I'm a retired safe tech. and this is an informative and entertaining explanation of how a mechanical combination lock works - he even mentions us Aussies! Well done Brian.
The fastest lock manipulator in the world is Jeff Sitar, who can open combination locks in about five minutes, but in reality, he's unique and few can match his speed and talent. Digital combination locks however have become the norm nowadays, they're typically defeated/bypassed using know vulnerabilities. The era of mechanical combination lock manipulation is quickly disappearing, as the modern market demands digital locks, which inherently rely on re-lock mechanisms to protect these vulnerable locks. Thanks for sharing.
Nice video with a sense of humor. Not sure if I ever gonna need the informtions, but still worth watching for 7 minutes or so Cheers from Denmark - Adam
AWESOME video... been trying to explain safe locks to both friends and customers alike... USUALLY they just tune out (then again, I've never tried the "this is a thumb, but that's not important right now" approach)
Awesome, I am going to make a 3D model for 3D printing. I always wondered how a combination lock works, and now I know, so now I want to build my own as a proof of concept to show others.
My Sargent and Greenleaf combination lock has to be turned right to zero after the last number, held stationary while a small knob in the center is turned 45 degrees to the right, and the complete dial is then turned to the right until the lock is released. It takes two hands to operate it successfully.
Excellent! Thanks so much for this. I have a stuck lever that requires dialing to the number 8 and banging on the door. I really need to get that replaced, don't ya think? Thanks again. I now understand why my lock is giving me fits!
I'd very much like to see a cut away group 2M lock in action! Somehow all the videos here on youtube only show the regular Group 2 lock. Curious about the extra security against manipulation looks in action. Perhaps also a Group 1 would be nice.
Great video. Only one caveat, you had the wheel numbers wrong. The cam (or n wheel) being the furthest from the dial starts the count. Cam, 1,2,3,dial. If I'm wrong please correct me, this is how I was taught however.
After watching a ton of videos from the Lock-picking lawyer' this safe right here looks like the only thing you can somewhat trust! Now just trying to figure out how I can add this to all the doors on my house!
I'm guessing every safe might have two combinations, a L-R-L and a R-L-R That may not work as well on one of these where there is a final turn to hook the lever and lift a bolt, but in other safes with door handles I suspect there are two combinations. Does anyone know?
At 0:47 in the video, what is second cutout in the cam for? The one that looks like that spring loaded bolt is pointed at it. Some kind of fail safe? Does lock tampering engage that bolt into the gear if someone tries to break into the safe?
Yes, you've answered your own question correctly. More specifically, hammering the dial off the front of the safe can be done in a way that the spindle shears off. One could then hammer (with a punch) on the spindle and drive the back off the lock. In some earlier lock designs, this attack COULD allow the bolt to be pushed away from the big gear, allowing the safe to open. In the design shown, if the back of the lock is compromised, that spring-loaded bolt is released, permanently locking the safe.
Also, at 6:39 you can see a spring-loaded bolt stop effectively stopping the brass bolt from being retracted (because the back of the lock is off.) The back of the lock, once screwed back on, will press down on the trigger, pulling the stopper out of the brass bolt.
You are referring to the steel spring loaded bolt that engages with the gear attached to the door opening lever/handle, inside the usually covered door assembly. It is a tamper failsafe, in case someone hammers the lock assembly. Foolish move, cause it shuts tight well and good requiring drilling the door by someone that knows exactly where. Yes, this safe design uses the weak diecast rear cover of the lock to retain that bolt. Not all safe doors use this secondary tamper trigger method - some use a network of plastic filament retaining the bolt under spring tension. Flame cutting or even disc grinding the door melts the plastic and the bolt is engaged. Further, a second tamper mechanism is built into the lock that can be seen in the last assembled image of the lock with the cover removed. During the operation demonstration it has been removed for clarity. This works similarly, but engages a spring loaded lever into the brass sliding bolt that engages into the handle gear. Again, a fractured rear diecast cover [they are very thin] as a result of hammering being a LOCK failsafe. These S&G lock assemblies are NOT an easy 'crack'. The lever is held away from any notched gate in the 3 wheels by the cam, so very minimal chance of brush feel as the wheels rotate. The vulnerable drill location to 'decode' or manipulate depends on how it is installed in the door AND the lever cam can be set on the dial shaft tight to remove any 'feel' feedback a very well experienced 'cracker' may have perfected. i.e. dial doen't spin free and easy, rather, requires sufficient torque to rotate.
I have an AMSEC safe with a "PSP" mechanical combination lock that I bought from a dealer who set up my combination. Oddly, the action is reversed. You move to the 1st number going clockwise, not counterclockwise, and therefore the 3rd number is rendered useless because after entering the 1st and 2nd number you can just keep turning the dial clockwise past the 3rd number until the lever catches... If you try to enter the correct combination the "normal" way the lock doesn't open whatsoever... So I'm guessing I got screwed by the dealer who didn't know what they were doing when they set up my combo... or is the lock itself a weird specimen?
Some locks are “handed” differently, but I’ve only seen that in person on bank vaults in odd locations where the door hinge had to be put on the opposite side.
The brass bolt is operated by the dial in front of the safe. The steel rod is activated if someone knocks the dial off with a hammer and then pounds the center spindle out, trying to sneak in cheaply. That would knock the back off the lock and trigger the steel bolt which would prevent the door from being opened. Examine 6:39 closely.
It would actually be the lack of sound - the slow turning of the dial, a few numbers at a time, listening until you hear LESS sound, indicating the fence is over empty space. That is why the Manipulation Proof version of this lock holds the fence above the wheels until the combination is dialed, then a knob in the center of the dial is turned, lowering the fence into the 3 wheels. Beyond that they have locks with plastic wheels to foil x-rays.
@@biggawinnacrapsa3870 Nope, this base model S&G lock lifts the fence away from the gates by the action of the rear cam. The fence only touches the wheels, or over the gate/s a very limited portion of the rotation range.
Moved into a house that has an old school Mosler, its weights a ton and I don't know the combination and don't know what the prior tenants left in it? Any suggestions?
Find a Security and or Safe Manufacturing/Sales Company and they should be able to directly assist in the matter. If they can't, they will most likely Know Whom to contact.
With out a long story i can get in any of these 1 thru 100 dials in these safes in usually less than two minutes. This illustration only points out what i learned the hard way. Once you realize that all the com #'s are at 45 degree angles to a cross hairs on a rifle scope it's just mathmatics , geometry, and odds. Math possibilities are substantially reduced by knowledge of the layout of the tumblers. Went in a safe store walked up to the most expensive ,heavest safe that was locked, and opened it in under 2 minutes. The owner, who was grinding keys for 4 Mexicans up front said - - "who the "F" are you", while the 4 guys laffed their sides off.
I forgot my code an dering my move some how the ss# sticker got scratched off does anyone know the answer to what is the factory code for a 4 number combination s&g combination lock on a centurion safe
i had higher respect for sargent and greenleaf till i found out they were owned by "stanley" guarantee they will cheapen them and make them in china......
I'm a retired safe tech. and this is an informative and entertaining explanation of how a mechanical combination lock works - he even mentions us Aussies! Well done Brian.
He wanted to lever that into the dialogue. :)
The fastest lock manipulator in the world is Jeff Sitar, who can open combination locks in about five minutes, but in reality, he's unique and few can match his speed and talent. Digital combination locks however have become the norm nowadays, they're typically defeated/bypassed using know vulnerabilities. The era of mechanical combination lock manipulation is quickly disappearing, as the modern market demands digital locks, which inherently rely on re-lock mechanisms to protect these vulnerable locks. Thanks for sharing.
Informative AND entertaining! Kudos to S&G and Mr. Costley for an outstanding production!
I've often wondered HOW my safe lock works. Thanks for an excellent but very informative explanation !
Nice video with a sense of humor. Not sure if I ever gonna need the informtions, but still worth watching for 7 minutes or so
Cheers from Denmark - Adam
I am a safe technician in Israel.
This video is very proffesional. Great job!!!
This kind of lock was a mystery for me since i was a child. Thanks to your fine explanation i now understand how that works :-). Thank you very much .
AWESOME video... been trying to explain safe locks to both friends and customers alike... USUALLY they just tune out (then again, I've never tried the "this is a thumb, but that's not important right now" approach)
I like this narrator
It makes me feel compelled to entering the door on my left
One of best informative videos I have had the pleasure of viewing !
This is a thumb, but its not important right now...
Love the presentation and the humour.
Enjoyed the narration style, congrats.
Awesome, I am going to make a 3D model for 3D printing. I always wondered how a combination lock works, and now I know, so now I want to build my own as a proof of concept to show others.
ok
Narrator sounds like he took style notes from The Stanley Parable.
sivalley lol
lulz
My Sargent and Greenleaf combination lock has to be turned right to zero after the last number, held stationary while a small knob in the center is turned 45 degrees to the right, and the complete dial is then turned to the right until the lock is released. It takes two hands to operate it successfully.
Wow, great video. I feel like I know more about the combo lock than I ever thought.
That was Great, narrating.
Who is this gifted, entertaining speaker?
I would watch Anything narrated by him.
Excellent video with great production values
this is so nicely explained, i always wondered how it works. THANK YOU :D
Excellent! Thanks so much for this. I have a stuck lever that requires dialing to the number 8 and banging on the door. I really need to get that replaced, don't ya think? Thanks again. I now understand why my lock is giving me fits!
wow i learnt so much i had no idea how they worked
Best video I’ve seen on this
For an S&G video you think they would dial more precisely and have the gates align perfectly instead of "just close enough"
Nice tutorial. Like the dry humour too
Next week: "Fences ... They're Not Just to Keep Cattle from Wandering Away".
The Artful Dodger and a good alarm system
I'd like to see the mechanism by which it takes a different number of turns to move each subsequent gate.
I'd very much like to see a cut away group 2M lock in action! Somehow all the videos here on youtube only show the regular Group 2 lock. Curious about the extra security against manipulation looks in action.
Perhaps also a Group 1 would be nice.
Great video. Only one caveat, you had the wheel numbers wrong. The cam (or n wheel) being the furthest from the dial starts the count. Cam, 1,2,3,dial. If I'm wrong please correct me, this is how I was taught however.
Nice video. Narrator is funny and entertaining. Keep it up. 😍
Thanks Brian!
I love your humor:)
Lock geek humour, gotta love it. Great vid, thanks.
There's no lies. There are: Falsehoods. Conjecture. Sarcasm. Miss-speaken/spoken. Potus speeches.
That was illuminating. Thank you.
After watching a ton of videos from the Lock-picking lawyer' this safe right here looks like the only thing you can somewhat trust! Now just trying to figure out how I can add this to all the doors on my house!
+1 point in lock picking
I'm guessing every safe might have two combinations, a L-R-L and a R-L-R That may not work as well on one of these where there is a final turn to hook the lever and lift a bolt, but in other safes with door handles I suspect there are two combinations. Does anyone know?
that was cool, just for the narration alone lmao
Please, is there a video or schematic of how to install lever spring correctly? I can’t find instructions anywhere.
At 0:47 in the video, what is second cutout in the cam for? The one that looks like that spring loaded bolt is pointed at it. Some kind of fail safe? Does lock tampering engage that bolt into the gear if someone tries to break into the safe?
Yes, you've answered your own question correctly. More specifically, hammering the dial off the front of the safe can be done in a way that the spindle shears off. One could then hammer (with a punch) on the spindle and drive the back off the lock. In some earlier lock designs, this attack COULD allow the bolt to be pushed away from the big gear, allowing the safe to open. In the design shown, if the back of the lock is compromised, that spring-loaded bolt is released, permanently locking the safe.
Thank you
Also, at 6:39 you can see a spring-loaded bolt stop effectively stopping the brass bolt from being retracted (because the back of the lock is off.) The back of the lock, once screwed back on, will press down on the trigger, pulling the stopper out of the brass bolt.
You are referring to the steel spring loaded bolt that engages with the gear attached to the door opening lever/handle, inside the usually covered door assembly. It is a tamper failsafe, in case someone hammers the lock assembly. Foolish move, cause it shuts tight well and good requiring drilling the door by someone that knows exactly where.
Yes, this safe design uses the weak diecast rear cover of the lock to retain that bolt.
Not all safe doors use this secondary tamper trigger method - some use a network of plastic filament retaining the bolt under spring tension. Flame cutting or even disc grinding the door melts the plastic and the bolt is engaged.
Further, a second tamper mechanism is built into the lock that can be seen in the last assembled image of the lock with the cover removed. During the operation demonstration it has been removed for clarity.
This works similarly, but engages a spring loaded lever into the brass sliding bolt that engages into the handle gear. Again, a fractured rear diecast cover [they are very thin] as a result of hammering being a LOCK failsafe.
These S&G lock assemblies are NOT an easy 'crack'. The lever is held away from any notched gate in the 3 wheels by the cam, so very minimal chance of brush feel as the wheels rotate.
The vulnerable drill location to 'decode' or manipulate depends on how it is installed in the door AND the lever cam can be set on the dial shaft tight to remove any 'feel' feedback a very well experienced 'cracker' may have perfected. i.e. dial doen't spin free and easy, rather, requires sufficient torque to rotate.
Good to know I was told three when I bought mine.
Haha, I enjoyed the humor.
I observed very little humor if any.
I have a S&G floor safe that has no combination. Is there a combination on record if I give you the serial number of the safe?
Hi i'm in africa, there is this mechanical lock in my room but nothing written on it. No combination, how do I know the three numbers to open it?
Brilliant vid and thank you for posting, I'm on the first rung,
I have an AMSEC safe with a "PSP" mechanical combination lock that I bought from a dealer who set up my combination. Oddly, the action is reversed. You move to the 1st number going clockwise, not counterclockwise, and therefore the 3rd number is rendered useless because after entering the 1st and 2nd number you can just keep turning the dial clockwise past the 3rd number until the lever catches... If you try to enter the correct combination the "normal" way the lock doesn't open whatsoever...
So I'm guessing I got screwed by the dealer who didn't know what they were doing when they set up my combo... or is the lock itself a weird specimen?
You should be able to re set the lock to your own three new numbers and it should work correctly. Just get a change key and do it yourself.
Some locks are “handed” differently, but I’ve only seen that in person on bank vaults in odd locations where the door hinge had to be put on the opposite side.
Muy interesante, muy entendible y muy divertido...Jajaja muchas gracias por compartir esta enseñanza... Saludos desde Monterrey México..!!
Now, that was just silly. But interesting.
They don't REALLY wanna show how it works now do they
Great video. Thank you.
Awesome! Thank you
Great video! What's the difference between the brass level and the steel (grey) levers? Saw it in this or another video and can't find it again.
The brass bolt is operated by the dial in front of the safe. The steel rod is activated if someone knocks the dial off with a hammer and then pounds the center spindle out, trying to sneak in cheaply. That would knock the back off the lock and trigger the steel bolt which would prevent the door from being opened. Examine 6:39 closely.
Ha, well written. Love it!
Doesn't the drive cam gate and level nose make a slight sound that would give away the position of one of the combination positions?
It would actually be the lack of sound - the slow turning of the dial, a few numbers at a time, listening until you hear LESS sound, indicating the fence is over empty space. That is why the Manipulation Proof version of this lock holds the fence above the wheels until the combination is dialed, then a knob in the center of the dial is turned, lowering the fence into the 3 wheels. Beyond that they have locks with plastic wheels to foil x-rays.
@@biggawinnacrapsa3870 Nope, this base model S&G lock lifts the fence away from the gates by the action of the rear cam. The fence only touches the wheels, or over the gate/s a very limited portion of the rotation range.
Best informative video about combination locks.
PS: I have a nose. But, that doesn't matter right now. :)
Sounds like Stan Lee was writing your dialogue.
_Dial_...ogue
Moved into a house that has an old school Mosler, its weights a ton and I don't know the combination and don't know what the prior tenants left in it? Any suggestions?
Yes. Learn how to spell 'weighs'.
Find a Security and or Safe Manufacturing/Sales Company and they should be able to directly assist in the matter. If they can't, they will most likely Know Whom to contact.
With out a long story i can get in any of these 1 thru 100 dials in these safes in usually less than two minutes. This illustration only points out what i learned the hard way. Once you realize that all the com #'s are at 45 degree angles to a cross hairs on a rifle scope it's just mathmatics , geometry, and odds. Math possibilities are substantially reduced by knowledge of the layout of the tumblers. Went in a safe store walked up to the most expensive ,heavest safe that was locked, and opened it in under 2 minutes. The owner, who was grinding keys for 4 Mexicans up front said - - "who the "F" are you", while the 4 guys laffed their sides off.
It doesn't show how anyone wheel can rotate stick to each numbers of revolution.
There are little 'catches' on each wheel that pick up the next wheel as the dial is turned in the same direction.
Very amusing.
HELLO! What's the default lock?
cool video.. something failed on my safe now my combo isn't connecting..
4 because 2+2?
yeah its a LIIIIVER
How do you set the combination and how you select the order. PLS
There is a 'change key' that can be inserted into the back of the lock. There is a video on here showing it being done.
how do you know the number 55-23-62 is right?
Santa told him.
Great !
Great video :)
Please can u help me,i dont rember secret key
hi...i have this type of safe at home..the brand name 'kano' from korea just cost me around 300usd for smallest one..
anyone else click because they thought they were going to see a new type of lock? like how the xuputopha what ever.... has "alien tech"
2:45 hillarious!
Thankyou
I forgot my code an dering my move some how the ss# sticker got scratched off does anyone know the answer to what is the factory code for a 4 number combination s&g combination lock on a centurion safe
Joseph, the factory combination for a S&G mechanical lock is 50.
Lever is Liver in swedish
He Ka I like my lock parts with fried onions.
+He Ka And in dutch. :)
+He Ka Sweden is only good for cheap Danish bacon and beer.
+He Ka And "vipu" in Finnish :P
PerunaVallankumous =P Hauskaa.
I was with you up until... Welcome !
burl ives>?
Possible to fast breach with xray camera. :)
They've got something for that, too, but it'll cost ya.
1:03 IT looks like hard drive
Does he have a cat scratch-tree in his safe??? :O :D
Very entertaining
Who is after jared owen
i had higher respect for sargent and greenleaf till i found out they
were owned by "stanley" guarantee they will cheapen them and
make them in china......
4
Who else fell asleep
you'r funny
you are funny
Click bate
T
Painful to watch
Клас
thopen ditploma t nll
It is nassesary to chick possibly
ashok, I am not sure I understand what you are asking.
He didn't ask anything. Do you see a question mark?