Thomas Skidmore Safe Key Unavailable

The owners of this antique Thomas Skidmore safe were cruising around the Caribbean when their son back home in Chorley realised that they had the key and he needed to get access to his passport. The owners had emailed a picture of the key which we could have used to help make a copy if required but it was known that there was a spare key inside the safe. We picked the key lock open so that he could retrieve his passport and lock the safe back up with the key from inside.

Thomas Skidmore manufactured safes from 1850 to 1920 so there is a good chance that this safe is over 100 years old despite it’s very good condition.

Phoenix 1220 Centurion Safe Lost Key

We were told that there was no key or combination for this Phoenix 1220 Centurion safe at a farm near Macclesfield in Cheshire. Once we arrived on site the combination had been discovered by the owner but the key was still missing. We dialled in the given combination and picked the key lock to open the safe. We offered to make new keys but the owner was confident that the original key would turn up eventually.

Phoenix Safe Spinning Handle

Perhaps we had time for one final safe opening in 2015! This Phoenix Cashier Deposit safe at a pub in Stockport would accept the security code on the digital keypad but the handle span around freely without retracting the boltwork. In situations like this where there is an internal fault then it is often necessary to drill the container to overcome the problem and get it open. This is exactly what we had to do with this unit. With one small carefully placed and easily repaired hole the safe was opened to reveal that the handle had disconnected from the boltwork as we had expected.

Phoenix Cashier Deposit Safe Opened

Stratford Service Safe Lost Combination

The combination had been lost to this Stratford Service safe at a private residence in Liverpool. The safe lock is an S&G 6700 series Group 2, 3 wheel combination lock which the owners did not use to lock the safe and the dial got turned during a party some years ago which locked the safe up with no way for them to open it. As they were now moving home they needed access to retrieve the house deeds and other important documents so they called us to recover the combination as they did not want the safe to be damaged in any way. By a process of manipulation we discovered the safe lock combination and opened the safe without any fuss or damage. Another satisfied customer in what is possibly our final safe opening of 2015.

Polifer MC-530 (Diplomat) Safe Lost combination

The owners of this Polifer MC-530 safe at a wholesale clothing company in Manchester had lost the combination to the safe and needed to check it’s contents. This safe requires both the combination to be dialled and the key to then retract the boltwork, in this case they had the keys so we did not need to pick the key lock. By a process of manipulation we discovered the combination and were then able to open the safe with the key. Our opening technique did not damage the safe in any way so it could be immediately put back in to service.

Cock Safe Opening

An unusually branded safe this one but it looked all too familiar. This Cock safe in a college in Bolton had been re-sited by some building contractors and they could no longer get in to it. After some initial diagnostic work with the combination lock we were able to open the safe without any damage and put it back in to service.

Sentry OA5835 Safe Opening

This Sentry OA5835 safe in Winwick would not open with the correct key and combination. The electronic lock said that the safe was open but the handle would still not push down to open the safe. We opened the safe without any damage so that the owner could withdraw their important documents prior to a house move.

J Grove Safe Opening

This antique J Grove safe at a church in Cumbria would not open as the key could not be inserted into the lock. We quickly diagnosed and corrected the problem leaving the safe in working order.

Hobbs Bank Vault Opening

We were asked to open this Hobbs vault door in an ex high street bank building in Birkenhead after it was taken over by the new owners. They had been using the door with twin Chubb four wheel combination locks for several weeks but were told that the locks had been disabled, this turned out not to be the case when someone turned one of the dials and the door was locked shut. We attended the job the same day and had it open without any damage in just over an hour.

Stratford Stronghold Opening

This Stratford Stronghold safe at a bar in Manchester was locked and neither of the keys would open it. We were told that they had always had to jiggle the keys in the lock to get it to work. We picked the lock open and identified that the keys were so badly cut that they had caused the lockout. We provided new keys to the lock which work every time without the need to shake it about in the lock and hope that it opens. If a safe is difficult to open then always get it checked out by a safe engineer before it becomes a major problem.