I think the neighborhood kids broke into my house a couple of owners ago. That guy had buglar bars installed on that bathroom window. They are steel and rusty. I’d like to remove them.
I went to the local buglar bars store. I bangs on the back door and rousted a tech.
He says screws are one way and hardened steel. They get them off by tack welding a nut on them.
I don’t have a welder.
I’m thinking of trying a crapsman or HF air hammer and a chisel.
Whadda ya think?
Big Macs – 99 cents
Edited 12/29/2005 2:58 pm by daFarmerDave
Edited 12/29/2005 2:59 pm by daFarmerDave
Replies
4" grinder/w new square edge wheel, grind 2 flats, vise grips.
The screws are protected in a steel u-channel. I don't think you can get a 4' grinder on it. I have a dremel tool though. I bet I don't have 3 hours on my dremel tool in the last ten years.Big Macs - 99 cents
Try turning the grinder sideways and work with the edge.
Don K.
EJG Homes Renovations - New Construction - Rentals
In Denver the preferred way was to hook a chain to the back of a pickup and take off. Often a stolen pickup, but that was optional. I used to sell electronics to HO's who'd been burglarized despite bars.PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
Dremel with carbide discs, I use it to cut slots in one way screws so I can back them out. I don't think anything is harder than those screws.
Try grinding the cam-out into a slot with an angle grinder. Use a punch and hammer to try to turn them out. If that works, it'll get easier after a while, and you can take them the rest of the way with a big screwdriver.
If the slot and punch trick won't turn them, you have to do it the hard way. Use the grinder to take the heads all the way off. Pull the bars, then use a small pipe wrench on the stubs. If the pipe wrench won't turn them, chip out the stucco or whatever around them, and clip them below surface level with the grinder. Patch up. Like I said, that's the hard way....
-- J.S.
If you can't get a disc grinder, something substantuial like a 4 or 5", onto the screw heads because something like a channel is in the way try a circular saw with an abrasive 'steel cutting' blade. They go for something like $4 a pop.
Wear gloves and safety glasses as these blades, the grinders also, put out sparks and bits of red hot steel. A face shield is sometimes helpful and can keep molten metal induced acne and flinching to a minimum. I once got a white-hot bit up my nose. It was all I could do to not drop everything and run around like a maniac. Keep the garden hose handy in case the sparks catch the brush. Also handy for nasal lavage if it comes to that.
With the guard pulled back like your making a plunge cut spin the blade up and touch it down on the screw head. The blades don't dig in or grab much because they lack teeth but be prepared for any kickback. The blades are aggressive and will grind off the screw heads very quickly. Heads ground off the bars should pull right off.
The stubs of the screws can be handled a number of ways. Gripped with a pair of Vice-grips you might be able to back them out. Grinding them flush is an option. Tips can be painted to match to limit their visual impact. If they are in a mortar joint grinding them down into the joint and then patching with a stained mortar is another way to go.
Youse guys are working too hard.
Go get the tool made to take out those security screws.
Here be picture.
Re: "Go get the tool made to take out those security screws."Depends on which ones they are. If they are hex or torx with a post in the middle they can indeed be removed with the right driver tip. I have had luck modifying a regular bit when the security version wasn't handy.On the other hand some security screws are truly one-way. You may find someone to sell you a bit but the bit still only works for tightening them. Modifying the head is sometimes an option but mostly I have found it to be too fiddly to do much good. I have spent time using a cutoff wheel on ####dremel or hacksaw blade to cut a slot but usually the bits gall it out or the bits break. Usually far easier to just grind off the head, shear it off with a chisel or, if I can find or make the room with a pry bar, saw the screws off with a hacksaw blade or Sawsall.
Plant vines and use it as the trellis.