How do I cut a Master boron alloy shackle padlock?

[Administration-Top Agent Forum]

Even the biggest bolt cutters don't work. Do I need to saw it and will that work?

[Toller]

Angle grinder with a cutting disk. I just used one to cut through a padlock in less than 2 seconds. Boron alloy might be tougher; so it might take 4 seconds.

[John McGaw]

Should evaporate any standard padlock in a couple of seconds. Cutting not required...

[HeyBub]

Look on the bottom of the lock. Are there any numbers? If so, a locksmith can provide a key.

[Jim Yanik]

"HeyBub" wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Dremel with a cutoff disk.

[Harry K]

Small grinder. Borrow or buy if you don't have one. Don't want to do that? Use your bolt cutters or a hacksaw and cut the loop the lock goes through, throw away the padlock, replace the hasp fitting.

Harry K

[HeyBub]

Ooh! Good thinking!

It's like "The Club" thingy for your car. Thieves don't even bother trying to defeat it - they just cut the steering wheel (which is made of recycled metal from an underwire bra and a bit of plastic).

[Dave Martindale]

Should work eventually, though it will take a while to go through a larger lock. If you use the thin discs, in particular, use safety glasses or a face shield and keep your face out of the plane of the disc.

A 4 or 5 inch angle grinder with a cutoff disc has much more power and will work faster. The discs are also more robust, and less likely to break and go flying in several directions (though the face shield is still an excellent idea).

Dave

[clifto]

Dremel also makes a fiberglas cutoff disc. Somewhat more expensive than the thin quarter-sized ones in the tube, but they last a LOT longer and work a LOT better. I've never had one fly into pieces yet, though it doesn't seem impossible.

[Jim Yanik]

clifto wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Dremel also makes "heavy duty" cutoff discs,a bit thicker than the normal ones,but not fiberglass. I have all 3 kinds,BTW.

[Dave Martindale]

Those are also several times as thick as the thin Dremel ones, so it will take longer to cut through whatever you're cutting (since the power available from a Dremel tool is rather limited).

This still sounds like a good idea for anything as thick as a padlock shackle, since it will be difficult keeping the really thin disc perfectly aligned with the slot for the duration of the cut. The thin disc breaks really easily if it gets twisted in a slot that it is cutting.

Dave

[clifto]

It sorta depends. I discovered them after wearing about 12 of the generic discs down to nubs while hardly making a dent in the object I was trying to cut. The fiberglas disc did the job in next to no time when you take into account the time involved in changing discs, and the fact that each generic disc was making next to no progress at all. The fiberglas disc wore down to about half its starting diameter in the process of cutting the object.