nak@cbsck.att.com (Neil A Kirby) (07/06/90)
From: nak@cbsck.att.com (Neil A Kirby)
Steel does burn if you give it enough oxygen. An article in the
Smithsonian on, of all things, safecracking (and vault breaking)
included the latest in that technology: the burning bar. The user
wears heat resistant garb (welder's gear) and holds a hollow pipe. In
the pipe are rods of metal and a feed from an oxygen tank.
Once the metal rods are lit, it's only a matter of time, oxygen
supply, and metal rods until the vault is history. The burning bar
produces too much heat in too confined an area for the metal vault to
survive. The vault metal itself may also be burned in the deal.
The picture showed an actelyne (sp?) rig. The torch is used to
light off the bar, and then the acetylene is disconnected since it
doesn't generate sufficient heat to do in a modern vault.
Neil Kirby
...att!archie!nakroot@.UUCP (rb duc) (07/08/90)
From: root@.UUCP (rb duc) ->From: nak@cbsck.att.com (Neil A Kirby) -> Steel does burn if you give it enough oxygen. An article in the -> Smithsonian on, of all things, safecracking (and vault breaking) -> included the latest in that technology: the burning bar. =================== You must not watch Crime Story. Burning bars have been around at least as far back as the 60's. -- \\\ - - Richard Ducoty ..uunet!grumbly!root _] Capitola, California root@grumbly.com
thos@uunet.UU.NET (Thomas Cohen) (07/09/90)
From: munnari!softway.sw.oz.au!thos@uunet.UU.NET (Thomas Cohen) In article <1990Jul6.032737.27677@cbnews.att.com> nak@cbsck.att.com (Neil A Kirby) writes: } Steel does burn if you give it enough oxygen. An article in the } Smithsonian on, of all things, safecracking (and vault breaking) } included the latest in that technology: the burning bar. This is known as a thermal lance and has been around at least from 1960-odd. Not really new, but again it doesn't have to be at the temperatures it burns. Also it can be used (like oxy-acetylene) underwater and in non-oxygenated (?) atmospheres. -- thos cohen |Softway Pty Ltd English is a living language, but |ACSnet: thos@softway.oz "Simple illiteracy is no basis for |UUCP: ...!uunet!softway.oz!thos for linguistic evolution" - Dwight MacDonald |Internet: thos@softway.oz.au
hwt@uunet.UU.NET (Henry Troup) (07/10/90)
From: bnrgate!.bnr.ca!hwt@uunet.UU.NET (Henry Troup) Didn't the thermic lance originate as some kind of anti-armor weapon? Also, they've been obsolete for safebreaking for quite a while - modern vaults tend to have about an inch of copper in the middle of the sandwich. It conducts heat well enough that burning through is seriously slowed down. -- Henry Troup - BNR owns but does not share my opinions | Not one of 100% of ..uunet!bnrgate!hwt%bwdlh490 HWT@BNR.CA 613-765-2337 | Americans