Shopsmith Forums

As a kid, did you ever try to open one of those Master combination locks on your buddy's school locker, using techniques you saw on The Wild Wild West, or perhaps Mission Impossible? Yup, me too, but I never actually cracked the code.

For reasons totally unrelated to woodworking, I just came across a great video on the science of safe-cracking, and the intimately-related evolution of the combination lock. So now, you too can see how the internals of those locks work, and how a good safecracker can use their imperfections to defeat them.

Inspired by masonsailor2's highly ambitious combination-drawer jewelry armoire, I proudly present:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_lkYQ88kv0[/youtube]

Do not watch until you have a good half-hour to spare!

On those school locks, if you held just the right amount of down pressure on the lock and had sensitive fingers, you could feel the lock engage as the correct number was passed. Worked most of the time - or so I hear