Breaking padlocks off

In regard to bolt cutters blades we have a pair at work that are so chewed up they won't cut anything anymore. I'd think (as mentioned before ) that cutting around the lock by the way of:chain, hasp, door itself, wall etc might be better than attacking a hardened shackle by chopping it.
The true key to success is finding a way through the locked obstacle quickly.
If direct chopping works this will be groundbreaking stuff. I'm interested to see how this testing goes.
This is research and development at it's best!:thumbup:
 
If you're using a decent lock whether it have an armored shackle or just a thick hardened padlock a hawk is not going to go through it. We have several different sizes of bolt cutters at work the largest being 4' tall and it will not touch the pro series master lock that Memphis mentioned.
 
Tim20637 said:
If you're using a decent lock whether it have an armored shackle or just a thick hardened padlock a hawk is not going to go through it. We have several different sizes of bolt cutters at work the largest being 4' tall and it will not touch the pro series master lock that Memphis mentioned.
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How about a good framing hammer like the Estwing series? 22 ounces of solid, heat treated steel and more or less bombproof according to those that use it. How would these padlocks take to getting smacked hard with a downward swing from one of those bad boys?
 
You would see visual marks but I doubt it would actually break the lock. You would be more likely to break the hasp/eyelets or whatever it is attached to. Only reason I'm responding to this thread is because I'm a locksmith so I figured I might have a better idea than most when it comes to ripping apart padlocks.
 
Tim20637 said:
You would see visual marks but I doubt it would actually break the lock. You would be more likely to break the hasp/eyelets or whatever it is attached to. Only reason I'm responding to this thread is because I'm a locksmith so I figured I might have a better idea than most when it comes to ripping apart padlocks.
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You probably would have a better idea than most.

Breaking the mounting hardware the lock is attached to sounds like a logical approach to me. It reminds me of a piece of narration heard in Burn Notice; how a security door lock is designed in a top of the line fashion to make it as difficult as possible to crack, but the wall it's attached to was built by the lowest bidder and subject to their level of quality.

Moral of the story, target the weak point.
 
A lot depends on the lock. A Master#2 really doesn't amount to much. Get one of those military locks and any Axe/hatchet/tomahawk is gonna struggle to do any damage
 
OK....took the VTAC out against the lock. I'm going to try and post all the pics from my phone as the computer is currently down, but if for whatever reason that does not work......I will post them up as soon as the computer is up.

At any rate......I used the master lock 21 millimeter "tough under fire" series. The idea was to simply hack through the shackle. I nailed the lock onto a 2x6 and laid the board on the ground.

The first swing bit very deeply into the shackle but did not cut all the way through. The second swing broke the shackle completely out of the body of the lock.

I laid the broken shackle and the locks body onto the board and took 10 more swings into shackle and lock. You will see in the photos that while I did not cut through the shackle completely........the tomahawk bit very deeply into the steel. Every strike the lock or shackle would bounce off the board because since I broke the lock there was no way to secure it to the board. This became tedious because I would miss every other strike and have to reset the lock or shackle.

Judging from the depth of each cut.....I'm certain if I were to have taken the time to continue to reset the lock and shackle and continue hacking it......it would have surely cut it in half.

Its hard to tell in the photos......but I tried to show before and after pics of the blades edge. There was no visual deformation of the edge. No chips or rolls and the only way you could tell there were any nicks at all was to run my finger nail along the edge. Nothing a few passes on the sanding belt would not remove quickly.

I don't know if this helps any or not but the tomahawk will certainly destroy most locks very quickly.

Since I'm using the phone....I will now try to post the pics.
 
That last pic of the edge looks like a roll but it was just debris from the lock. I wanted to take the pics immediately after cutting without wiping the edge down so any I'll effects would be clearly seen.
 
Upon closer inspection.....I skipped using a belt sander on the edge. 2 minutes with a mouse pad and 400 grit brought the edge back to new. Edge was able to cut paper cleanly.......not push cut, but still slice it cleanly before chopping the lock. After a handful of passes with the mouse pad edge is back to cutting paper.
 
Snakebreaker,

Awesome pics!! Thanks for taking the time to do this and to post the results.:thumbup:
 
For whatever it worth....the lock I used was brand new right out of the package. I bought it specifically for this test. Just mentioning that so no one thinks maybe it was an old worn out lock......not that it would probably matter......just throwing it out there.
 
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