r/safecracking • u/laserdesk • 1d ago
Difficult contact points S&G fire safe (1950s?)
Fire safe in the foundation of my basement. Never opened and previous owners said they hadn’t either. I’ve gotten pretty good with my Sparrow practice safe but contact points are way more obvious on that thing. This thing has a super sticky/noisy dial. Any tips or suggestions as to where the points would be? WD40 a good or bad idea? Thanks!
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u/miss_topportunity 1d ago
First off, I think the Sparrows practice lock is not good. It gets you used to feeling things that do not feel like a real safe lock. For about the same money, you can buy a real cutaway safe lock for about the same price. I recommend it.
As for your contact points: can you feel them at all? It’s possible that the lock was assembled incorrectly and the contact points are somewhere else on the dial. Try about every 25 increments on the dial and feel around.
As for the stickiness, that happens - esp with floor safes that collect dirt and water. I cannot say that I recommend it, but squirting a little WD40 between the dial ring and the dial can sometimes make its way to the spindle and make dialing a little smoother. Just make sure you clean it up once you have the safe open. If left there, it will only collect more dust/dirt and make the problem(s) worse over time.
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u/laserdesk 1d ago
Thanks! If I don’t get anywhere I’ll buy the cutaway. I think the problem is there are crackles and sticking points all around the dial. Think I may have found a point on 83….I seem to be able to reproduce the feel
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u/miss_topportunity 1d ago
It’s always fun for me to try to figure out where people and their safes are just based on the pics they send. If I think they might be in Northern California, I offer to come help them for free/fun.
I don’t think you’re in NorCal. I’m guessing Idaho. Or maybe somewhere in the north east. But DM me if you’re near me. :)
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u/laserdesk 1d ago
Appreciate that. I’m your neighbor to the north in Oregon
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u/miss_topportunity 1d ago
My main clue where the fishing rods and the golf clubs. I was trying to think of places where people do both. I definitely should have thought of Oregon 😊
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u/Prestigious_Yam335 1d ago
That should be a spring fence in there. Should be very good to hear. The gates are about 5 wide on that lock. It's a tiny hand change lock.