New Master Padlock line

[Lauren]

My local Home Depot just got a new Master lock reset of various padlocks. Most of the new features of these locks incorporate a hexagonal shaped hasp made of boron-carbide. I don't know the exact benifits of this material or the reason behind the hexagonal shape. I admit, it is rather eye catching. Another design addition is the frequent use of rubber components. In some cases, if you remove the decorative rubber pieces, you wouldn't even know that Master was the manufacture of these locks, which leads me to believe this is just another way to save on manufacturing costs. I was rather disapponted with some of the new die cast locks that simulate the traditional plate laminated locks. It kind of reminds me of those new painted speed bumps that they've beeen talking about in the news lately. I liked some of the higher end locks. The locks seemed light-weight with little play between parts. I don't think the rubber dirt covers will hold up though. I think the disc locks are a joke.

[Schuyler]

Nice to see you kicking around again, Lauren. Got any photos for reference? Haven't been to Home Depot in a few weeks.

[Squelchtone]

Nice to see you kicking around again, Lauren. Got any photos for reference? Haven't been to Home Depot in a few weeks.

I had this since April, 2008



the casing has a faux plate finish, but underneath are real stacks of plates like the old No.3 to the right.


purchased at my local Home Demon

Squelchtone

[mh]

a link from Archive555:
video how they are made:
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1385034/

[lockedin]

Great video except I thought they would be Chinese workers I thought Master Lock closed its Milwaukee factory and moved production to China to save costs? Or maybe the video had a white worker for PR reasons.

Good post mh. Regardless of where production is, I must commend Master for their rigorous testing of each locks ability to withstand brute force attacks, if not nde.

[Squelchtone]

Great video except I thought they would be Chinese workers I thought Master Lock closed its Milwaukee factory and moved production to China to save costs? Or maybe the video had a white worker for PR reasons.

Good post mh. Regardless of where production is, I must commend Master for their rigorous testing of each locks ability to withstand brute force attacks, if not nde.

You're right, they do test the ba-jesus out of those locks when it comes to pure physical strength, and I like the new padlocks having ball bearings to retain the shackle. I believe this invalidates any attempts at shimming, and I'm pretty sure since Master bought American Lock, there has been some design sharing.

But aside from being physically strong, their cylinders are still easy to pick. I have not yet taken apart this new padlock, but I doubt I wll find any spool or serrated pins. And you know it wouldn't kill them to throw at least 1 spool or serrated pin into the lock.

The American consumer has long held the firm belief that Master padlocks can take a bullet and not unlock, but the cylinders (especially in the No.3 line of locks) are the laughing stock of the Locksport community. It's this security through obscurity and a powerful advertizing campain showing locks hit by bullets, that has given Master an almost religious following from the American consumer base.

I don't have enough fingers on my hands to count all the times I've driven by a construction site, or have worked on a construction site where someone has a Master No3 guarding the gate at night. Or a JOBOX container, or the control panel on a Case bucket loader. If the foreman on the jobsite only knew...

Squelchtone

[Mutzy]

Those ones don't look to be rekeyable either. How much do those cost?

As for the keys, same old keyway, or are they new profiles, requiring extra stocks of blanks to cut duplicates?

[Archive555]

Dang!
mh already beat me to re-posting my own link

I personally prefer the old master padlocks, they're so much simpler, and they're design is tried and true.

I like the video because all you need to do is reverse that process and you can take it apart.

-Archive

[raimundo]

I didn't look at the utoob link, but I saw the segment on some show like "how its made" so I suspect that its the same video. The shackle made of boron carbide should be much stronger than the common master #3, which can be opened with the right firearm placing the bullet through the locking dogs rather than through the cylinder. Myth busters did a segment on opening locks with firearms, a 308 or a 7.62 from a rifle will do it, and the person doing it is a fool, as there is a risk of injury from bounce back.

When a cutter for rebar is placed on a round case hardened shackle, the initial bite is on a very small part of the whole cross section, the force is tremendous, and once the crack is started, the game is almost up, the only thing that holds it together is the slightly softer center in a case hardened shackle, which will fight hard as its losing. Boron alloy however does not give in that way, I have a shackle for a large circular body american padlock, (forgot the model #) which has several bites from pinching it with a long handled boltcutter with two large men on the handles, it sunk the blades almost a millimeter in the half hour of trying but the lock won. until I picked it. I can say that as the cutter was sunk into the shackle on this one, it seemed to get stronger rather than weaken, this is probably because the psi was distributed over a slightly longer area of contact bringing the psi number down. the difference between a knife edge and a snow shoe is psi. one has a high number, the other a low number.

[vrocco]

I'm pretty sure since Master bought American Lock, there has been some design sharing.

That was my thought while watching them asemble that lock. Looks alot like the American locking mechanism

[hydruh]

I have had one of these for quite a while now and I recommend them as a challenge for an early-intermediate picker. They are basic 4 pin Master cylinders, but have the occluded keyway and the slightly higher tolerances that make it a tougher pick.

Plus it gives a really satisfying <CLUNK> when it opens.

S

[Mutzy]

but the lock won. until I picked it.

The lockpicker way.

[fsdhy]

Masterlock is no longer in my good books.

They have tried to peddle way too many products that downright SUCKS. The "UP" user-programmable padlocks... As if smashing a key into the cylinder with a hammer could ever be a good thing? The shitty cam/driver mechanism in their 66xx series padlocks. PURE GARBAGE. These cost me a lot of money... How can a 75$ lock with a UL437-rated KnK cylinder in it be completely SMOKED just from one idiot trying to turn the key the wrong way?

Abus for the win.

[Jaakko]

Abus for the win.