Kingdom Safe Opened

I have been fairly busy lately and did not manage to update this blog as regularly as I would like to. I opened the safe shortly after the last post. It was empty.

I tried to manipulate the combination dial for a while. I measure the gate width over a range of combinations but found it to be quite constant in width.

The gate is centred around the number 85 and on the side of the safe was a 8 digit number hand written in permanent marker ending in 85. I was therefore quite sure that this number was at least at some stage a valid combination. I therefore tried the combination with different key lock configurations, dialling directions and number of turns in between. And it finally worked and unlocked the safe.

It is slightly frustrating to open safe by means of deducting the combination from reading it of markings on the dial or even written on the safe. I still have not managed to open a safe by means of manipulating the lock.

I took the back panel of the door and had a look at the mechanics of the locking mechanism. I think it should be possible to deduct the nose depth into the gate by reading the angle of the handle. I haven't tried that yet.

I took out the key cylinder and tightened a couple of screws that had come lose, which fixed the problem with the key not coming out.

I cleaned it up a bit and the safe is now back in good working condition.

The Origins and Contents of the Safe

After some research on the internet I managed to reconstruct most of the details of how the safe ended up being on an internet auction for me to buy.

In 2000 an American couple bought a holiday home in Christchurch, New Zealand, bringing the safe with them. She tragically died in a car accident in 2006 in Texas. A relative then investigated the safe (which apparently led to the drill holes next to the lock) and wrongly declared it empty. The husband returned to New Zealand in 2008 and got an auction house to auction the contents of the house. This included the locked safe. A local antique dealer bought a number of items, including the safe, on this auction. He tried two locksmiths to open it and eventually gave up, not wanting to spend more money on it. He then listed it on TradeMe a New Zealand internet auction site similar to eBay, where I managed to buy it.

When I finally opened the safe it was full to the brim with things. Most of it were documents, family photographs and other family mementos. Besides that there were two sets of US silver flatware and a collection of bead necklaces.

A few days ago I managed to contact a son of the previous owner. Many of the documents in the safe related to him. He was very pleased to hear that some items thought to be lost were still in existence. He asked me to send him the family photos, mementos and documents, which I did yesterday. He gave me some further background to the safe. It has been in his mothers family since they bought it in an auction in 1977. He still remembers the last combination it had, which is different from the one it has now. He thinks its likely that his mother had the safe opened at some stage due to loss of the combination on her part.

My next plan is to have a closer look at the lock by taking off the inside cover of the safe door. I will report about that as soon as I find the time.

The safe is open!!!

I opened the safe last night. I don't have much time at the moment, therefore will post details soon.

I opened the safe using the correct combination. Some combinations were marked on the dial and one of them worked.

I heard the lock engage and using the handle pulled back the bolts. To my surprise the safe was completely filled up with stuff:

Most of the left compartment is filled up with silver cutlery. There are necklaces (nothing special I think), photos, documents and other bits and bobs.

I will write more about the contents and the other opening approaches I used later.