it how it was). Again, thank you so much, your series is truly amazing.
I didn't have a clue how safe locks works until I started watching this series, and that's why I started watching them. By watching the 5 first lessons I have a pretty good understanding on how they work and how to crack a safe lock. I also understand that wouldn't stand a chance cracking a safe lock, but at least I now understand how they work and I've always been curious about how safe locks work. You are very good at explaining in a way that even a total novise like me understand something complicated as safecracking. I just wanted to stop and make this comment before I continue watching the rest of the videos in this series. Thank you for sharing your knowledge! You got a new subscriber.🙂
Great video man! I literally watch these videos over each probably like 10 times and spent the process of three days from now in absolutely nothing to cracking a sergeant and Greenleaf on high-security safe. My one tip advice for people and like you said your videos is the better the lock the smaller those differences are and I like to use the idea of not even numbers but to go even as distinct as inside of the line or the outside of the line for the number. That’s the degree I had to go to to crack this safe finally. Thanks a ton!
Thank you, for your time and effort. I've learn about the wheel isolation from here and now I have been getting in some practice time. Now my efforts are paying off. My combo changer was amazed at how much time I've shaved off. Now I have the whole winter to get much better..
Thank you so so much man, I did exactly the way you showed it and was able to find the combination of a random safe on my 2nd attempt, you`re amazing dude, thanks a bunch!!!
Having trouble. I have found the middle number on my lock using a left rotation like you did. Next I found the first number with a right rotation like you did. I am having trouble finding the last number. I noticed that your numbers you found where for a right left right rotation but when you opened the lock at the end you used a left right left rotation but with the numbers in the same order. I am going to try to graph the third number when I have a chance but am also wondering am I missing something?
I had a question I was hoping you could help me with. @ 4:16 you have reset and are about to check the Contact Points. You rotate the dial Left from 98 and read 96 3/8 for the Right Contact Point, BUT then you go Left again to read the Left Contact Point. In every other example previously when you are using 0 as the reference point you are ensuring to go Right and left of 0, never passing it, in this case you do pass 98, or am I not understanding something. I want to say think you for these amazing videos, they are very complex and I am taking a lot of notes as I have a hard time understanding this, I am hoping with more practice it will become more natural. Thank You
I did, good eye! I should've made that more obvious and also wrote down the rotation when I jotted down the number in the bottom right of the graph. This is one of the less common cases where wheel 2 read first, when starting with AWL, so I found each number in the combination with it's opposite rotation. Next video will talk about converting rotations to the opposite direction :)
You got your first number on wheel two. I saw a comment where the guy thought he found his first number if wheel 1. What about if I found my 1st number on wheel 3??? Would I turn 4x left to my first test number, then 2x right passing that number to my SUSPECTED 1ST NUMBER, then to the contact area to take readings? Great series!
@@lockmanipulator wouldn't he only need to pass the test number once to pick up wheel 3 and drop it off at the 1st suspected number? Or do you mean pass the suspected number once and land on it the second time but not 2 full rotations?
Hey mate, really interesting series, I’ve been following this to crack open a safe my grandparents found in the floor after they moved in recently. I also have third wheel so far, I believe. My question is, can you do all wheels right like you did for all wheels left? seems easier for my brain instead of trying to put my 3rd wheel number back to 51 every time. Thanks
Yes you can do all wheels right, although you still have to put your third wheel back to 51 each time before you read the contact points. Because no matter which way you spin the wheels, the third wheel is always last to be put in place. So if you found the number for the third wheel, you must put it on it's number before reading the contact points.
@@lockmanipulator then do I start back at 0? so if I collect all the wheels to the right then left rotate one full rotation to 51 then back one full rotation to 0 placing the wheels then rotating back left to my contact points at 11 - 20?.
when you do the High/Low test to confirm the second number, you say to dial the first number you found on its corresponding wheel, and then set the other 2 numbers- one of them higher or lower by 10 and with opposite rotation, and then switch to test the other. in other instructional resources I've seen, they say to do it the same as you did the first High/Low test- set 2 wheels to the number you've just found, and then offset the other. so if your first number was 23L and it was on W3, and the second number you found was 61R, your High Test would look like: 61R - 71L - 23L and 71L - 61R - 23L. Doing it the other way, you'd test: 61R - 71L- 61R and 71L - 61R - 61R. I'm assuming both methods would work? your way does seem like it would be more accurate, because by parking the first known number/wheel at its gate you are only contacting the other 2 wheels and are removing possible "noise" from any imperfections or high spots that might be on the already-known wheel. does this align with your thinking?
actually, watching again, you did your High and Low number with the same rotation as the number that you're testing. I suppose that's another difference. so in the example I gave above, you would test: 61R - 71R - 23L and 71R - 61R - 23L?
@@lockmanipulator I finally opened my safe last night! what a great feeling, after having worked at it for so long. as it turned out, the first number I had found didn't belong to the 3rd wheel.. nor the 1st wheel.. but actually the 2nd wheel! I spent at least 90% of my total time operating under the assumption it was in the 1st, then 3rd wheel. my biggest issue was that my High/Low tests were almost always inconclusive. High Test would indicate one wheel, Low Test would indicate another. I tried to find consistent results by running them at +/- 10, +/- 7 and also by doing rotational conversions and running all the numbers with the opposite rotations. 😅 what finally helped me was learning how to properly isolate wheels.. this was something I hadn't fully grasped before. by doing this, I was able to confirm my 1st number was on the 2nd wheel, and then it was all downhill from there. 3rd wheel indicated next, and 15 minutes later the safe was open. no treasure inside- just a paperclip and an old dime. thanks for all the help!
Hey man hoping you can help me. I have a 1950s Cole Fire Safe and it has a strange issue. When I go 4L for AWL, the dial has a super clunky/sticky spot at 21 in either direction, regardless of how many times its been turned L or R. I suspect that there's something mechanically wrong with the lock or something stuck inside. (which maybe why it sat for 30+yrs). When I'm at AWL at the end of 4L and go to '5' I can feel the start of what seems to be a gate but can't feel the other side at all. Any advice? TIA
When you say you feel a gate at 5, I'm not sure what you mean. Do you mean a contact point? The thing is, you can't feel the gates themselves because the wheels don't turn when the fence is on the wheel pack (except in the contact area which is why those numbers aren't allowed in the combination). The clunky spot at 21 could be some sort of defect. It doesn't sound like normal lock operations.
@@lockmanipulator correct. I can feel a contact point at 5.5+/- and at 93+/-. I downloaded the PDF and have watched all five videos in the series and I'm kinda stumped as to what to do next. Not bagging on you but having a masters in instructional technology, the jumping back and forth between unscripted points makes it very hard to follow some sections.
The second reason, there's a dip in both areas but 59 is about the right width for a gate. 74 is really narrow so the possibility of that being a gate instead of just wheel shape irregularity is low.
I have an old safe im trying to crack, but I'm stuck. I have managed to to find the first number 49 AWL, and found out that it belongs to the first wheel. But I dont understand what to do next, because in this video you've found the number on the second wheel and go from there. I also dont know if the lock has 3 or 4 combinations.
To proceed, you put the first wheel on 49 with left rotation then you move wheels 2 and 3 around the dial while taking contact point readings. So, left 4x to 49. Then right 3x to 40. Then left to the contact points and take readings. Then turn right to 37.5 stopping on the first time, then left to contact points. Right to 35 stopping on the first time and then left to contact points etc. Think about what the wheels are doing. Every time you take contact point readings, wheel 1 is on it's correct number and wheels 2 and 3 are moving around the dial. As for how many numbers in the combination, if it has 3 wheels it has 3 numbers.
@@lockmanipulator thanks for your reply. Ugh I thinks this safe has 4 wheels. Any tips for working with a 4 wheel safe? It's a S&G safe. When I said I found the first wheel I meant the 4th. I also think i found the 3rd wheel but i cant be completely sure. Is it common that the size of the first or second wheel can mask a lever drop when working with the 2nd, 3rd or 4th? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
@@andersharestad2998 If it has 4 wheels, it's the same process. Find a gate with all wheels left or with wheel isolation. And then to find the other gates, keep doing the same thing but with the found wheel on it's correct number. And yes, it's possible that the size or shape of a wheel can mask the gate on another wheel. In that case, you should use wheel isolation to help avoid that issue.
@@lockmanipulator Thank you so much! I finally managed to open the old wall safe just now. I started two days ago from having no experience at all. Searched through the entire internet for anything to help me, but nothing on the internet can compare to this video series. It has taught me everything. Again - thank you so much! You should be proud of this video series.
I'm confused about your second wheel being 41Left.......doesn't the second number always have to be dialed with Right rotation????? Or did I miss something???I've been struggling with this for weeks.....it would be awesome if you could do another video explaining this, as it doesn't make sense to me
It doesn't matter what rotation you set a wheel. If you find a number with left/right rotation, it's best to always use that rotation. If you switch it up, just make sure to account for rotational differences. If you look at the back of a lock as you dial, you will see how you can dial the second number with left rotation. Or try dialing every number with left rotation and you will see how it works.
If you look up Safecracking for Everyone on amazon that's one I highly recommend! It's not long (50 pages) but is quite dense with all the information you need.
If we know that wheel 2 is at 41, why are we using left rotation to set wheel 2 there? Wheel 2 will always be rotated to the right if the combination is x-41-y. Why not use right rotation to set wheel 2 at 41 and test 1 and 3 with left rotation?
![[1337] My New & Improved Robotic Safe-Cracker…](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/vkk-2QEUvuk/mqdefault.jpg)
Thank you so so much! I recently moved into an apartment with a wall safe where no one knew the combination anymore and finally, after 2 days I got it open thanks to your instructions!
To the people wondering if it also works if the safe has an "empty space" on the combination wheel, it did for me! I just drew some lines with a marker on it because the left contact point was located there and I couldnt precisely read it without guidelines.
Now the last thing I'm wondering is how to change the combination, since the "key" for this is missing. But I'll surely figure something out (or just keep it how it was).
Again, thank you so much, your series is truly amazing.
I didn't have a clue how safe locks works until I started watching this series, and that's why I started watching them. By watching the 5 first lessons I have a pretty good understanding on how they work and how to crack a safe lock. I also understand that wouldn't stand a chance cracking a safe lock, but at least I now understand how they work and I've always been curious about how safe locks work. You are very good at explaining in a way that even a total novise like me understand something complicated as safecracking. I just wanted to stop and make this comment before I continue watching the rest of the videos in this series. Thank you for sharing your knowledge! You got a new subscriber.🙂
Could you make a video demonstrating what to do if you find the first number on W1 or W3? It's unclear what to do in those cases. Thank you.
Great video man! I literally watch these videos over each probably like 10 times and spent the process of three days from now in absolutely nothing to cracking a sergeant and Greenleaf on high-security safe. My one tip advice for people and like you said your videos is the better the lock the smaller those differences are and I like to use the idea of not even numbers but to go even as distinct as inside of the line or the outside of the line for the number. That’s the degree I had to go to to crack this safe finally. Thanks a ton!
Thank you for sharing this , i have a old safe i need to open so trying to get a good understanding of the workings , thanks again for the uploads 👍👍
Really enjoying these videos, thanks for putting them together.
Thank you, for your time and effort. I've learn about the wheel isolation from here and now I have been getting in some practice time. Now my efforts are paying off. My combo changer was amazed at how much time I've shaved off. Now I have the whole winter to get much better..
Thank you so so much man, I did exactly the way you showed it and was able to find the combination of a random safe on my 2nd attempt, you`re amazing dude, thanks a bunch!!!
This is what youtube was made for
Having trouble. I have found the middle number on my lock using a left rotation like you did. Next I found the first number with a right rotation like you did. I am having trouble finding the last number. I noticed that your numbers you found where for a right left right rotation but when you opened the lock at the end you used a left right left rotation but with the numbers in the same order. I am going to try to graph the third number when I have a chance but am also wondering am I missing something?
I have a question how would I do it if I got 92 on the first wheel awl (from the last video)
I had a question I was hoping you could help me with. @ 4:16 you have reset and are about to check the Contact Points. You rotate the dial Left from 98 and read 96 3/8 for the Right Contact Point, BUT then you go Left again to read the Left Contact Point. In every other example previously when you are using 0 as the reference point you are ensuring to go Right and left of 0, never passing it, in this case you do pass 98, or am I not understanding something.
I want to say think you for these amazing videos, they are very complex and I am taking a lot of notes as I have a hard time understanding this, I am hoping with more practice it will become more natural.
Thank You
Training aside, how quick could you open this lock?
Is it normal to get 5 on awl right rotation and 0 left contact?
Wonderful video! To get it open, did you dial RLR?
I did, good eye! I should've made that more obvious and also wrote down the rotation when I jotted down the number in the bottom right of the graph. This is one of the less common cases where wheel 2 read first, when starting with AWL, so I found each number in the combination with it's opposite rotation. Next video will talk about converting rotations to the opposite direction :)
@@lockmanipulator Thanks for your reply! You're killing it with this video series.
Where can I get that paper to write down readings
You got your first number on wheel two. I saw a comment where the guy thought he found his first number if wheel 1. What about if I found my 1st number on wheel 3??? Would I turn 4x left to my first test number, then 2x right passing that number to my SUSPECTED 1ST NUMBER, then to the contact area to take readings? Great series!
Correct!
@@lockmanipulator wait, if they did it that way, wouldn't they be dropping the 2nd wheel at their 1st suspected number?
@@lockmanipulator wouldn't he only need to pass the test number once to pick up wheel 3 and drop it off at the 1st suspected number?
Or do you mean pass the suspected number once and land on it the second time but not 2 full rotations?
Hey mate, really interesting series, I’ve been following this to crack open a safe my grandparents found in the floor after they moved in recently.
I also have third wheel so far, I believe. My question is, can you do all wheels right like you did for all wheels left? seems easier for my brain instead of trying to put my 3rd wheel number back to 51 every time.
Thanks
Yes you can do all wheels right, although you still have to put your third wheel back to 51 each time before you read the contact points. Because no matter which way you spin the wheels, the third wheel is always last to be put in place. So if you found the number for the third wheel, you must put it on it's number before reading the contact points.
@@lockmanipulator then do I start back at 0? so if I collect all the wheels to the right then left rotate one full rotation to 51 then back one full rotation to 0 placing the wheels then rotating back left to my contact points at 11 - 20?.
@@baydnmadden7848 You rotate right to place w1&2. Then you rotate left and put w3 on 51. Then rotate right to the contact points and read them.
when you do the High/Low test to confirm the second number, you say to dial the first number you found on its corresponding wheel, and then set the other 2 numbers- one of them higher or lower by 10 and with opposite rotation, and then switch to test the other.
in other instructional resources I've seen, they say to do it the same as you did the first High/Low test- set 2 wheels to the number you've just found, and then offset the other.
so if your first number was 23L and it was on W3, and the second number you found was 61R, your High Test would look like: 61R - 71L - 23L and 71L - 61R - 23L.
Doing it the other way, you'd test: 61R - 71L- 61R and 71L - 61R - 61R.
I'm assuming both methods would work? your way does seem like it would be more accurate, because by parking the first known number/wheel at its gate you are only contacting the other 2 wheels and are removing possible "noise" from any imperfections or high spots that might be on the already-known wheel.
does this align with your thinking?
actually, watching again, you did your High and Low number with the same rotation as the number that you're testing. I suppose that's another difference.
so in the example I gave above, you would test: 61R - 71R - 23L and 71R - 61R - 23L?
You'd want to use the number you already found otherwise there's a high chance of it not working as the first number you found could mask the results.
@@lockmanipulator
I finally opened my safe last night! what a great feeling, after having worked at it for so long.
as it turned out, the first number I had found didn't belong to the 3rd wheel.. nor the 1st wheel.. but actually the 2nd wheel! I spent at least 90% of my total time operating under the assumption it was in the 1st, then 3rd wheel. my biggest issue was that my High/Low tests were almost always inconclusive. High Test would indicate one wheel, Low Test would indicate another. I tried to find consistent results by running them at +/- 10, +/- 7 and also by doing rotational conversions and running all the numbers with the opposite rotations. 😅
what finally helped me was learning how to properly isolate wheels.. this was something I hadn't fully grasped before. by doing this, I was able to confirm my 1st number was on the 2nd wheel, and then it was all downhill from there. 3rd wheel indicated next, and 15 minutes later the safe was open. no treasure inside- just a paperclip and an old dime.
thanks for all the help!
@@aaronschwingel3330 Glad to hear!
Hey man hoping you can help me.
I have a 1950s Cole Fire Safe and it has a strange issue. When I go 4L for AWL, the dial has a super clunky/sticky spot at 21 in either direction, regardless of how many times its been turned L or R.
I suspect that there's something mechanically wrong with the lock or something stuck inside. (which maybe why it sat for 30+yrs).
When I'm at AWL at the end of 4L and go to '5' I can feel the start of what seems to be a gate but can't feel the other side at all.
Any advice? TIA
When you say you feel a gate at 5, I'm not sure what you mean. Do you mean a contact point? The thing is, you can't feel the gates themselves because the wheels don't turn when the fence is on the wheel pack (except in the contact area which is why those numbers aren't allowed in the combination). The clunky spot at 21 could be some sort of defect. It doesn't sound like normal lock operations.
@@lockmanipulator correct. I can feel a contact point at 5.5+/- and at 93+/-.
I downloaded the PDF and have watched all five videos in the series and I'm kinda stumped as to what to do next.
Not bagging on you but having a masters in instructional technology, the jumping back and forth between unscripted points makes it very hard to follow some sections.
Can I ask why you chose 59 instead of 74? is it because there was more 'flat' surrounding 59? or because there were two high/low dots instead of one?
The second reason, there's a dip in both areas but 59 is about the right width for a gate. 74 is really narrow so the possibility of that being a gate instead of just wheel shape irregularity is low.
@@lockmanipulator Thanks :) your videos are amazing
I have an old safe im trying to crack, but I'm stuck. I have managed to to find the first number 49 AWL, and found out that it belongs to the first wheel. But I dont understand what to do next, because in this video you've found the number on the second wheel and go from there. I also dont know if the lock has 3 or 4 combinations.
To proceed, you put the first wheel on 49 with left rotation then you move wheels 2 and 3 around the dial while taking contact point readings. So, left 4x to 49. Then right 3x to 40. Then left to the contact points and take readings. Then turn right to 37.5 stopping on the first time, then left to contact points. Right to 35 stopping on the first time and then left to contact points etc.
Think about what the wheels are doing. Every time you take contact point readings, wheel 1 is on it's correct number and wheels 2 and 3 are moving around the dial.
As for how many numbers in the combination, if it has 3 wheels it has 3 numbers.
@@lockmanipulator thanks for your reply. Ugh I thinks this safe has 4 wheels. Any tips for working with a 4 wheel safe? It's a S&G safe. When I said I found the first wheel I meant the 4th. I also think i found the 3rd wheel but i cant be completely sure. Is it common that the size of the first or second wheel can mask a lever drop when working with the 2nd, 3rd or 4th? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
@@andersharestad2998 If it has 4 wheels, it's the same process. Find a gate with all wheels left or with wheel isolation. And then to find the other gates, keep doing the same thing but with the found wheel on it's correct number.
And yes, it's possible that the size or shape of a wheel can mask the gate on another wheel. In that case, you should use wheel isolation to help avoid that issue.
@@lockmanipulator Thank you so much! I finally managed to open the old wall safe just now. I started two days ago from having no experience at all. Searched through the entire internet for anything to help me, but nothing on the internet can compare to this video series. It has taught me everything. Again - thank you so much! You should be proud of this video series.
I'm confused about your second wheel being 41Left.......doesn't the second number always have to be dialed with Right rotation????? Or did I miss something???I've been struggling with this for weeks.....it would be awesome if you could do another video explaining this, as it doesn't make sense to me
It doesn't matter what rotation you set a wheel. If you find a number with left/right rotation, it's best to always use that rotation. If you switch it up, just make sure to account for rotational differences. If you look at the back of a lock as you dial, you will see how you can dial the second number with left rotation. Or try dialing every number with left rotation and you will see how it works.
What books have you read for safe manipulation?
If you look up Safecracking for Everyone on amazon that's one I highly recommend! It's not long (50 pages) but is quite dense with all the information you need.
If I find the 1st number on the 3rd wheel. How do I park it on the number to find the second number? Doesn't the 3rd wheel move the other 2 wheels?
Yeah just move wheel 3 to the number it should be on after dialing wheels 1 and 2
If we know that wheel 2 is at 41, why are we using left rotation to set wheel 2 there? Wheel 2 will always be rotated to the right if the combination is x-41-y. Why not use right rotation to set wheel 2 at 41 and test 1 and 3 with left rotation?
L42 and R42 are actually different numbers. You'd have to take rotational conversion into the equation and I personally prefer not to do that.