Dudley Lock Serial Number
Working out the Left-right-left combination to a lock Working out the Left-right-left combination to a lockConventionally, a combination lock is opened by turning the dial two turns to the right,then to the first number, one turn left, and left to the second number, and thenright again to the last number. This series of turns causes the rotors of the locksto have their notches aligned with each other (see )However, there's nothing that prevents you from starting the combination counterclockwiseinstead of clockwise, and conventional combination locks can indeed be opened this way.The left-right-left combination lock trickBecause the tabs on the rotors have non-zero thickness, slightly less than a full turn is needed to catchsubsequent rotors.
Dudley Lock Serial Numbers
On account of this, to open a combination lock by turning left right leftinstead of right left right, the first number needs to be several numbers further to the right,and the second number needs to be several to the left.The table below shows several locks that I worked out the left-right-left combination for.Note that for the Dudley lock, the left-right-left has the first number increase and the secondnumber decreased - exactly opposite of the other locks.