Cannonball safe- not sure how it opens

chursta

Safe has two crank handles: large one located to the left and smaller one located in the center.
The center one spins effortlessly, but the left one does not budge.
Just wondering if anybody knows the order and the direction these cranks need to be spun to open the safe.
Thanks

Paul Prescott

Does the inner handle come to a stop ? If not it may not actually be connected to anything …. (or something is broken)

The main handle controls the door rotation, and if thats frozen it is likely to be an indication of a door which is rusted shut, if thats the case it may be a simple as getting oil into the door jamb. If that does not work your best bet is to get a specialist to look at it.

chursta

Thanks for the quick reply. The center handle does come to a stop in both directions. Should i spin that counter clockwise and ignore the other crank? The large crank will move about an inch in either direction, but ii feels like it will break with the amount of force i have to apply. I have shot the circumference of door with WD-40. I am letting that soak overnight.

jacobrules

The inner handle controls the locking bolts. As long as it does come to a stop in the counter clockwise rotation you are probably ok barring any failure of the mechanism itself. So make sure you rotate all the way counter clockwise before trying to rotate the handle at the edge of the door.