Dry Ice and Locks....

[CLE333]

Regardless of lock...if submerged in a cooler of dry ice pellets for an extended period of time, could you hit the lock with a sledge hammer or hammer and just open the lock(i.e. brass internals shattered)?

[Chucklz]

Nope, not for any lock ive ever tested. And I used LN2, a wee bit colder than dry ice

[CLE333]

So even if submerged for like 2 hours? What about getting like the Freeze away wart remover...spraying that in there, THE submerging it....Pretty much looking for a brute force opening of a lock....without resorting to powertools or picking...

[stick]

It's been discussed many times. The general consensus is that unless you use very large amounts of something very cold (Dr. Scholl's probably won't do), nothing will happen to the lock.

[Chucklz]

Dry ice -79 C
LN2 -196 C

Absolute 0 -273.15 C

[MrB]

You are going about this the wrong way.

Here's what you do:

Take the lock to a smithy and heat it up until it is glowing red. Using tongs, place it on an anvil. Then hit it firmly and squarely with a ten pound sledge hammer.

I can guarantee that the lock will not trouble you ever again.

[tastyfish]

ahh, though that would work, what if you had it attached to part of your house and lost the key, like on your shed of something.

maybe if you have a oxy-acet kit and alot of LN2, heat it up as much as you can witht he oxy-acet kit then submerge it in the LN2... MAYBE then it would open, but iv never tryed it before nor do i have either of those 2 things, but if you have money and time to waste... go right ahead and try.

[CLE333]

Yeah, the lock is

http://www.onguardlocks.com/beastchain.html

He works at a bike shop and has a demo one. Bets I can't get it open.

Hmmm....I'm actually lost.

[CLE333]

I was thinking. What acid will eat through steel? I'm sure somebody can make such an acid at home...

[Chronos]

Wel, if you are wanting to destroy the lock just melt it with thermite. That stuff will melt through near anything, you will probably need some magnesium ribbon to ignite it though. The thermite and they Mg can be bought online though, for probably less than $20 USD.

[Chucklz]

The only acid that I can think would be easy to make at home would be some aqueous acetic acid, and even then thats not so easy, and its certainly not strong enough to do anything to steel. You would have to mix up some Aqua Regia. If you don't know what that is already, I woudl suggest you don't bother to find out- it is not something you just mix up without a rather extensive backround in common sense and some basic lab safety.

OF course, you really should just pick the lock.

[Mr Ules]

I'd have to agree with chucklz. Chances are, if you've got such a good lock locking something in or around your home, it's probably guarding all those fancy tools and chemicals you'd need to defeat the lock.

[raimundo]

I always believed that the freezing and breaking the lock was an urban myth but some years ago, a locksmith showed me one of the largest master padlocks made, with a fractured shackle, and the shackle had no real tool marks around the fracture such as would have been made by repeated bites of a cutting tool. The locksmith told me it was proof that the freezing thing was not an urban myth. He also told me it was done with freon on one of the coldest days of winter which can be extreme in minnesota in years past. In any case, just pick the padlock. I don't remember the locksmith that showed me that lock saying he did it, I think the story was that it was found after a breakin. Give up the dream of breaking the lock with freezing, and even if you do try it, wouldnt the brass pins in the cylinder be the things to break, since there is a lot less resistance than the thick shackle.

[Misfit]

I have to agree with everyone else about the dry ice, and other freezing agents. HOWEVER, i think everyone is overlooking one important factor, how awesome dry ice can be. Heres a scenario. Say you want to show off some of your locks to your friends. Well what if you think they won't be impressed with your locks? no problem. Set up some strobe lights, some techno music, and spray paint your dry ice container an awesome metallic color. When your friends come over say, "Hey do you want to check out my locks..........FROM THE FUTURE!!!!?" Hit the switch for your setup, and when you push back the lid *fwoosh*, it'll amaze all of your friends. It's a great way to get ladys too! With this technique you won't ever have to spend another friday night alone again!...........anyway, i think this subject had a large amount of posts earlier this month. But if the dry ice idea isn't appealing to you, i'd recommend picking.

[the_transporterkk3]

I suppose you also think your a ladies man. Do you have to glue-on chest hair.