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Absolutely! We'd love to see more. Thanks Jan

Thanks for the explanation, 00247. Makes perfect sense now. Oldfast, you're right, it would be easy to figure out if I had one, but for as much as everyone says they're fairly common, I've not found one for myself yet. Always looking, tho... So many locks, so little money...

Jan, we all do love some lock porn here (especially Oldfast)... please post as many pictures as you like, and welcome to the forum

(Really amazing, that we can write here "lock porn" without having to write "lock p*rn". Thanks!)

I will post tomorrow. It’s here 21:51h right now.

Clever design! Does it have problems? Wear? Does it still work with a borken spring?

Of the few I've serviced, no. Always appear to be in good working order.


Good question. Not sure. Really just speculation on my part...
but no, I don't think this would create a problem. The driver's
still holding it in place, so it shouldn't drop enough to impede
bolt movement. I can't see how this could create a lock-out.

If the cam was punched, gravity would bring it down to
interfere with bolt retraction. Without spring pressure
though, it's hard to say whether or not it would stay
there to do it's job. Seems like it would, but I dunno.

Where's Squelchtone?! He needs to get in on some of this easy gravy

Great information here! Thank you.

I could be totally off base, but I seem to remember seeing that the OC-5 friction fence has a light coil spring inside. I think I had seen one that had fallen apart.



It seems they are common on safes, but hard to find as stand-alone locks, and rather pricey when found. That's been my observation so far.

Mosler friction fence lock (Yale 29 1/2?)

Some more pictures. Once the safe door is open you can remove the back plate of the lock by dialing the numbers to the other index. In that case you can slide the back cover to open it.

My Yale OC5. I don’t have the spring inside.
And is there anyone who can help me with a index ring for this lock? Dimension of the dial is 63,19mm/ 2.48 inch.
I’ll hope!

I agree... I'd also say this is an 029 1/2

What a gorgeous lock. Thank you for sharing it Jan. Pictures of these are important because most of us don't see many. Personally, I've run into less than a handful. It's interesting to think about these. (No idea if this is correct, but) I'm assuming the initial motives behind this design was to combat punch attacks. But offsetting the spindle away from the wheel pack (along with the added gears to accomplish this), ended up having other implications for manipulators years later. Undoubtedly, this adds a new level of difficulty. I'd imagine you'll rarely see a safe-tech attempting to spin one of these.


Exactly. L.O.B.C (Locked On By Combination). Dialing the combo to the L.O.B.C index aligns the gates with the protrusion on the cover (as you've shown), allowing it to slide to the side to be removed. I had one where the door was open, but no combo. Applying a decent amount of force to the cover will bring the protrusion against the wheels, allowing you to (in a way) manipulate it. How often and how easily does it happen?... couldn't say. Only done it once. But it's an interesting tid-bit of info anyway before you drill a small peek-hole in the cover.


I don't think so... but I'm gonna have a look around for you.

The end of the tube that accepts the dial ring: I'm assuming it's threaded on the end and has to 'notches' cut out of it?

Thanks Terry! I was wondering when you'd show up around these parts

You're right... most of them on ebay tend to be grossly overpriced IMO.

And how about the 0402? Had time to mount it yet?

No. The nice thing about an old lock with the tube is that it's all a self-contained unit. The ring is solid with the tube and body. But, other than that, I've been too busy, and today I just started working for a local locksmith. We'll see how that works out. But, I did find out that the owner had tried manipulation and decided it wasn't for him. So, straight to drilling. Hopefully, I can convince him to give me a shot at manipulation on some of the older or nicer safes. I don't know, though, how he'd take it since he seems to feel it's a waste of time. With work and family now, I may be a bit scarce around here during the week.