Sticking with the human powered method, we use a 4 1/2 ft. industrial grade, monster of a bolt cutter to get through U-locks and anything else that stands in the way. Don't know where it came from, but its quick and quiet.

-Will
21st St. Coop Bike Project

--- On Tue, 6/23/09, reno bikes <renobikeproject@gmail.com> wrote:

From: reno bikes <renobikeproject@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] Cutting Bike Locks
To: "The Think Tank" <thethinktank@bikecollectives.org>
Date: Tuesday, June 23, 2009, 11:16 PM

angle grinder with cutting wheel.



On Tue, Jun 23, 2009 at 3:56 PM, Stuart O Anderson <soa@ri.cmu.edu> wrote:
Bolt-cutters are low cost and pretty safe, and will get you through
cables and chains.  A hacksaw is slow and labor intensive but will
eventually get you through a u-lock.  An angle-grinder with a good
cutting disc is my preferred tool for this work, although I wouldn't
feel comfortable handing it to a random volunteer.  If you do get an
angle grinder, consider getting a 6" one so you can use it to cut up
frames too, I've also heard (but never used myself) that a portable
hand-held bandsaw
(http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200308967_200308967)
works well for this...

Stuart

On Tue, Jun 23, 2009 at 6:25 PM, Scott
Beardsley<scott@sacbikekitchen.org> wrote:
> I'm involved with the Sacramento Bicycle Kitchen in California. We
> recently sealed a deal with the local Police to take 30-40 bikes/month
> off of their hands in return for working with troubled (meaning
> law-breaking) teens (something we're doing already anyways). I'm
> really excited about this and it'll bring even more exposure to our
> quickly growing shop/org along with giving us a ton of extra used
> parts. I have a question about breaking/cutting locks. Most of the
> bikes we will get still have locks (U-locks, chains, cables locks,
> etc) on them. What is the best way to remove these? Right now we are
> passing it on to the customer, but it'd be nice to at least have the
> proper tools if they wanted to DIY it. So far we have zero power tools
> in the shop. This might end up being the exception. What do we need to
> consider? Eye protection for everyone? Tell me how you handle these
> issues in your shop.
>
> Thanks!
> Scott
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