Help cutting up a padlock

by **d_goldsmith** » 8 Nov 2006 2:19

I'm trying to cut up a cheap padlock (I have picked 100's of times) to look at the guts of it, and hopefully make it in to a cutaway. It looks like it is a stack of metal squares pinned togethor. I cut the pins off at the bottom and figured each metal square would just slide off the pins now, but they won't budge. Is there more to it than that, or do I just need to keep grinding?

example of what it looked like before

what it looks like now

Hopefully someone can give me better terminology for the metal squares too...heh

I'm assuming there is nothing bonding them togethor, since when I sprayed Wd40 into this same type of lock a while ago, it seeped out through those cracks.

Thanks for the info.

by **keysman** » 8 Nov 2006 2:25

Take a pin punch .. buy or make 1 ( nails work pretty well but wear out and bend rather quickly) and punch the pins towards the shakle.
If you are just trying to get the cylinder out you only need to move the pins up 2 or 3 layers.

by **Krypos** » 8 Nov 2006 2:32

i had to read that twice keysman.

he means to knock the pins that you grinded off upwards towards the shackle and push them out.

also, in grinding them off, you may have sort of welded the pins with the square rings near the bottom. it cna get hot, and maybe thats whats stopping ya.

otherwise, i would say hammer.

by **d_goldsmith** » 8 Nov 2006 4:42

Cool. Thanks. I'm not having any luck punching them out. I sawed the tip off a nail and tried to pound them out, and I was hitting it hard. Didn't budge. If I want to try this on another lock, should I try to pound them out from the start, or saw them off slower to make sure they don't weld in place and then pound them out, or is there an easier way all around?

Thanks again.

by **Romstar** » 8 Nov 2006 6:19

If you have a very sharp cold chisel, place it between the last two plates and give it a good crack. It should seperate the plates.

In many cases they are just held together by the rivets. In some cases they coat them with a varnish, and it acts as a sort of glue.

In any case, once you get started they should come apart.

Romstar

by **ComTech** » 8 Nov 2006 8:57

I took one apart, after grinding the revets off, I put it in a vise and used a pair of channel locks to grab the bottom plate and peel it off.

by **d_goldsmith** » 9 Nov 2006 19:40

I didn't have a chisel, so I used the can opener from one of my leathermans (multi tool) and a hammer. Popped just the bottom one off and I was able to pull the core out. I repinned it and hammered the plate back on. Thanks for all the help.

by **Romstar** » 10 Nov 2006 0:21

You're very welcome. Hope you had some fun along the way as well.

Romstar

by **d_goldsmith** » 10 Nov 2006 0:48

Definitely had fun. It was my first experience with pins.

by **Romstar** » 10 Nov 2006 1:10

Oh? Well thats always a good thing. Nothing like chasing little pieces of metal all over your floor, or trying to find them in the carpet.

A buddy of mine dropped a pin kit once. I thought I would cry. He was so frustrated by it he just left it in the pile it was in on the floor while he went out to buy another one.

Can't say I blame him.

Romstar

by **d_goldsmith** » 10 Nov 2006 1:14

I was sitting on the floor in my boxer briefs, pardon the detailed description :lol:

, and had them sitting on a book because it was the only flat surface I had nearby and I was trying to compare their lengths to decide what order I wanted to put them back in. I leaned back to grab my drink and two of them disappeared. I set the book down and stood up slowly trying to see where they fell. Nothing. I looked around on the floor and nothing. Then I started feeling around my briefs :lol:

and they were in the gap where you pull your junk out, it's kind of like a pocket on briefs. :oops:

by **Romstar** » 10 Nov 2006 1:18

OH DEAR GOD! :shock:

I can't believe someone got something caught in the pocket of their tighty whities! :lol:

That has to be the single most funny thing I have heard in a week.

I'll be sure to remember this one. :twisted:

Romstar

by **ryanhaynie** » 31 Mar 2007 23:36

happens to the best of us lol havent laughed thi hard for awhile and it takes a lot to make me laugh

by **Mutzy** » 1 Apr 2007 0:23

at least you didn't lose them forever :shock:

.

by **jimmysmith** » 1 Apr 2007 11:42

use a pair of plyers and rip off the first to or three plate and then you should be able to take it all apart by hand.. its really the first two or three plates that are holding the lock together, once thee off it will all fall apart in your hand.

good luck

JimmySmith

Help cutting up a padlock

Help cutting up a padlock

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