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Well, I got my first S&G 6700 yesterday, and mounted it up:





I had my wife change the combination with the sweet combination change key my buddy Oldfast sent me (Thanks!), and had a go. My first graph was beautiful, the contact points were very crisp and easy to discern. It left me with an obvious gate at 77:



So, I did a high low test, and determined 77 was the third number. Then I moved onto mapping out the other wheels, and found what I thought was a gate at 34:



My high-low testing of this number was very inconclusive. I thought it was the first number, so I proceeded to try combinations of 34-?-77. I got no joy. It was nearly 4 AM, and I was fairly certain I was on the right track, but I got impatient and looked at the combination (STUPID, STUPID! Don't make decisions like that at 4 AM!). Well it turned out the combination was 94-32-77. I had correctly identified a gate around 32.5, but my initial amplification must have been poor, and I incorrectly identified the number as 34 instead of 32. Additionally, my inconclusive high-low truly was sketchy, since 32 was actually the 2nd number, not the first as I thought it might be. Many lessons learned.

So, this morning I had my wife set a new combination. My initial mapping revealed a gate at 59, and my high-low determined it was on gate 3 as expected:



High-Low confirmed gate 3.

I then proceeded to map out the other 2 wheels again, which yielded a very promising gate at 5 (so promising, I just stopped graphing...)



My initial high-low was AGAIN completely inconclusive. I used a deviation of 10 (as last night), and it didn't tell me anything. I was fairly certain it would be the second number, since I knew that the 2nd number found yesterday was on the 2nd wheel - but I wanted to proceed as if I did not have that knowledge. I tried another high-low, this time with a 20 point deviation, and BINGO! I confirmed it was wheel 2.

So, I proceeded to check combinations in 2.5 point increments with ?-5-59, and at 42.5 - 5 - 59, CLICK! She opened! I then checked the combination and it was set to 42-6-59, so my second number was still off by 1 - but it was close enough!

Awesome! Congratulation!

I can't even remember my first manipulation but
I know it was sweet.

The 2nd wheel, from my experience, is normally the first to tell where it's gate is.
then the 3rd and the first.

M.

Bwahahaha, I am guessing you outbid me on 1 of the 3 locks the seller had?

Congrats on the first successful manipulation

Haha, did someone bid over your $29 up to $30? If so, then YES! That was me! At least you know I enjoyed it.... Thanks for the congrats as well, it was a pretty cool feeling.

Hey thanks Altashot! Some of the comments you have made throughout the forum have been very helpful to me as well. I was not aware that the 2nd wheel usually indicated first - I thought it was usually the 3rd, but that is very good information to have!

Yup, that was me. I messaged the seller and he had more so I wound up with 6 total. I got a "bulk" rate off ebay

My condolences on your first successful manipulation. You are now condemned to hours of sitting in front of a dial and spinning, spinning, and more spinning. Yep, manipulation has sunk its claws deep into you, just as it has me.

Welcome to the asylum of manipulation.

Gordon

Great job!
Now go teach that La Gard a lesson.

Haha, well at least it all worked out! The packaging was very suspect, but the spindle wasn't bent and everything works, so maybe I lucked out? Hopefully yours all arrive in good condition!

Hey Thanks Gordon! I have yet to see whether it turns into the obsession that picking was, but I can feel it might go that way.... I can already see myself buying every lock I can get my hands on!

Well I am certainly going to try! First I am going to give the Ilco another go, and then I will revisit the LaGard. I have a feeling that one is going to take me a bit...

First of all.... BEAUTIFUL MOUNT! I love it. And just a thought, but you might consider linseed oil for the next one.
Really brings out the grain & helps preserve & protect the wood. Downside is it seems to collect/show more dust.

Second... you're coming along nicely, and quickly! You've definitely caught on much quicker than I did. lol

And, some constructive criticism - 2 things:

1. On your high/low testing that followed Graph#1 AWL

49 59 59
59 49 59
59 59 49

(above) Your test for the gate @ 59 was done correctly & you determined it belonged to w3.
But this requires clearing the dial after each of 3 tests. You're basically dialing 3 combinations.

(below) My only suggestion is to try the same thing, but in the opposite order. In other words,
test/throw w3 FIRST... then w2... and then w1. Give it try. You'll see it saves time & rotations.

59 59 49
59 49 59
49 59 59

2. And on your high/low testing that followed Graph#2.... 1+2 AR/ 3@59

Here you found a gate @ 5 and tried to tag it to wheel 1 or 2:

95 5 5
5 95 5

No, no, no. Remember, at this point you have a KNOWN GATE for w3 (59)
During these two test configurations w3 should be placed on its' gate. Right?

95 5 59
5 95 59

Hope I've helped. Exciting stuff man! Keep at it.
Time to go see how you're doing with that LaGard
(although I don't know how much help I'll be there).

Hey thanks so much Oldfast! I actually do have a coat of Teak Oil on the ash - but it was just one quick coat - I really just wanted to get the things mounted up!

1.) That is a great tip! I have learned a few things like that now, but I hadn't done that one yet. For example, I don't really graph on the S&G's anymore - I just go AWL for the first gate, and after I test the contact points I just go back to where I start to pick up the wheels again and go another 2.5 incs - that way if I forget which number I was on it is easy to work my way through without writing anything down. I actually started testing my second wheel going backwards through the numbers (rather than from 0 to 99), so that I can do the same thing with 2 wheels right and the 3rd wheel left (assuming wheel 3 indicated first)

2.) That is very interesting that you mention my second High-Low test, because I THOUGHT I should be putting my known number on the known gate! However, in Daggers' book he shows it the way I did it. I assumed it really wouldn't make a difference in determining which wheel it was on, but it would probably yield more conclusive results if I parked the known wheel on the known gate - I will do that from now on. I should have trusted my instincts!

Ha! Yeah, I know the feeling. Sometimes I can barely wait for the paint to dry. lol