What makes a good padlock?

I come across this catalogue from a fellow locksmith in KL. I have got my hand on many St Guchi product and am not impressed. 

But this is a Molybdenum padlock…

Molybdenum is usually a premium padlock and among the best material for shackle. I ll try on a St Guchi Molybdenum padlock soon, but for now lets talk on some padlock’s shackle knowledge. Because everybody love padlock, except me (maybe)

1. No. 1 most common material for padlock is Fake Hardened Steel. It can be cut, can be saw and it will rust. If you buy 10 different padlock from a hardware store, you will get around 8pcs that are fake hardened steel. 
2. Secondly is Real Hardened Steel. Can be cut, but cannot be saw. It will rust, but depends on the quality of the chrome coating. How can we know it is a real hardened steel, you ask? Get a hack saw and try saw the shackle. If you manage to saw it, it is fake. But if can’t, it is real. At Fine Lock Shop, we try saw every single padlock that we sell. I will share some photos of our experiments next time.
3. Stainless steel. The best for outdoor. It just won’t rust. But, it can be saw. Stainless steel is known for long lasting and highly rust resist, unfortunately it is not a really hard steel. Not as hard as real hardened steel. So there are pros and cons here.
4. Boron and Molybdenum. This 2 are commonly used only at the expansive padlock. Might reach up to RM 500 per padlock if it comes with security key. You can’t saw it, can’t cut it. And all come with layers and layers of coating, makes it really hard to rust. So theoretically, boron and molyb will rust, but they are protected by the coating. Just early this year I have seen some Abloy-330 and 341 boron padlocks right here in Kuching Tabuan Jaya, put at outdoor to rain and sun for around 20years, still work smoothly and only some small dots of rust to the shackle. Very good padlocks.

So now you know the shackle and its material. Next time you can choose a padlock according to your needs. 

Another important aspect is the internal material and the key cylinder. No matter how good the shackle is, if the key cylinder is really cheap, the padlock can be compromised in seconds and it defeats the purpose of the padlock. I ll let you know how to choose a good key cylinder in the future.

With Sincere.
Francis, Just A Humble Locksmith.
www.finelockshop.com