Meilink safe

[tbone0924]

Hello all.
Excellent site here. First, I'm no locksmith but found my way here while studying up on lock manipulation. I had been studying up on the technique because I had a safe passed on to me from my folks, and of course they don't know combination. I've learned alot about combination locks over the last few weeks though.
So, I'm posting here to see if i can get some info on this safe. My dad claims there's some stuff in this thing but my mom says there isn't anything in there but rat pills and I am determined to find out who is right! I've called a local locksmith several times but he never returned my calls. And honestly, not knowing for sure there is anything of value in there, i don't really want to spend a lot of money to get it open. So, the way i figure it ive got a couple options. Try and cut it open and destroy the safe or see if i can manipulate the combo.
Anyway, can anyone tell me anything about it? What kind of lock is in it? All i know is its a Melink.

[Riyame]

From my records it is a Melink "30" and should be 41" x 25 1/2" x 28 1/4" or so. Weight is about 850 lbs. It should have a S&G 6720-2 which is a 3 wheel lock.

[tbone0924]

Its 16 1/2" d X 16 1/2" w X 23 1/2 tall. Its got a serial # on the outside if that will tell you anything. Starts with 82.
And the dial is plastic. Would that still be a S&G lock?

[Riyame]

Sorry, no info on that one. The picture I had and yours looked exactly the same.

[Jaakko Fagerlund]

Have you spun the dial to see what it feels like? Like how many wheels it picks up, contact points are there, movable / not movable fly, sticky dial, screeching sounds, anything?

[tbone0924]

Oh yea, Ive been spinning the dial. Ive attempted to graph the gates but havent come up with anything useful. That most likely from my inexperience. Id like to get my hands on a lock like the one thats in here that i could play with so i could get the feel of locating contact points and gates. Watching videos and reading helps, but nothing like hands on.

The wheels spin pretty free. appears to be a 3 wheel lock with contact points between 98 and 8.

[bitbuster]

the lock is an imitation S&G 6709. it has an extended bolt. it has 3 locking bolts. 1 locking bolt each top and bottom and 1 locking bolt opening side. it also has 2 fixed locking bolts on the hinge side.
dialing sequence is 4L--3R--2L--1R to stop. handle rotation is CCW.
the 3 wheels are plastice and are mesh-change.
this is meilink's standard 'home fire safe'. many of these are branded 'montgomery wards'. these are from the 60s- very early 80s.

[MBI]

I'm not aware of their standard policy, but in the past I've used the serial number from a Meilink safe to contact the manufacturer and get the combination. Obviously this would only work if the combination hasn't been changed since the original sale. I don't know how far back they keep records, the safe I was working on was only a couple years old at the time.

[10ringo10]

Meilink - nice welcome to kp - just the handle mech buddy - not the lock

[tbone0924]

Thanks for the input. Ive been determined to try and manipulate the combo but Im beginning to think that may be over my head. Ive called meilink, they want $107 to research for the combo. I may end up going that route.

If not, these pics 10 ring posted look interesting. So you saying all it takes is drilling 1 hole and you can knock the locking mech alose?

[pickmonger2]

If you want to try and open it without drilling and learn about how the pros do non destructive entry you might be interested
in http://analoghacking.com/.

You can get books that give exact measurements of where to drill that allows a basic repair to put the safe back in service.

[pickmonger2]

These 2 books may be of help to you in learning safe opening.

The National Locksmith Guide to manipulation
The National Locksmith Guide to modern safe opening


There are a number of safe locks available without the safe if you are interested in learning hobby manipulation of combination locks.

[tbone0924]

Its been fun learning the hobby, that's for sure. I just got done reading Daggers A Little Book I Wrote a couple times.
I attempted the graph the gates the other day, but after loading up that software and hooking up a web cam, it made reading a lot more accurate and easy. My first graph came up with an obvious gate. Im just having a hard time trusting my results. Gonna roll with the number I got through the rest of the steps and see what happens.

Ill look into those books too..

[Jaakko Fagerlund]

Just remember that even though what you found to be your gate turns out to not be a gate, it is still a lower point on the wheel and allows you to do more testing on other wheels. So even though you don't know for sure, it is a stepping stone in the right direction

[pickmonger2]

There is a paper by Matt Blaze http://www.crypto.com/papers/safelocks.pdf that gives some basic info on opening a safe locks.