This week I've opened a Master Lock 'Titanium' range padlock. It's a 'mid-range' lock and costs about £15. It comes with a thick black plastic outer case, covering a titanium shell. The shackle is hardened steel as usual.
First I levered off the outer plastic casing with an old screwdriver, then, with the lock in a vice, ground down the four rivets on the back of the titanium shell with my Dremel tool. Once the rivets were flush with the shell it was just a case using a nail punch, then a steel rod to push the rivets all the way out. There was also a small weld, joining the two halves of the shell together, just under the keyway. I used the Dremel with a reinforced cutting blade to cut through the weld in about a minute. Not exactly 'non-destructive' lock opening, but very effective
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Here's the lock with the plastic casing and rivets removed:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v609/gsmyth/002.jpg
The shackle does not 'pop' open on this model, it works on a geared mechanism. When the key is inserted and the plug is turned it engages a toothed gear wheel to move the shackle clear of the casing. Here's the lock with the titanium shell and inner backplate removed (viewed from the rear).
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v609/gsmyth/003.jpg
You can see the gear teeth that turn engage and rotate the shackle clear of the casing. The lock itself is just a standard four pin tumbler:
As I said, this is one of my pratice locks and I've been having major difficulty picking it open. The problem I find is that the keyway is very small and once the tension wrench is inserted there's very little room left to manipulate the pick to raise the pins.
of sizes and handle styles. The 2000 series come in the rubber handled full sized royal set, the rubber handled short sized regal set, and regular PIP-2000 styles.
They're pretty useful for smaller keyways.
