H2SO4 and locks

Should have use nitric acid, sulphuric is for organic materials.

Dan

it disolved the hull of the lock just fine. and it SHOULD disolve the copper in the brass pins leaving some mush of tin, and CuSO4. I think i jeft a few pins and springs sitting in a cup of h2so4 outside.. hope it doesn't rain in it and splash the acid.

Umm... If those pins are still OEM pins, then they are not made of brass... They are made of the same nickel-silver alloy that the keys are made of...

I am slightly wary of your results as you have the lock you are using taken apart and are able to completely submerge the cylinder in the acid solution... Would you not have to spray or inject the acid into a lock you are attacking with this method ???

Your previous idea of using liquid nitrogen to attack a lock seems more likely to be possible in real life than this acid dissolving the lock fantasy...

You really need to stop watching spy movies to find locksmithing techniques...

Evan the Maintenance Man

The trick is to accelerate the reaction. Put it lock in a bowl, pour in about a pint of acid then dump in a half a cup of lye. Have a hair drier ready to gently warm the mixture.

oh in that case it wont do s*it to the pins, as they're not brass. wtf was the hull made out of that disolved? I took pics periodicly with my phone. you can see it starting to disolve first where you take the pins out, where the walls are thin on top.

I'm in no way saying it's practical, I just thought it was interesting, you don't have be be a jackass with your worn out 'spy movie' line, mmmkay?

a Schlage? with ORIGINAL pins? or aftermarket? original are Nickel Silver...

--Shiva--

Umm... Roger, wasn't the whole point to this to suggest that locks could be opened easily by using acid... Fugi stated that only PART of the cylinder dissolved... The 'hull' or shell of the cylinder which in this particular case was made from some kind of inferior junk metal...

I am not so sure that he would be able to gain entrance past a fully assembled lockset as he would not be able to completely submerge the cylinder or any part of it in his acid...

Evan the Maintenance Man

Nitric works finer with metal, but don't use smoking nitric acid which is about a 78% or more acid's solution. You must diluate it because the reaction with metal needs H3O+ ion, so add water or directly use a solution for industrial purpose.

Be aware of fumes which are NO2, but I think it's clear in your mind for testing this outdoor.

I've tried to cool and smash a lock with a cooling fluid at -65°C. Cooling was easy, breaking it with a hammer and a burin in the face too, but I was not able to do anything more. I don't think you can manage to open it. It's certain that cold can help to break metal, but perhaps I've not the good hammer's shot.

Spies try many techniques in their labs and keep it jealously from public. So how did you know it's one? ;-)

Hello Roger,

You really don't need to warm with a hair drier, it's warm very well alone.

That's not nearly as cold as liquid nitrogen (-196 C).

I found this at:

"Freeze a copper penny for a good long time, then smash it with a hammer and watch it shatter into pieces."

The question in my mind is whether the materials in a lock can be made cold enough to shatter - and that includes the problem of getting the LN to cool down the lock and then whether the temperature is cold enough to make it brittle. Note that copper is one of the more ductile metals, but it becomes brittle at LN temps.

This is sufficiently interesting that I did some searching - and found a couple of quite interesting discussions:

I'm sure Roger wouldn't want those who don't comprehend his humor to ever mix an acid and a base together unless they wanted to have a surgical makeover afterward.

Regards,

Edward Hennessey

Damn Roger! That's harsh!!!

Do not try this suggestion... It is really not a good idea at all! Your mileage will not vary, you will be hurt!!!

Roger, why not suggest an aluminum bowl to boot so you could get the extra umph from the lye.?

-- A

He was screwing with you. Don't you know what happens when you mix acids and bases?