Wonder what power tools those escaped convicts used

[LCHIEN]

Allegedly smuggled to them by some sweetie they charmed in the prison.
They cut rhough a bunch of stuff to get out. QUite a workout for the tool
THey cut off the ventilation gratings between cells and to the back passage. They cut some locks and chains. They cut through a door.
They cut a hole big enough for them to crawl into a 24" Steam pipe. and then another to get out.
They said it was a power saw - maybe a reciprocating saw?
How many blades did they use? They said they guys had a power extension cord and plugged into light sockets.
Do you think they specified the brand of saw or she picked it?
Wonder what brand these convicted murderers chose. That thing got quite a workout and it can't have been too loud!
DeWalt? Chicago Electric?

What an advertising coup that would be!

"Prison officials found the inmates' beds inside the 150-year-old Clinton Correctional Facility stuffed with clothes on Saturday morning in an apparent attempt to fool guards making their rounds. On a cut steam pipe, the prisoners left a taunting note containing a crude Asian caricature and the words "Have a nice day."Officials said the inmates cut through the steel wall at the back of their cell, crawled down a catwalk, broke through a brick wall, cut their way into and out of a steam pipe, and then sliced through the chain and lock on a manhole cover outside the prison.
It was the first escape from the maximum-security portion of the prison, which was built in 1865."

[atgcpaul]

I don't remember who they were interviewing on the news but he said it looked like they used a grinder to do all the cutting. Makes sense since it's relatively compact compared to a reciprocating saw and a lot of those cuts looked pretty clean. Still, you'd think someone would have heard that thing screaming through all the metal they were cutting as well as smelled it. Maybe it was Festool's newest, ultra quiet model with built in dust/fume collection.

[radhak]

I was wondering the same, more so in the direction of - where did they get their power? Were those tools corded? If so, how long were the cables? Where they battery operated? Then when and where did they charge them?

All things considered, I think it might be more practical if less dramatic if it turns out a bunch of prison employees were in the know, maybe even helped the process.

[LinuxRandal]

What was the steam pipe for? How old was it, to maybe help us determine the material (cast iron is softer then stainless that gets used more now in prisons). According to a LEO I know, several of the catalytic converter thefts, involved a Fein style tool, with some kind of a metal cutting blade. Pretty quick, with its oscillations, and pretty quite, compared to a reciprocating saw.
I would expect they used one of the old light bulb power adapters and pulled the ground wire out of the plug. It might be the right size to try to put in a pipe somewhere.

[TB Roye]

There are some heads that will be rolling on this one, The cutting had to be noise, I know prisons are not quiet even at night, but a grinder makes a lot of noise cutting metal what about the fumes? The guards were not doing their jobs or the other prisoners were keeping and eye and ear out to warn the two escapees.

Tom

[Knottscott]

Gotta wonder what that guard was thinking. I bet they'll told her they didn't do it!

[capncarl]

I understand that there was official major construction in progress in the prison during the tine of escape, that would cover the noise, dust and smoke they would make. That could also be how they obtained the tools, maybe a contractor accomplice? As far as the steam pipe they cut into? Old facilities like this one would have numerous utility updates and building modifications. Most of the time if obsolete piping and equipment such as ac ducts are not in the way of the new install they are abandoned in place. That would have been a really big steam pipe that is big enough for a man to fit into and would require some substantial grinding to make a manhole. My question is what was the accused accomplish female guard thinking? ........ Looooooooser....
capncarl

[cwsmith]

After looking at a couple of pictures (I think it was on CNN) this morning, the wall of that steam pipe appeared to be 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch thick, and although the news person said that they thought a "grinder" had been used, the cut appeared to be fairly smooth and consistant to me, as if it had been cut with a large-diameter blade. It didn't appear to be jagged or uneven as might be the case if they hacked their way with a smaller diameter angle grinder.

I too was wondering what in the world these guys had at their disposal, as cutting through such varied substances and especially steel would have required a number of blades for most people. The worker they interviewed on yesterday's news said that all the tools that the contractor's use have to be accounted for on a daily shift basis.

CWS

[TB Roye]

They had help and they still have help they a laying low some place or the are out of the area or country being close to the border.

Tom

[LCHIEN]

yeah I still want to know what brand and model it was! I did hear it was AC-powered.
Worked pretty good.

[alpha]

Wait for the movie.

[cwsmith]

Maybe we should keep an 'eye out' for overly enthusiastic orange aprons expressing real tool experience with cutting masonry and steel

CWS

[capncarl]

The grinder had to be ac. It is not that hard to cut that size pipe with a 5" grinder using a razor disk. Steam pipe is pretty soft metal. It would probably have taken 10-15 disks which would not have been out of the question since someone else supplied the tools. Lots of questions to be answered. How did they know where the pipe led? And how did they know they could get out of it? Not common knowledge for an inmate. Not really common knowledge for the guards and probably not known by the prison staff!
capncarl

[LCHIEN]

Here's some testing that the NY Times did to see how effective each type of tool would be. Useful info if you ever have to break out of jail...

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/06/21/nyregion/can-these-tools-help-you-escape-from-a-maximum-security-prison.html

[dsandrews2]

You must really be a woodworker if you hear of a prison break and the first thing that comes to your mind are what power tools they used....