cash-rated safe. It took about eight good-quality drill bits to get through to the lock, but eventually my son drilled through the concrete and hard plates in the door and had a good view of the lock body. Easy Does It Since my son had never drilled a Mas Hamilton lock open, I took over and carefully drilled the final few millimeters into the lock body myself, trying to show him how gently you need to drill in order to save arguments later if the lock is damaged by over- enthusiasm (Figure 6). Then we had a look with my 5-millimeter straight-view scope. The hole was perfectly positioned, and we had a good view of the drop arm of the lock; the pip was dead center of the drilled hole (Figure 7). I carefully drilled off the little pip on the drop arm, and with a little encouragement from a small screwdriver, the arm dropped. With a bit more of a twist of the lock’s square spindle, the safe lock was open (Figures 8 and 9). I must say that apart from a couple of phone calls, the two of us had opened the safe in about an hour, and the fact that there was no time pressure means that the safe opening was much more enjoyable (Figures 10-12). Timing, Painting and Patience When opening safes for my customers out in the real world, I find that time constraints mean that I tend to feel relief rather than enjoyment, because I almost always have another job to get to before the 5 p.m. office-closing deadline for many of my clients. I am always under time pressure. Now my son could take over the repair, servicing and refurbish- ment of the safe. I am virtually barred from painting anything. I will freely admit that I am rubbish at painting safes. They tell me that preparation is the key to a good finish, but I don’t have the pa- tience and usually make a complete mess of the painting. My son is getting much better at the painting, and the way I was looking at it, it will stand him in good stead for when he buys a house that may need decoration. Well, that’s what I keep telling him, anyway. My other problem is that I seem to be a paint magnet, and I have ruined more pairs of jeans and sweatshirts than I care to remember. Ah well, back to the phone messages, I suppose. Based in Lancashire, England, Craig Bernasconi has been opening, servicing and moving safes since 1978. He specializes in high-security safes and vaults, and he works throughout the U.K. In-Floor Safes Burglary & Fire Safes Fire & Burglary Safes Gun Safes 1 & 2 hr Record Safes “B” Rate Chest Depository Safes Custom Built Safes **New for 2016, a real TL30 worth talking about** Real Factory Support & Huge Dealer Discounts YES! We have freight programs that save you Money. 800-444-5434 [email protected] www.HaymanSafe.com WWW.ALOA.ORG DECEMBER 2016 KEYNOTES 23 We a r e your s upplie r , NOT your c ompe t iti on!
