Query: Laminated padlock disassembly

[Scytale]

I have a Brinks padlock that I've decided to take apart, a largish one of the pile-of-plates variety. I found another thread:
http://www.lockpicking101.com/viewtopic.php?t=1890
where is was suggested that these locks might come apart fairly easily once the end caps of the rods were removed. However, I have sawed the ends off of all eight rods and yet neither the rods nor the final plate are moving easily.

Do these locks commonly have any additional welding to hold the plates together or the rods in place, or am I just not using enough force to knock it apart?

Thanks for any help.

[Shrub]

Well looking at what Mick wrote in that thread (why not post your question on that by the way?) it sounds like you have to split them with a hammer and chisel so i guess your not useing enough force,

[illusion]

Either use a file, or a Dremel to grind away at the rivets... I guess you could get them off with a hammer and chisel also.

Once the rivets have been ground flush with the bottom plate, insert a thin screwdriver betrween the bottom plate and the one above it, and twist untill it starts tocome loose. When the bottom plate comes loose, the cylinder will just fall out.

[Shrub]

Dont hammer the rivelts off with the hammer and chisel, leave the hammer and chisel for what Mick suggested you do with it, the rivets as said should be ground or filed off,

[Kaotik]

These guys have pretty much explained it to you.

However, it will take some good force and quite a bit of prying to get that bottom plate off because the studs/rivets will be tightly fitted inside the holes of the plates, it may bend aswell, but you can always bend it back into shape.

[Scytale]

Thanks for all your advice.

I still haven't been able to crack the Brinks lock. Just as a sanity check, I decided to take disassemble a similar, but smaller, CVS lock that I had. On that one, my procedure worked fine. I was able to punch the rods out with no problem after grinding the rivets into the plate, and the lock came right apart.

One thing I noticed after removing the rods is that they are all very slightly bent, I guess to help keep them in place. Having seen that, and heard your suggestions, I think my problem with the Brinks lock is just that it's so big that there's too much resistance to pushing the rods out, so my punch ends up just making a hole in the metal end of the rod, but not pushing it out. Maybe a blunter punch tool would help. I'll keep at it.

[Shrub]

Well you should be useing a piun punch of the right diameter and not a centre punch