Island Locks - Locksmith Courses - Lock Picking - Lock Opening - Locksmith Tools

Went out to a church today, they had a small wall 'safe' next to the alter which was locked - and they had no keys, only around 10" x 8"  in which they used to keep the bread fro communion services !  had not been used for some time, but they showed me a key and said the original key was the same sort. It was a flat steel key - as the school locker type.

Bolt went to the left - hinged on the right.

Am I right in thinking this is just a basic lever lock ?  as that is how I tried to get into it, I made up a tension tool from spring steel, and could feel levers under spring tension, but no matter what I did it would not open ! 

Similar I guess to the furniture lock in the locksmith only section. Had a hard time getting tension as the keyway was very 'sloppy' and rotated freely. 

 A normal flat steel key fitted perfectly and caught the bolt at around the 10 - 11 o clock position, as did my tension tool, this is also where I could feel the lever pack.

Could not knock out the hinge pins and get the door off as the upper surround of this safe projected over it so it could not be removed.  I admitted defeat as I did not want to damage the lock in any way - although not old it is fitted into a Grade 1 listed building.  The Rev. was pleased I tried, they dont want to actually use it but he was curious as to what was left in it if anything and it would have been good to open it and either replace the lock or fashion a new key or 2 for him.

Had nothing on me to take a picture with.

I did not charge him and said I would have a think about it and call him back later in the week if I had any divine inspiration

school lockers are wafer locks. and pick the same as pin tumblers, but if a bolt is present then it should be a lever lock. try a 2 in 1 pick. or compress the pack as picking.

try and get a picture of a similar safe. also if you know where the biting point is for the bolt and the size of the tension tool then you can work out the ------- point.

It's a 'Furniture ' lever lock. Gerry, login to the locksmiths only section and go to 'How to's'. You will see how to make a set of picks and how to open, then make a key to suit.

Sorry Gerry. Read your post to quickly and see that you have looked at the How to. The plug will rotate freely as you have found so can be a little tricky to pick and has very little room for the pick.

You can make a tension tool from a modified flat steel blank that will probably help, as opposed to using a spring steel one? Then just pick the same as any standard lever lock using either a small wire, or a standard cylinder 'hook' pick. The lock has 4 levers and only needs little nudges. Also try a small overlifter (hook shape).

Hope this helps.

Not sure if it is the same type of lock but I came across a similar situation with a very old deeds box that was locked with what I thought was a simple furniture type lock. 90 minutes later I admitted defeat and called someone else (who is a brill picker!) to have a go. He too had to admit defeat after a similar time.

After some investigation it seems it could have been a small Chubb 5 lever. Apparently these little locks were made as demonstration models and then someone had the idea of putting them into these type of boxes and in some church collection boxes.

I was told that they were made to VERY fine tolerances and were extremely hard to pick, which made me feel better. Wether this is right or not I dont know but I thought I would throw it in.

By the way the owner of the box decided to leave it locked as he didnt want it damaged. I think so far this is the only lock I have attended and not opened and walked away. Not all picked of course - no where near that good!!

@Kent: You could be right, you just never know unless you can see and 'feel' it first hand?

Thanks guys for the suggestions, have done some Googling and found out it is known as an Aumbrey safe ( not the safe / lock name - a generic term ) where they keep the bread and wine that has been blessed for Communion services but not used.

Had no luck finding a picture of said item. It is not old else it would not accept a flat steel key, but it appears they could be deceptively secure.

All I know on 'my' one is that the entire face is hammerited a mustardy gold colour !

One thing I remember, I dont think it has to have the key turned full circle to unlock it, as the paint on the face of the safe around the plug is worn down to bright metal but only in the areas 6  '0' clock to  10/11 'o' clock

@Gerry: That could well indicate that it has a sprung latch so it slams shut, then need the key to retract the latch.

I would try seeing if you can pull the latch back using a shaped bit of spring steel?

Me again. As Jay said it sounds like a slam lock. In our local church the collections box which is enclosed in the wall has one of these. Seven levers I believe. When I got called to it the young idiots had already jemmied it open!

Hello Gerry

I do work for the Archdicese in Liverpool what youve described was probably whats called the tabernacle the ones ive dealt with have a seven lever safe lock, the problem with these are that even if you get the door open you may find that the lock is behind a welded panel so you cant easily get access to it

thanks

Derek

Could well not be a slam lock at all then, as the key would also only need to turn 90 degrees for a safe lock of this type?

If possible a photo of the keyway would help.

I'll have to see about a photo - should be going there next week  - not a 'full time' church.

Keyway accepts flat steel keys similar to the locksmith section furniture lock but full thickness key, and looks the same - just a rotating plug with a vertical slot for the keyway, it was warded. And I am pretty sure it only needed around 90 degrees of rotation  (after the key engaging the bolt/levers) to operate from seeing the paint markings on the face of the lock.

@Derek, the surround to the plug - the outer ring as it were will not move at all - I suspect the lock itself may be welded to the door as opposed to just passing through a hole.

Definitely a Furniture type lock then, either using a bolt or latch. The casing won't move, just the smaller 'inner' part of the plug so this won't mean that it's welded?

glue two blanks together and make one or try overlifting or impressioning

How did you get on with this one Gerry?