Why don’t they make safes out of aluminum?

Discussion in 'Chemistry' started by Beaconator, Oct 25, 2022.

  1. Beaconator Valued Senior Member

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    Have a steel facade so a torch works initially… and you can make the aluminum thicker at a cheaper price than steel. So why not? Thicker metal to cut at a cheaper price. Possibly more resistant to improper electronic heat sources.
     
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  3. billvon Valued Senior Member

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    You can cut 6061 aluminum with a circular saw with a plywood blade.
     
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  5. Beaconator Valued Senior Member

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    And you can cut steel with a bandsaw, but robbers don’t typically bring either to open a safe.

    plus that’s a very powerful circular saw to do that. Maintaining at least 180 rpm .. some plug in saws don’t cover that through aluminum with a poor blade.
    Then you have to repeat that three times to make a triangular hole. Not to mention you would have to cut though steel first
     
    Last edited: Oct 26, 2022
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  7. billvon Valued Senior Member

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    Well, right. But a circular saw is a lot easier to carry.
     
  8. sideshowbob Sorry, wrong number. Valued Senior Member

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    I read a book about safe-cracking once.

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    Making a hole is one thing but the important part is what you do with the hole when you've got it. Typically, you want to reach inside with a wire and trip the latch that locks the bolts in place. For that, you have to know a lot about the lock's mechanism.
     
  9. Beaconator Valued Senior Member

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    Well they went digital since you’ve read the book… typically I’m thinking they bring a torch that works on steel but not on aluminum when they test them
     
  10. Beer w/Straw Transcendental Ignorance! Valued Senior Member

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    I guess it depends on how easily sulfuric acid is to get and that is used in batteries.

     
  11. sideshowbob Sorry, wrong number. Valued Senior Member

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    The locks might be digital on the outside but the latch still has to be mechanical. Actual physical bolts keep the door closed and a smaller actual physical bolt keeps the main bolts in place. You still need an actual physical interface.

    (Incidentally, the book scoffed at the idea of "Jimmy-Valentining" the lock open by "listening to the tumblers".)
     
  12. Beaconator Valued Senior Member

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    Directing acid onto a vertical surface is harder than squeezing an alloy into a heterogeneous form
     
  13. Beaconator Valued Senior Member

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    and an enormous amount of electricity to keep those bolts in place. On or off
     
  14. sideshowbob Sorry, wrong number. Valued Senior Member

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    No. None. Why would you think there was any electricity involved?

    The big bolts, an inch or more in diameter, are moved by that big handle on the front of the safe (sometimes by a wheel). The bolts are prevented from moving by a smaller bolt. It's the smaller bolt that you have to move by drilling a hole and reaching in with a wire.
     
  15. Beaconator Valued Senior Member

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    Digital timers and gears driven by electric motors are much less prone to breaking over time… I’m sure it varies by the safe
     
  16. sideshowbob Sorry, wrong number. Valued Senior Member

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    And has nothing to do with anything I said.
     
  17. Beaconator Valued Senior Member

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    Do you even know how to make a bolt?
     
  18. Beaconator Valued Senior Member

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    Physical means have always outnumbered chemical means. From damns to lasers:
     
  19. billvon Valued Senior Member

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    Is that a joke? You realize that all you need to "direct acid onto a vertical surface" is a nozzle, right?

    And ferric chloride works even better than acid. I used to burn holes in aluminum foil with that stuff - it was fun since the reaction was so violent.
     
  20. sideshowbob Sorry, wrong number. Valued Senior Member

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    1. What has that got to do with anything?
    2. What's to know? A bolt is just a chunk of hardened steel that fits into a hardened socket.
     
  21. Beaconator Valued Senior Member

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    1. You gotta machine it.
    2. I can machine a thick aluminum safe and steel bolts faster than one could be cast, machined, and hardened.

    3. Shyt I could use a titanium plate before the glass relocker and someone would just break in from the back.

    4. I speak the language of every part made in that video.

    5. A car frame and chassis could be machined completely out of aluminum, just would require a very large block of aluminum and new machines.

    6. you can do the same with steel but it would cost more in hardened steel cutters and carbide tips.

    7. Titanium is actually pretty mailable. You think it’s great for drill bits and it is, yet hardened steel endmills can make quick work of it at the right speeds
     
  22. sideshowbob Sorry, wrong number. Valued Senior Member

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    Speed of manufacture is not the main factor in safe construction.
    Cost is not the main factor in safe construction.
    A long time ago, smashing through the back or bottom was one way of opening a safe because they were thinner in the parts that face the wall or the floor. Modern safes are made without those vulnerabilities.
     
  23. Beaconator Valued Senior Member

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    I mean there is no way to avoid the safe being broken into you can only allow for more time. Track it. And make it into a jewelry box in order to appeal to women…
     

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