Originally Posted by
General Geoff
A budget cordless angle grinder with battery/charger is still gonna run $100+ at the tool store, and the cheaper spectrum of them will struggle to cut through a thick padlock shackle, hardened chain, or u-lock. Viable? Certainly, but the thief will probably only be able to cut one bike loose per battery charge. A high end cordless grinder can probably cut through two, maybe three good locks per charge, but then you're talking $250+ all-in. Not exactly something that tweekers will invest in.
Tool store? Why would I go there when I could get a stolen one for $25 at a swap meet or on craigslist? Or jack one out of someone's garage?
And the only things that really limit the discount ones are the crappy bits and blades they come with and the cheap batteries. If you aren't too worried about durability they'll do about as well as higher end products. I used a cheap reciprocating saw to hack up a bunch of old locks that I lost the keys to a while back. Didn't take much time at all with a decent blade that were actually intended for cutting metal.