OT Strongbox cracking

I wondered whether I should post this here on the basis that

1) It sound really dubious 2) It might be said that any advice given would enable dubious types to follow the example.

But I though, what the hell, if someone really wants to know they'd find the answer somewhere else on the net, or more likely use a big hammer, they are hardly likely to use this group for inspiration!

And being mechanical guys, I'm sure you have a refined answer to this ;-)

Ok, elderly neighbour brought round her £50 'electronic safe' which has a digital keypad to get into it - the batteries have died! The make returns no hits on google - I guess its a generic chinese thing. Bit like one of these

She has lost they keys which allow mechanical entry.. There is a sticker next to the (hidden under flap) keyhole which I'm guessing is the key number. Starts S then 6 digits.

So - where can one obtain the circular security keys that you see on security locks - can't find on google. (Obv they would want proof of id I guess, not a problem).

Option 2 - cut the bugger open. I'm sure a disc cutter would cut through the thin skin (3mm) like a knife through butter - but the only 'valuables' within are paperwork - birth certs, deeds to house, insurance policies, that sort of thing - don't want to set them on fire. My thought is to use some expanding foam filler and squirt it inside through one of the mounting holes - let it set to encase the papers, then cut into it with the disc cutter.

Will this work, or any other ideas for reducing sparks from cutting?

Cheers

Just thought of a cleaner solution - fill it with sand through mount holes, might take a while with a funnel, but couple of inches should do it.

Far fewer if you apply some cutting lube.

In message , Paul writes

******* I only told you to blow the bloody doors off! ***********

if it is a tubular key then the end of a biro can open them, do a search for tubular key and biro or something along those lines.

drill and a nibbler would be the quickest/simplest in all probability

lol, hmm anyone got any c4? Or fill it with propane and a fuse ;-)

Locksmith will open it in minutes.

Chris

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If it's only 3mm thick a cold chisel and lump hammer will probably do the job. Start near the closing edge as it might burst open with a few well placed blows from the Irish spanner.

Cic.

Its not that easy - the top, sides and back are all very solid steel - prob 5-10mm thick, with the door recessed so that you can't get near it to pry it, or bend the side walls out past the lock bolt.

Its major (and only) weak spot is that the belly is relatively thin, as you are supposed to bolt it to a shelf or the floor - protecting the belly.

This is welded to the sides and is seamless - but has four 6 mm holes for the fixing bolts. So, think jigsaw is probably a good starting point - although I wonder how many blades it might take - hence the thought of angle grinder. I'd forgotton nibblers existed, the last I had would only do around 1mm and you need an inch hole to get started.

If they old dear had the £70 they want just to turn up, she wouldn't be asking me. Guess she could always offer him 10% of the cash in the box ;-)

We had an old central heating oil tank removed. They said they used some sort of sparkless cutting discs. Do those exist or were they just having me on? Sadly, I wasn't present to see what they did.

Tasty...

I'd work at trying to pick the lock. About 1/5 of the content of the internet aledgedly has instructions on exactly how to do that.

some possibilities came into my head overnight. You could hacksaw off the corner of one of the shortest edges which could give you a nice wide slot to extract the contents. or you could use an angle grinder along the length of the corners, don't go right through and no sparks will go inside, as you get near to grinding through, the colour at the centre of the grind will change, when you have been all the way round like this the metal at the corner will be paper thin and easy to open with a chisel.

How much will it cost to replace the safe?

Chris

I have seen those cheapy ones for 15 quid, and loads of places still do them for about 25

If it's only 15 quid, you should be able to open it with almost anything!

Chris

The clue was in the original question "brought round her £50 'electronic safe'"

not enough cost to worry about trashing, just expensive enough to resist a hammer and chisel.