The new owners of a house in Stockport found this old Ratner safe hidden away in a cupboard but hadn’t been left any keys. We attended site and picked the lock open for them.
Author: Mark Doyle
Dreadnought ‘E’ Series II Safe Lost Keys
The keys had been lost to this Dreadnought ‘E’ Series II underfloor safe at a house in Euxton, Lancashire. The owner called and requested that we drill the safe open so that he could retrieve his passport for an upcoming trip. He was surprised when we said we would pick the lock open and make new keys for him but being professional safe engineers we have the tools and skills to open most safes non destructively. With the safe lock picked open we made the new keys and put the safe back in to service without the need for any expensive repairs.
Milners’ Thief Resisting Door No.2
The previous owners of a pub in Southport hadn’t left the keys for this Milners Thief Resisting door and the new owner required it to be put back in to service. We attended site and made new keys for the lock giving it a new lease of life.
The safe plaque reads: “Milners’ Patent Fire Resisting Thief Resisting Door No.2” and has the common “212” number which is the boiling point of water on the Farenheit scale. In smaller script it also reads “Improved for the government registry & courts 1857”.
The safe escutcheon reads: “Milner’s safe powderproof solid lock Liverpool & London”.
Dreadnought Defender ABP Safe Opening
This Dreadnought Defender ABP underfloor safe at a petrol station in Bromborough, Wirral would not open with the key. Initial inspection showed that the lock was loose and we could see that one of the three relocking devices had activated which meant that this was going to be a drill open job. Having drilled through the extremely tough lid it became apparent that all three relockers had fired which meant a second hole had to be made to deactivate them and finally allow the bolts to be withdrawn to open it.
Fort Knox Standard Underfloor Safe Opening
The owner of this Fort Knox Standard underfloor safe had a spare key cut at a well known high street cobbler prior to leaving for Thailand. Unfortunately they omitted to test the key before his departure and only discovered that it didn’t work once the working key was the other side of the world. We attended the business in Leyland, Lancashire and picked the safe open so that they could remove the contents and relocate them until the working key returned from its holiday in the new year.
Chubb Europa Safe Faulty Digital Lock
The digital lock on this Chubb Europa safe at a shop in Warrington was randomly failing to lock and would open intermittently. We identified a worn lock as the issue and replaced it for the customer.
Fort Knox Underfloor Safe Opening
The owner could not open this Fort Knox underfloor safe at a motor parts shop in Leigh, Greater Manchester despite having two keys for it. The safe hadn’t been opened for a number of years and a look inside the lock with our specialised optical equipment showed that it was full of rust. It took a while but eventually we got it open to find it was full of water so hardly surprising that the lock had seized after being submerged for so long.
Antique Safe Opening Manchester
This is the second time that we’ve been to open this antique safe at a pub in Manchester. The first time the owner had broken the handle off trying to force his safe open with a hammer and was going to get a friend to make him a new handle after we had opened it. This hadn’t happened so when the safe became difficult to open after redecorating the room we were called to open it and once again we did so without any further damage. We have agreed to help source a replacement handle to make it easier to use in the future.
Dudley D2 Safe Repairs And Replacement Keys
This Dudley D2 safe at a National Gym chain in Bromborough, Wirral was looking a bit sorry for itself. The hinge pins were missing and the keys had been lost. We replaced the hinge pins, swapped the lock and cut extra keys so that they could reuse the safe which had been out of service for a number of years.
SLS 1000 Safe Opening Lancashire
The door of this SLS 1000 safe at a pub in Skelmersdale, Lancashire would not open when the correct combination had been dialled. Unfortunately a lot of brute force had been attempted prior to calling us out causing much more damage by breaking the handle and damaging the combination lock dial. Once the door was open we repaired the handle and lock and put the safe back in to service.