safecracker at large

Ken Dunckel Safecracker Safe and Vault Service SF Bay Area and Northern CA CA License 1985 CA Contractor 553337 415-203-7298 Is Your Safe Combination "On File?" Lots of people whose safe combinations are lost/unknown ask me if there is some "master override" combination, or some "reset code" that either I or they can enter, open their safe, and return it to service. The answer is yes for some safes, no for others. Sometimes there is a combination that might be usable. It all depends on the safe make, the safe maker's policy around this sort of thing, and the lock installed on the safe. If your safe has a mechanical dial: (That is, a numbered dial that must be turned a varying number of times in alternating directions to open the lock.) Forgive me if I over-explain this. I just went through hell on the telephone yesterday with a lady who could not comprehend the concept of push-button electronic safe locks vs. mechanical. Depending on t...

This one is less boring for the public than the others. Hell, I don't know; maybe it's more boring. But  warning: it's pretty long. It's about a job I did a couple of years ago. It involved opening a safe that was in a downtown building that got destroyed by the devastating fires that raged as result of the 1906 earthquake that destroyed San Francisco. This story originally ran in the industry newsletter I publish. I've been hearing and reading earthquake history ever since I moved to this area, but never guessed I'd have even a small part in recovering any of the history on it. I got a call from a construction foreman. While remodeling a downtown San Francisco building, his workers had unearthed a large old safe under a basement floor. The safe had been buried since the 1906 earthquake that destroyed most of downtown San Francisco.   Though he wasn’t clear on how the main outer double door safe got opened, it was gone. All that remained wa...

Make Me Laugh? (Some of the stuff here reprises of previous comments, some not) Hiring a safe technician to open a safe or seeing one at work awakens the frustrated Inner Stand-Up Comedian in many people. Understandable, I guess. It's usually their first contact with a safecracker, and most customers don't have a clue what to expect. All they have to go on is what they know from movies and television. Their questions and comments reflect this. In the name of diplomacy, service vendors like me have to politely grin and bear it. But sometimes those in my line of work fantasize about some of the retorts we could make, especially to the more clueless and unmannerly people. In fact, I have to confess that depending on circumstances and customer, sometimes I give in to the urge. "Are you going to use dynamite?" Or, "Are you going to blow it up?" You have no idea how much I'd like that. Or Is that what you want? (A few years ago a friend in th...

Ken Dunckel Owner, Safecracker Safe and Vault Opening, SF Bay Area and Northern California 415-203-7298 kendunckel@aol.com   Here are a few things to consider if you're in the market for a safe. What follows here isn't a complete and comprehensive list of considerations. That will vary from buyer to buyer. Think of this as a starting point. You should get the best safe you can afford, and you should buy it from a company that services what they sell. (Hint: Try calling Costco, WalMart, Sam's Club, or Office Depot and ask to be connected to the Service Department.) Type of Protection: Think . . . What am I protecting? Documents, cash, valuables, or all three? What is the biggest concern? Fire, theft, or both? There are fire-rated safes, burglary-rated safes, and safes with dual ratings (fire and burglary). Your best bet is to get a safe that has a UL Rating for fire, burglary, or, better still, both. Any such safe will bear a UL label attest...

More Than I Paid! Ken Dunckel Owner, Safecracker Safe and Vault Opening, SF Bay Area and Northern California 415-203-7298 kendunckel@aol.com "You want more to open my safe than I paid for it!" I hear that a lot. While it's often true, it's also true that my labor charges have nothing to do with what you paid for your safe. That is, unless there's some rule that says my charges must always be lower than what you paid to own it. Where is that written? Pretend you acquired a locked safe for free. If the rule that I can't charge more than you paid for it is in effect, would I have to pay you to let me open it? Shocked callers often fail to acknowledge that this is my living, not my hobby. When I visit people's homes and businesses to do my work, I don't take appraising looks at their cars, homes, or stores, then announce that they get paid too much for whatever it is they do. Q & A The big box store...

©2012 by Ken Dunckel Safecracker Safe and Vault Service  SF Bay Area & Northern CA kendunckel@aol.com 415-203-7298 A Fly On The Wall Observations while working on safes . . . Because of the work I do and where I do it, I get exposed to a lot of different work environments. I get to see what people do (and don't do) in their daily work, hear them talking about topics that interest them. As a self-employed individual, one of the things I envy about some people's job situations is the benefit packages. Especially government jobs. People in government (city, county, state, Federal) jobs might not be getting rich  at the work, but it seems (with some notable exceptions) that if you land that government job at almost any level, you're (generally) in a much better situation than people working in the private sector. Once a worker has passed probation and is settled into the job, there are things like paid health care, paid sick leave and vacations, employee r...

Copyright 2012 by Ken Dunckel Safecracker Safe and Vault Service Serving San Francisco Bay Area and Northern California Licensed and Insured 415-203-7298 kendunckel@aol.com In the past month I've followed the work of two misinformed do-it-yourselfers. 1) A property owner found a safe left behind by the previous resident. Not only was it in the way of the remodeling, he was curious about whether there were contents. A contractor doing work there assured the owner that he could open the safe. Long story short: The contractor failed. He didn't give up until after doing grievous damage to the safe with hammers and grinders. In other words, a safe that could have been opened with zero to minimal damage and made usable was reduced to a piece of unrepairable junk. After paying me to open it, the owner had to have it hauled out and scrapped. This was a clear-cut case of "contractor machismo." Plenty of able-bodied guys with pickup trucks and job boxes f...