Hall's Safe - patent April 3rd 1906

I'm crrently looking at buying an old safe. I'm found one which I will describe shortly, but first I have a question: What sort of mechanical action should I expect of the safe dial on antique safes if it's in working order? Should is spin smoothly? Or is it supposed to only feel resistance every 5-10 digits. I'm just asking this because I want to assess whether the tumblers inside are broken or not. (dealing with a Scotsman, need all the bargaining help I can get.) The insides read --------- The Hall's Safe Company Cincinnati Patented April 3d. 1906 --------- The combination is lost, and There's an internal compartment that would require a key which I'll presume is also lost. My understanding is that to get these things repaired / cracked would cost ~$3-500 for someone that knew what they were doing to fix it. Fortunately, unless someone does something stupid before I can buy the safe, is that the safe door is open, so there is a chance I could try ficing / sorting things out myself. So my second question is, where would I find the equivalent of a 'how 1900's safes work and how to fix them for dummies' book / article? Thanks for any help or feedback, -Aaron