Drilling out old Sega Astro Locks

DJ Long Cat · May 3, 2015

I've already broken like 6 Drill Bits trying to do this. What is the best way?...

What kind of Drill bit size or type? 2 of them are stuck inside the lock and I cannot for the life of me get them out.

Anyone else have this happen to them?

mjmjr25 · May 3, 2015

Get a nice Cobalt bit. I'd recommend DeWalt or Bosch, but any cobalt bit by the major players should be fine. $4-5 if bought alone or in a pack of diff. sizes they'll run you only $1-2 apiece.

Use a few drops of oil on the lock face before drilling it out. Set your drill speed to low. These 2 things will make for faster progress and save both the bit and your drill from overheating / wear.

DJ Long Cat · May 3, 2015

mjmjr25 said:
Get a nice Cobalt bit. I'd recommend DeWalt or Bosch, but any cobalt bit by the major players should be fine. $4-5 if bought alone or in a pack of diff. sizes they'll run you only $1-2 apiece.

Use a few drops of oil on the lock face before drilling it out. Set your drill speed to low. These 2 things will make for faster progress and save both the bit and your drill from overheating / wear.

I already broke a cobalt bit while trying to drill it out lol. Anything stronger than Cobalt?

TonK · May 3, 2015

DJ Long Cat said:
I already broke a cobalt bit while trying to drill it out lol. Anything stronger than Cobalt?

http://www.mytoolstore.com/relton/gvtip.html

cdamm · May 3, 2015

DJ Long Cat said:
I already broke a cobalt bit while trying to drill it out lol. Anything stronger than Cobalt?

cobalt is really the best thing for the job.

mjmjr25 said:
Get a nice Cobalt bit. I'd recommend DeWalt or Bosch, but any cobalt bit by the major players should be fine. $4-5 if bought alone or in a pack of diff. sizes they'll run you only $1-2 apiece.

Use a few drops of oil on the lock face before drilling it out. Set your drill speed to low. These 2 things will make for faster progress and save both the bit and your drill from overheating / wear.

this is sage advice.

TonK · May 3, 2015

Have a set of those bits at the shop for when I gotta drill deadbolts.

hyper · May 3, 2015

a welding torch would breakdown the metal but that'd probably fuck the cab up

TonK · May 3, 2015

hyper said:
a welding torch would breakdown the metal but that'd probably fuck the cab up

Yeah, it would deform the panel it's installed in.

LegoSlug · May 3, 2015

I did this a long time ago... It was a pain in the ass. They only game loose in part because the locking mechanism start to rattle and loosen out of place and it wiggled loose.

I still haven't gotten around to replacing the locks. And this was just for the control panel. I didn't even bother with the money box.

DNSDies · May 3, 2015

why not just get a decent tungsten carbide bit?
Those will chew through just about anything.

Electric Grave · May 3, 2015

The trick to drilling any lock whatsoever is to start with small bits and gradually using bigger bits until the lock gives. Easy peasy no need for fancy bits, specially with a flimsy lock like a candy cab lock. Talk about drowning in a glass of water.

Craig · May 4, 2015

Tap magic/ cutting oil, Would make a big difference. What size bit are you using that it's breaking? LOL. I would use something like a 3/8... There's no way you would break that fucker...

loegan43 · May 4, 2015

ElectricGrave said:
The trick to drilling any lock whatsoever is to start with small bits and gradually using bigger bits until the lock gives. Easy peasy no need for fancy bits, specially with a flimsy lock like a candy cab lock. Talk about drowning in a glass of water.

Yeah, pretty much. I usually start the hole with a smaller bit and gradually move up. Are they official SEGA locks? It's usually pretty easy to track down keys, too bad you've already started drilling.

DJ Long Cat · May 4, 2015

I've already started drilling the lock to the coin box and coin mechs. I haven't started on the Control panel yet because it was like the biggest pain in the ass I've ever dealt with.

How do I tell if its an official Sega Lock?

Chempop · May 4, 2015

DJ Long Cat said:
How do I tell if its an official Sega Lock?

usually you post a picture and people who eat, shit, and breath candy cabs give you an answer... but in the case of certain arcade locks, they aren’t very recognizable compared to the generic ones - Except in the case of legit Astro locks, which are pretty unique.

Does it look something like this (this is a blast lock, but generic locks might look similar):

Or does it look like this (genuine astro lock)

DJ Long Cat · May 4, 2015

The control panel looks like the bottom one. The one I've already started to semi drill was the first one (The coin Mechs, not the coin box Hahahaha)

skate323k137 · May 4, 2015

Drilling the locks on my first candy proved to be a costly lesson, way better to track down the key(s) if you can. Everything but the cash box is usually a standard key you can obtain relatively easily. If you don't mind replacing them with non-original locks then it's not as bad cost wise.

Anyway if you've already started drilling, plenty of good advice in this thread. Small bit, work your way larger till it gives. If it's a CP lock you're possibly going to still have to do some work to get the CP open even if the lock is out of there. It was a pain opening a net city CP even with the lock drilled.

daithidownunder · May 22, 2015

Always found it straight forward with a decent bit. Start small... Once you get through use a flat head screwdriver to turn the lock if it doesn't open itself.

hyper · May 22, 2015

DJ Long Cat said:
I've already broken like 6 Drill Bits trying to do this. What is the best way?...

What kind of Drill bit size or type? 2 of them are stuck inside the lock and I cannot for the life of me get them out.

Anyone else have this happen to them?

curious if you were able to get the locks out
update?

Drilling out old Sega Astro Locks

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Drilling out old Sega Astro Locks

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