One of the most common questions I get asked about safe drilling is, "is this going to compromise my safes security." And it's a fair question. I would also want to know that the place my valuables are secured is... well... secure. I often tell people that a properly repaired safe is usually stronger than it was before drilling began, depending on a couple of factors.
We start by going through all troubleshooting measures first. Even if the client tells us they have done all of this themselves. It never hurts to do it again. In many cases, I've begun troubleshooting and found a non-drilling solution. After verifying that drilling is the next step to resolve the problem, we get straight to work.
This is the safe I was working on in this case. A liberty gun safe with an electronic lock. The keypad has already been removed for the photo.
After taking careful measurements, marking and prepping the door for drilling, I hook up my rig and get to it. The drilling process doesn't take very long with the proper tools and a short time later, I'm in. The hard plate from the factory is 3/8 of an inch thick. This is pretty standard for Residential Gun safes. In the next picture you can see the hard plate through hole. This is the hole where the cable or spindle get through the door to where the lock is mounted.
The round pin where the metal is a different color is where my hole was drilled to open this safe. This point is different depending on the safe model and the lock used. That pin is my repair. A tapered, hardened steel pin. It is over an inch long and is installed from inside the door, preventing it from being removed from the outside. It would be possible to drive it inside, but the lock will cover it. If the lock is driven off the door in a modern safe, it will deploy a relocking mechanism which will securely lock the door and require that the safe be drilled again. I don't recommend doing that. Drilling for a relocker is typically much more frustrating than drilling the lock.
Outside of the door, after the repair is completed, the evidence that it ever happened is nearly invisible. More than that, the safe now has over 1" of hard steel protecting the lock rather than the 3/8 of an inch before beginning the process. This will make it much more difficult to drill again if that ever has to be done. That said, lock failures are relatively uncommon and I've never had to drill the same safe a second time.
If you do ever need a safe opened, I recommend that you ask your safe tech to explain their repair process. I've seen more than a few safes that were not properly repaired after they were opened.
-Dan Bailey