Re: repairing locksmith opened safe?

In Reply to: repairing locksmith opened safe? posted by TJ , Virginia on February 24, 2008 at 15:20:16:

Also, just for curiosity, how does the locksmith acquire the combo thru a 1/4inch hole from the back? Training! ;) Seriosly though, that kind of infomation is not given out in the public forum. As far as your repair question, a lot depends on the kind of safe. You said you don't know if it's fire rated. How thick are the walls? if you dig into the hole, does fire-proofing material (powder) come out? I don't know Empire's part numbers, but the "FB" would lead me to thing "F"ire. But that's just a guess. If it is a fire safe, they sell fire-proffing material that you can mix up with water and fill large voids. But if it's just a 1/4" hole, it's more of a hassle than it's worth. For small holes, I've used chimney sealer, but that usually comes in a big "caulking" tube and dries up way before I ever got a chance to use more than a small portion of it. (And I hate wasting money unnesessarily) Something I like more is muffler sealer. It comes in a much smaller tube with s screw on cap. A suggestion that I heard in a safe class is to use a wooden dowel. Never tried that, but the instructor who suggested it is very reputable in the industry, so I would assume it would work. OTOH, if it's just a plate safe, (no fire-proofing material inside) you could tap the hole and put a 5/16" bolt into it and then cut it off and grind it flush. Don't tap it all the way through so the bolt will bottom out in the hole. Or, as you said, you can just weld it up. Good luck.