On 2011-01-22, David Lesher wrote:
"DoN. Nichols" writes:
Looking at the photos, I think that it is older -- before the
S&G patent expired so Mosler could also make key-settable locks -- but
he will have to open the back of the door to be sure of this.
Come to think of it -- there is no resetting index visible on
the dial, so it will have to be disassembled to reset the combination.
Mosler locks were not GSA approved, so I never worked on such.
(Some agencies had waivers for same inside well-cotrolled areas.)
But I agree that no resetting index is indicative.
Interesting! Most of the security file cabinets where I worked
(an Army R&D lab) were Mosler -- over a period from about 1968 (when I
first started working there) through 1997 (when I retired). Only a very
few really old ones were from other sources.
[ ... ]
There is another gotcha on some which will permanently lock the
bolt in position if you do manage to withdraw it with the cover off.
(You can reset it -- as long as the cover is off. If the door is
closed, you are out of luck.
The S&G's had several "relock" schemes. One was a solder blob;
heat the box and it melts. The other was the the back cover
relock. Lose either and drilling is pointless.
Hmm ... the S&Gs which I worked with (a surplus lot of used
security file cabinets) had only the back cover one. Of course, put the
thing inside a fire-resistant file cabinet (which these were) and there
is not much likelyhood of an attack by heat -- other than a real fire.
The Mosler ones would probably die from the wheels melting (Delrin, not
the brass layers of the S&G key resettable ones.)
The new boxes use hardplate that is {allegedly} undrillable.
The SOP is now a cutting wheel. It clamps on the top, and
pivots down; cutting a ~0.75" wide vertical slot in each side
of the front AND the 1" bar behind it. That gives you slack
to push the bars inward and open the drawer. Then replace the
drawerfront, reusing the untouched lock...AFTER setting and
recording the combination.
O.K. That is an approach which I had not thought of. But the
only locked container with no known combination that I've had to deal
with was one of the group from the surplus sale. A friend and I worked
together on this to get a security file cabinet each -- and fix up and
sell the rest. (A lot of twelve went for what we were willing to pay for
two, and the smaller lots went for a lot more per cabinet than we were
willing to pay. :-) Anyway -- his sister had a boyfriend, and he closed
and locked the only one which did not have the factory combination set.
Since the intention was to fix up and resell, drilling was not a real
option, let alone the abrasive disk which you mention above. At least,
there was nothing in it which we needed. :-)
Did I mention... TEST THE NEW COMBINATION before you think
of closing the drawer. Where will you keep the new combination
written down?
[ ... ]
Record on the SF-600, a 4x6 size form with several layers and partial
carbon paper. The result is one copy with the combination, one without.
Since it is Iggy who has the safe in question, and he is not
working at a classified facility, he probably does not have access to
the form (granted, I had forgotten the details of the form, myself), nor
does he have a proper place to store the form. (I guess a safe deposit
box might work, if he has one. :-)
BTW -- are you sure about the form number? A quick Google
search turns up lots about a SF-600 -- but these are a medical form, not
what we are talking about.
Ah! Found it! SF-700 is the one in question. The following
URL will let others know the handling of such forms, and there is a link
on that page to an image of the form with dire warnings that you are
*not* supposed to use the image, because it doesn't have the proper
carbon paper setup. (not to mention the built-in envelope. :-)
https://portal.navfac.navy.mil/portal/page/portal/NAVFAC/NAVFAC_WW_PP/NAVFAC_NFESC_PP/LOCKS/DODLOCK_SF700
Enjoy,
DoN.
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