Security Euro cyclinder

Amazed me recently how easy to 'snap' a cheap (albeit branded) lock.

Indeed! How did you stop the sparks damaging the door?

was the door shut? was the lock too long i.e. protruding on either side?

Angle grinder sparks aren't very hot, not enough thermal mass or summit.

Open. Once I'd removed the handles there was about an inch protruding from the inside. Cut that horizontally, then halfway vertically, then snapped it.

That was my first line of attack, but this bugger wouldn't snap at all. Once I'd removed a lot of it - it did.

I had a window in one of my factories that was peppered with melted-in debris from an angle grinder, where a previous owner had removed a nearby steel bracket from a girder.

Colin Bignell

Do you mean you couldn't snap it, or you did but it stayed locked so you still couldn't open the door to get at the securing bolt? I thought anti-snap meant the latter, but you imply the former.

Try it when you are wearing a nylon boiler suit.

You'd be surprised, they'll happily embed themselves in automotive glass.

Am I missing something? Surely, with the door open, and handles removed, and with access to the faceplate, you could just undo its retaining screw and withdraw it?

No, the cam is at an offset position when the key is removed so the cylinder cannot be removed easily.

If only. My Dad's lounge window was permanently scarred with hundreds of pits by hot sparks from an angle grinder being used on a car several metres in front of it.

Yes indeed, you cannot make your own gaol cell these days.. grin. Lots of locks being serious for a moment seem to have the major parts made of some lightweight hard , but very brittle metal. I found a padlock like this quite recently, Where the hole was for the pin that locked it, the sides of the remaining lockable part war so thin, I snapped them off merely using an old screwdriver. Brian

Not a mark on the uPVC door at all.

I couldn't snap it, until it had a discussion with Mr Angle Grinder. Not sure what 'Anti Snap' is supposed to mean TBH.

The clue here is "on the inside"

The inside access doesn't need protection from physical destructive attack, does it?

In fact the one that I had to have replaced (be because dozey cow who moved out didn't give me all her keys back) didn't have any protection from remove from the inside at all, as it had a thumb wheel

(and the locksmith who replaced it - because none of the local handymen knew what the flip to do with it, said that they are pickable)

tim

In my view it means a cylinder with a reinforced centre section that resists the snapping forces in that reduced profile section in the middle but the term seems to have been hijacked by manufacturers that think breaking off the outer section of a cylinder easily is a security enhancement. Weakening the design with a few cuts is of course much easier than adding and securely fixing a strong core to the outer cylinder elements, the latter are much more expensive.

Think you had a lucky break on the angle grinder collateral damage, 1 'cos you were just cutting brass and 2 'cos it was striking the door at an oblique angle. I'd be very wary of using an angle grinder near anything that is in the slightest bit fragile (glass, plastic, carpet, clothing) unless it was well masked, particularly if I was cutting anything with ferrous content. With ferrous grindings you also have the risk of any waste rusting later in contact with water for that distinctive red/brown stain, v messy on tarmac, concrete or carpet.