Bolt cutters

[uoods]

I know this doesn't have to do with picking, but it's semi-related. My friend locked a Master combination lock on his locker here in the dorm. After trying to shim it with homemade shims with no success and no dice with the decoding of the combination, he just wants to get the lock off once and for all. I've been wanting to invest in bolt cutters for a while now anyway, so to anyone with any experience with them: any brands that are particularly good? and what length should I look for to cut your average master combination lock fairly easily?

[technik]

any will do. They call them bolt cutters coz they cut through bolts If they cant then sue the company! nah seriously, any will do, thats their job. (before you go taking bolt cutters to school (imagine how suspect that would look!) ask the janitor/maintnence guy to cut the lock for you, save you a few bucks) unless your just using this as a cover story

[marso]

Bolt cutters have nothing to do with lockpicking and is a poor topic to discuss.

Basically it is a copout for someone who does not have the time/patients to pick it.

[plot]

does the combination lock in the back have a keyway? i'd try picking it first.


.... i've seen a few torture tests done on padlocks, and bolt cutters didn't really do much to them. if you really wanna copout, take a chissel and set it on the top of the lock between the shackle... then hit the top of the chissel with a hammer. should knock the lock right off.

(in high school, we did this with our knuckles on older master locks... oh did it hurt, but it worked)

[Chucklz]

The mastter combination lock will NOT stand up to bolt cutters. Just FYI.

[CitySpider]

if you really wanna copout, take a chissel and set it on the top of the lock between the shackle... then hit the top of the chissel with a hammer. should knock the lock right off.

(in high school, we did this with our knuckles on older master locks... oh did it hurt, but it worked)

You put your knuckles between the shackle and whacked them with a hammer?

[jason]

I know it isn't the right place for lockpicking but bolt croppers/cutters do work on ordinary padlocks, just make sure you get ones with long enough handles to gain the necessary leverage - I have a set which are 24" long and work fine on warrant jobs, I also have a couple of pieces of scaffold tube for extra leverage when I hit something a bit heavy (very rare).

Proper padlocks (insurance approved or "Sold Secure") have shielded/closed shackles so that won't work as you can't get any purchase.

I only use these when I'm executing warrants or where the keys are lost - it's better to pick (looks more impressive as well as you can then sell them a higher quality padlock )

[uoods]

Bolt cutters have nothing to do with lockpicking and is a poor topic to discuss.

Basically it is a copout for someone who does not have the time/patients to pick it.

I know. I don't have the time, or the patience considering there's also work to do since I'm at school. While it's a poor topic to discuss, I figured there would be helpful people on this forum about an otherwise possibly undiscussed subject anywhere else. I thank the rest of you who replied helpfully.

[plot]

if you really wanna copout, take a chissel and set it on the top of the lock between the shackle... then hit the top of the chissel with a hammer. should knock the lock right off.

(in high school, we did this with our knuckles on older master locks... oh did it hurt, but it worked)

You put your knuckles between the shackle and whacked them with a hammer?

lol... skipped the chissel part and used our knucles as a hammer

you slam down on that lock hard enough between the shackle and it's gonna give. i'm not sure of the exact amount of weight it can withstand (probably on masterlocks website somewhere), but it's not TO incredibly much.

[Chucklz]

If I was a Mechanical Engineer, Id tensile test it. So, all you mech-e's out there, the challenge is now yours.

Id also be willing to venture a guess that its not the force you apply, but how suddenly you apply it.

[plot]

it's all about the physics. Force = Mass * Acceleration


and i just noticed i bent my short hook pick

[Chucklz]

I was more concerned with the plastic behavior of the pot metal that holds the shackle in place. As you can easily test, a twig can be bent slowly without snapping, but try to bend it too quickly, and snap.

Someone should get the fun of calculating the Young's modulus for the bit of metal that holds a master combo lock shut.