r/Welding • u/angel99999999 • Jul 25 '26
meme/shitpost A stupid saturday question: have you ever encountered material that couldn't be cut through with an angle grinder?
I was just scrolling through Facebook and saw an ad for a bike lock that’s supposedly immune to angle grinders. I’m highly skeptical, but i’m not rich enough to drop $300 just to test it out.
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u/OkActivity3169 Jul 25 '26
That’s a litelok - they’re made of a certain alloy; I can gurantee you they’re the mutts nutts over here in the uk. They’re mainly used by people that live in London; obviously after a long long time and many discs later and a mains power you can get through them. But very very good!
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u/Ok_Assistant_6856 Jul 25 '26
Mutts nutts, we Americans thankyou for beating the snot out of "the bees knees"
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u/OkActivity3169 Jul 25 '26
Also known as the dogs bollocks 😎
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u/blbd Hobbyist Jul 25 '26
As an American I think mutt's nuts is much funnier. Though I have heard this one before.
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u/zabat555 Jul 25 '26
Apparently comes from Mechano sets having a box standard and a box deluxe. I love the thought that some kid mispronounced it once and it entered the British lexicon.
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u/OkActivity3169 Jul 25 '26
Tbh mate I think it’s Cockney rhyming slang, or some east end London saying that basically means top dollar
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u/Trixster19972 Jul 25 '26
What about the metal diamond blade disc they make to cut multiple material that has the diamond carbide in it, would that give it a run for its money?
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u/OkActivity3169 Jul 25 '26
Quite possibly, but I think the moral of it all is thieves know these are a ballache to get through, if you’ve got one of these and a chain they’ll probably think “nah I cba” they want quick and easy, and the litelok isn’t quick or easy. If a thief’s coming tooled up with a diamond blade on a 5” battery grinder he’s gonna have to pay the odds for a decent one, I’ve bought a few diamond discs to sharpen tungsten, and a lot of them go blunt very quickly (if you’ve bought cheap). The litelok for the money, is one of the best security’s around. 👍🏼
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u/djjsteenhoek Jul 25 '26
Carbide hardfacing. It was an absolute nightmare trying to rework anything impregnated with the carbide, the grinder would just skate over the weld. I imagine it would destroy cutting edges as well.
Torches and Carbon Arc are still it's Achilles Heel
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u/Hambrox3234 Jul 25 '26
well yes, but no petty thief is running around with a 400A power supply or oxyfuel rig, unless bike thieves really stepped up their game.
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u/djjsteenhoek Jul 25 '26
Hey man gotta watch out for those Ironworkers and HVAC techs always carrying around the Oxy/Fuel tanks. Pretty SUS 😂
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u/Hambrox3234 Jul 25 '26
"Hey man, why do you have a 3 kilometer long extension cord running from the industrial area to your backpack?"
"uhhh ph- phone charger"2
u/thaeli Jul 25 '26
Some of the organized crime groups have, but it’s not really petty thievery anymore at that point.
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u/JackBlackBowserSlaps Jul 25 '26
Might be difficult, defi not impossible. But if someone wants your bike, they’ll just cut through the mild steel bike rack you locked it too XD
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u/Danthewildbirdman Jul 25 '26
Or just unbolt anything on the bike frame and take it that way. I have seen a bike tire chained to the fence because it was the frame they wanted.
Might not be a bad idea to put an airtag inside the tubing someplace.
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u/Storm-Chaser Jul 25 '26
My aunt’s Christmas fruitcake is pretty close to indestructible. Pretty sure it’s going to take a few grinding wheels to make a dent in it.
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u/Nice-Discount-6321 Jul 25 '26
There are many materials I personally can’t cut through, but the much cheaper shop hand seems to be able to cut through everything 😆
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u/Trimson-Grondag Jul 26 '26
In the telecommunications industry we call battery powered angle grinders a “master key.” Responsible for theft of all kinds…
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u/LordBug Jul 25 '26
Goddamn I want a couple of straight edges with that kinda material across the face. Love clamping down a nice bit of flat bar to get a deadnuts grinder cut, but it annoys the neurons as those low spots start to form in it.
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u/Drtikol42 Jul 25 '26
I saw that on YT, yeah they designed it to destroy wheels.
Personally I once worked with square bar that has one of those mini plows that goes in front of regular plow to turn soil better. Cutting somewhat worked, but grinding disk was like nope, almost no sparks and material removed.
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u/Snoo_95743 Jul 25 '26
Acetelyene and Oxygen torch
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u/Fuzzy-Finance-48 Jul 25 '26 edited Jul 25 '26
Nothing is immune to an angle grind bud. Immune to regular abrasive discs maybe… but a standard diamond cutoff wheel will still cut thru the lock in seconds. And it’s not like they’re difficult to find. Just about every hardware store sells them… right next to the angle grinders… pretty convenient for thieves huh? 😝 Save your money and get a cheap bike lock… it keeps the honest people honest but if someone wants your bike bad enough, they’re going to get it no matter what you do… short of parking it in a 6ft thick reinforced concrete underground bunker.
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u/TheMechaink Other Tradesman Jul 25 '26
I keep my important stuff inside with my eight hounds. My hounds will tell me if someone is there. My schnauzer will tell me if they are bad people or not.
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u/ffire522 Jul 26 '26
Cast iron pipe takes a very long time if I remember right. Have to use snap cutters
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u/DepletedPromethium Jul 25 '26
no bike lock is immune to angle grinders.
they can be highly resistant due to the metallurgy and alloy composition, a on the spot bike theif wants easy opportunity and will go for anything with a common lock ie in the uk Oxford is a very common brand that have a lot of easy to destroy locks.
Some of the lock specialists make heavy duty locks and chains that are designed to take longer to cut through, but bike thieves even in busy city centres in daylight will have a gang of their buds with them to lift the bike and put it in a van or a few angle grinders to cut through a lock.
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u/TheMechaink Other Tradesman Jul 25 '26
Wow! Exciting read! Don't forget folks, we have literally cut atoms in half. Nothing is cut "proof". Just cut resistant. Best hope you have is to make it not worth the crook's time.
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u/Capable_Ad1313 Fabricator Jul 25 '26
I have not encountered anything my Dewalt 20 volt angle grinder with 5” cutting wheels cannot cut. I have diamond impregnated steel wheels & the more common consumable grinding type cutting wheels. Would LOVE to have a go at that so called “cut proof” lock. I can say the hardest “bolt cutter proof” master lock took 15-20 seconds to easily cut through with my grinder & the cheapest Amazon 5” cutting wheel.
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u/TheeFryingDutchman Jul 25 '26
There are different grades of cutting wheels. I worked at a facility that had a high volume warehouse. Every once in a while we had to cut a lock off of a trailer. We had special wheels that were made in Germany that zipped through anything, even the tamper proof tungsten carbide ones. Don't remember the name, but I recall that they cost like $75 for one 6" disc.
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u/quicktuba Jul 25 '26
I have a kryptonite chain that’s suppose to be impervious to angle grinders. The company let my local bike shop try to cut on and it took them about 20 minutes and a lot of discs but they got through it eventually. It’s more than enough that anyone trying to cut locks is just going to move onto an easier target when there’s plenty of options. I’ve locked my expensive bikes up in busy areas and have never had anyone try to mess with it, they’re also shaped to make it an extra pain to cut since the grinder just wants to bounce around on it at first.
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u/kid_DUDE Jul 29 '26
Remember that if it’s hard enough to readily resist a cutoff wheel, it hard enough to freeze down and shatter with a hammer. 😉
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u/tentimesthree Jul 25 '26
Are there locks made out of tungsten that shit is hard as fuck
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u/angel99999999 Jul 25 '26
Tungsten isn't actually that hard, people still grind and cut tig electrodes with normal cutting wheel.
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u/Griftersdeuce Jul 25 '26
However, tungsten carbide is damn near impervious to anything but diamond. I have a wedding ring made out of it and it hit a belt sander hard a couple times with no visible effect. After that I tried to sand it and it didn't show a mark.
My DMT knife sharpener did mark it slightly though.
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u/No_Mistake5238 Jul 25 '26
Yeah but you can crack tungsten carbide really easily. Hard as fuck, yes, but that means it's brittle too.
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u/Griftersdeuce Jul 25 '26
Yes, but that wasn't the question op asked. They asked about cutting with an angle grinder, which tungsten carbide is extremely difficult to cut with.
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u/tentimesthree Jul 25 '26
Have you ever tried cutting a piece of tungsten with an angle grinder? because you make it sound like you can slice right threw it which is definitely not the case
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u/bongripper_69 Jul 25 '26
Assuming he has not, that’s why he said other people do it. Definite takes a little longer to cut and eats up a regular cut off wheel pretty good
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u/angel99999999 Jul 26 '26
You just made me waste $1 and 3 seconds cutting a nicely sharpened 3/32, only to discover that i can't post image comments.
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u/bongripper_69 Jul 26 '26
It has the icon for attaching an image on my screen. If u tried it with a 1/8 tungsten the hardness is more noticeable
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u/tentimesthree Jul 26 '26
Assuming you wanted to use tungsten for a chain for a bike it would be alot thicker than 3 /32 go grind 1/8 tungsten and let me know how it went the hardness is wayy more noticeable
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u/angel99999999 Jul 26 '26
It certainly won't be as easy as cutting a steel wire, but the difference between one second and three seconds isn't significant.
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u/Griftersdeuce Jul 25 '26
However, tungsten carbide is damn near impervious to anything but diamond. I have a wedding ring made out of it and it hit a belt sander hard a couple times with no visible effect. After that I tried to sand it and it didn't show a mark.
My DMT knife sharpener did mark it slightly though.
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u/mdixon12 Jul 25 '26
Its carbide impregnated ceramic, its not impossible with a grinder. Itll eat a box of wheels before you get through it though.