How to open a Leabank Champion CH103TG safe
RJS
My office is closing and, as part of the stripping out of the kitchen,
a small safe has been consigned to the scrap skip. I have,
legitimately, obtained the safe. The reason that it has been dumped
is that it is locked and neither the key nor the combination are
available. This, probably, came about because the kitchen staff were
made redundant approx. one year ago when the kitchen was closed.
So, am I wasting my time looking for a means to open the safe. A
brief and rather fruitless Google suggests that I need both key and
combination to open the safe.
It's a perfect size for a domestic safe.
TIA
Richard
Harry Bloomfield
> So, am I wasting my time looking for a means to open the safe. A
> brief and rather fruitless Google suggests that I need both key and
> combination to open the safe.
How about finding a locksmith's course and inviting them to open it?
--
Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk
newshound
Might not solve your problem, but fun. There's lots of stuff on the web.
Skipweasel
says...
> http://www.timhunkin.com/94_illegal_engineering.htm
>
> Might not solve your problem, but fun. There's lots of stuff on the web.
Tim Hunking is my hero! Well, not quite as much as Rex Garrod - I must
take him up on a long-standing invitation to visit his workshop.
Secret Life of Machines should be used in school.
--
Skipweasel - never knowingly understood.
The Medway Handyman
brass monkey
"RJS" <alt...@excite.com> wrote in message
news:1dc1a087-0aef-4423...@s18g2000vbe.googlegroups.com...
Start the fans, PLEASE.
Frank Erskine
WD-40 would probably solve the whole problem, wouldn't it?
--
Frank Erskine
Andy Dingley
> is that it is locked and neither the key nor the combination are
> available.
Bad news I suspect.
The easiest way is likely to be to retrieve the key and combination
from whoever had them last. Even if this involves phoning around a
_lot_.
You can of course have it opened for you. This requires one phone call
and a sum of money. However safes (small enough to transport) are
fairly cheap these days, as there are plenty around from closures like
yours, and many come with keys. So the chances are that an empty safe
is cheaper to replace than it is to have opened for you.
You can open it yourself. This is fairly easy (just slow and noisy),
although it's impossible (for practical values) to open it in a way
that's re-usable afterwards, as it would be if it was drilled
carefully by a locksmith. If you hack carefully though, and you take
out a reasonably sized panel from around the lock, then you can remove
the lock mechanism and the wreckage of the relocker plate, leaving
enough access to the bolts to withdraw them. You can then repair by
welding in a whole new lock mechanism, using the original bolts.
John Williamson
contacting the makers with proof of ownership?
They may have records permitting them to make a new key, and a record of
the combination it left the factory with.
--
Tciao for Now!
John.
RJS
wrote:
Thanks John
Google is strangely unhelpful in identifying a manufacturer. I found
a few 'opening services'.
As for buying a cheap, but working safe; one of life's pleasures is
bringing cast-off stuff back into use.
Cheers
Richard
John Williamson
own brand safes on their website:-
http://www.woodstockleabank.co.uk/index.php
I've not searched the site in detail, but entering "safe" in their
search button shows a few matches.
RJS
Thanks John
Yes, I encountered these people.
I've also had a call this morning from a safe opening firm. They
explained that Leabank safes are no longer manufactured. They can
open the safe but it would be unusable after doing so - I'd need a new
lock afterwards and they wouldn't be able to open the combination
without the original key. However the cost of doing so would be more
than the price of a new, reasonable, domestic safe. They suggested
slicing it open just for curiosities sake!
Cheers
Richard
GB
>
> I've also had a call this morning from a safe opening firm. They
> explained that Leabank safes are no longer manufactured. They can
> open the safe but it would be unusable after doing so - I'd need a new
> lock afterwards and they wouldn't be able to open the combination
> without the original key. However the cost of doing so would be more
> than the price of a new, reasonable, domestic safe. They suggested
> slicing it open just for curiosities sake!
If there's stuff in it, can you keep it?
I'd be inclined to try an angle grinder on the back of it, as it sounds like
it's worthless.
Skipweasel
NOTso...@microsoft.com says...
> I'd be inclined to try an angle grinder on the back of it, as it sounds like
> it's worthless.
>
Once the back's off, you could happily weld it back on again - once it's
stood against the wall few burglars are going to check on the off chance
it's easier to open than they expect.
Like most security, it's about delay and obfuscation rather than
outright defence.
Dave Liquorice
> Like most security, it's about delay and obfuscation rather than
> outright defence.
Agreed, of course a safe you can pick up and stagger away with is of
little use it needs to be securly attached to something imovable.
FSVO imovable, see reports of thefts of ATMs with the aid of a JCB.
--
Cheers
Dave.
Andy Dingley
> I'd be inclined to try an angle grinder on the back of it, as it sounds like
> it's worthless.
Safe opening tip for thin steel safes (domestic grade): Don't "angle
grind the back off". In particular, don't use a cutting disk edge on
to saw through the plates. Instead, use the face of a grinding disk to
cut through the edges and release the back that way. This has the
advantage of throwing the sparks et al _outside_ the safe, not inside.
Also it leaves much less damage to repair afterwards.
For a thick walled case, it depends on the construction. In some cases
though (and if it's light) it's easier to open it like a Spam can,
cutting a narrow slice in a ring around the sides. Shortening the safe
slight front to back allows it to be re-welded.
Skipweasel
allsortsn...@howhill.com says...
> Agreed, of course a safe you can pick up and stagger away with is of
> little use it needs to be securly attached to something imovable.
> FSVO imovable, see reports of thefts of ATMs with the aid of a JCB.
>
When we bought a cheap tin safe (it's little more than an 1/8" plate
box) I bolted it to the floor and the wall. Originally it came with
floor bolts only, but that left it free to be levered away from the
wall. A couple of bolts at the top made a big difference to how solid it
felt.
However, most of all, it's not in an obvious place and it's usually
hidden under piles of stuff and it has a 3/4" chipboard box round it to
help with fire resistance - anyone who's tried to burn chipboard will
know why.
RJS
wrote:
> In article <nyyfbegfubjuvyypbz.lhrg450.pmin...@srv1.howhill.co.uk>,
> allsortsnotthis...@howhill.com says...
Hadn't thought about using chipboard to make our 'official' safe fire
resistant. What an excellent thought. This 'official' safe is a tin
box made by Yale that was bought by SWMBO as a means of keeping our
essentials in one place to guard against loss - loss meaning putting
somewhere safe and then forgetting where! Sometime in the next year
or two I'll fix it somewhere obscure and forget . . . . .
Richard ;-)
Skipweasel
e50276...@hd10g2000vbb.googlegroups.com>, alt...@excite.com says...
> Hadn't thought about using chipboard to make our 'official' safe fire
> resistant. What an excellent thought. This 'official' safe is a tin
> box made by Yale that was bought by SWMBO as a means of keeping our
> essentials in one place to guard against loss - loss meaning putting
> somewhere safe and then forgetting where! Sometime in the next year
> or two I'll fix it somewhere obscure and forget . . . . .
>
To be honest, that was the main reason I bought this one - we do already
have somewhere "safe" but a filing cabinet is a bit too bloody obvious -
filed under Passports and Bank Books etc!
The fireproofing idea came from trying to burn some old kitchen cabinets
on a very large fierce bonfire. We noticed that if you didn't actually
beat them around they just charred for sometimes up to twenty minutes
leaving whatever was on the cool side of them relatively unscathed.
GB
> In article <4d764e8e$0$12155$fa0f...@news.zen.co.uk>,
> NOTso...@microsoft.com says...
>> I'd be inclined to try an angle grinder on the back of it, as it
>> sounds like it's worthless.
>>
>
> Once the back's off, you could happily weld it back on again - once
> it's stood against the wall few burglars are going to check on the
> off chance it's easier to open than they expect.
You'd still need to make keys and reset the combination - sounds expensive!
>
> Like most security, it's about delay and obfuscation rather than
> outright defence.
That's passive security you're talking about.
--
Murphy's ultimate law is that if something that could go wrong doesn't,
it turns out that it would have been better if it had gone wrong.
Skipweasel
NOTso...@microsoft.com says...
> > Once the back's off, you could happily weld it back on again - once
> > it's stood against the wall few burglars are going to check on the
> > off chance it's easier to open than they expect.
>
> You'd still need to make keys and reset the combination - sounds expensive!
I dare say quite a few of us here could work out how to do that, given a
while and adequate coffee.
> > Like most security, it's about delay and obfuscation rather than
> > outright defence.
>
> That's passive security you're talking about.
>
Well yes and no. If a burglar sees an apparantly stout safe they may
well decide to bother other bits of the house - or other houses. They'd
probably never know the back's off. Where does active become passive? In
the end it's almost all down to perception of difficulty - even very
sturdy defences can be breached in the end.
The Natural Philosopher
when in fact the garden door wasn't locked ..saved no end of insurance
hassle.
Skipweasel
> It was most helpful of the burglars I had to jemmy open a locked window
> when in fact the garden door wasn't locked ..saved no end of insurance
> hassle.
>
These burglars - they didn't happen to do it half an hour after you
noticed you'd been burgled, did they?