How do I destroy steel phrase plates?

[BoofBitcoin]

In an feat of stupidity I screwed up not one, not two, not three but four steel phrase plates. One is a Coldbit and the others are Blockplates. The Coldbit I stamped a letter backwards, and the Blockplates I screwed up the position of punching the dots onto the grid. The end result is I now have 4 steel plates that have my seed phrase completed to various degrees, so now I need to know how do I go about destroying them?

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[pooya87]

better solution is to simply creating a new seed phrase and sending any coins you have in the old one (with its seed currently on those plates) to this new wallet so that you don't have to ever worry about anything; then simply throw away the steel plates you currently have.

[hatshepsut93]

Dissolve it in strong acid. Since steel isn't particularly chemically resistant, any strong acid in sufficient quantity should work. Be sure to handle the acid with care, and do the dissolving part in open space, cause there likely will be dangerous fumes. Compared to other methods, like melting or pressing, this method should be the most accessible, since acids are sold in specialized places, though depending on your country's laws it could be hard to obtain them.

[Yogee]

I'm with pooya87. You don't have to do something dangerous or spend more just to destroy something but you can keep it somewhere as memento to remind you of your stupidity and have something to laugh about with your kin years later hehe. Maybe some people will even buy it from you. Who knows?

[cryptomaniac_xxx]

Dissolve it in strong acid. Since steel isn't particularly chemically resistant, any strong acid in sufficient quantity should work. Be sure to handle the acid with care, and do the dissolving part in open space, cause there likely will be dangerous fumes. Compared to other methods, like melting or pressing, this method should be the most accessible, since acids are sold in specialized places, though depending on your country's laws it could be hard to obtain them.

As per this testing,

Stress Test: Corrosion

For this test the devices were dumped into a bucket of muriatic acid and left for 12 hours until the bubbles ceased.

Blockstream Metal: All of the rivets dissolved and thus the stacks of rails separated, resulting in all of the tiles falling out, causing catastrophic data loss. I spoke with Billfodl about this and they were surprised because the manufacturer has told them that the rivets are made from the same steel as the rest of the device. Hopefully they can determine what’s going on here; something about the rivets is clearly different from the rails and tiles.

Coldbit Passphrase: Freehand etching was wiped clean. Template based etching was readable, as was stamping. Does this mean that if left in acid long enough, the other words would also be wiped clean? Perhaps, though it’s hard to say how long it would take.

https://blog.lopp.net/metal-bitcoin-seed-storage-stress-test--part-ii-/

Maybe you can refer to this blog post and see how it goes for you.

[Parking_Meater]

write over it? sand it down?

[Jating]

I'm with pooya87. You don't have to do something dangerous or spend more just to destroy something but you can keep it somewhere as memento to remind you of your stupidity and have something to laugh about with your kin years later hehe. Maybe some people will even buy it from you. Who knows?

Yeah, would rather keep it, but you need to transfer first your btc to another wallet. 

Sometimes we really do make this kind of mistakes so that we will learn in return. No doubt that it have cost you money to buy those steal plates, but if they have been "blow" them up, much better to keep it as souvenir. Maybe acid will do, but then again, I don't know if you can just buy them over the counter right now and you have to handle it with care. And those steal plates are design to withstand almost everything, so it will be difficult to destroy them per se.

[o_e_l_e_o]

OP said it is three Blockplates, not Blockstream Metal. Although Blockstream Metal fails when exposed to acid, Blockplates suffered no data loss whatsoever under Jameson Lopp's acid tests: https://jlopp.github.io/metal-bitcoin-storage-reviews/reviews/blockplate/. Another option for the Blockplates would be to simply punch a hole through every square, meaning the end result reveals zero information about your seed phrase.

Coldbit is also not particularly susceptible to acid, and the whole process would involve a significant cost and risks to handling strong acid, particularly if OP has zero experience in this field. It is a lot of time and effort for potentially not achieving the desired outcome.

As per pooya78's advice, simply create a new wallet and send your coins over. Cheaper, faster, safer, more secure.

[wxa7115]

better solution is to simply creating a new seed phrase and sending any coins you have in the old one (with its seed currently on those plates) to this new wallet so that you don't have to ever worry about anything; then simply throw away the steel plates you currently have.

This is the easiest and safest solution by far since it does not include any use of tools or dangerous chemicals and it can be done in minutes however if someone really wants to destroy steel plates maybe the easiest option could be to simply cut it down in several pieces and then throw it on the trash on the lapse of several weeks, this way the chances that someone finds all the missing pieces in mountains of trash are astronomical at best.

However this method is not completely secure and if you are taking the time to put your backup seed in a steel plate this may not be good enough for you.

[pawanjain]

It shouldn't be that hard to destroy steel plates.
If they are made of steel then you have many ways to destroy them. The simplest way would be to do a welding on the steel plates so that the seed phrase is gone.
You can also try to pierce holes through it using nails and hammer and make holes wherever the seed phrase is.
Also, you can rub the steel plates on some hard substance (may be a rock) and scratch the seed phrase so that it's gone from the plates.

[DarkDays]

better solution is to simply creating a new seed phrase and sending any coins you have in the old one (with its seed currently on those plates) to this new wallet so that you don't have to ever worry about anything; then simply throw away the steel plates you currently have.

To be fair I think transfer of funds and re-engraving is probably the safest option for you. This advice is taking into consideration that you don't have access to a furnace or some free-standing by litres of sulphuric acid (H2SO4).

Though the two extreme methods probably raises more suspicion than you'd want if they even will be as effective as forgetting about the recovery seed completely by transferring to a different account with a new seed altogether.

Joke aside, I think this is not only the safest but the simplest way.

[hatshepsut93]

https://blog.lopp.net/metal-bitcoin-seed-storage-stress-test--part-ii-/

Maybe you can refer to this blog post and see how it goes for you.

He dumped all the tested seeds into a bucket and then added only enough acid to cover them all. That's clearly not enough acid to dissolve them all or even deal enough damage. Still, you can see that the free-hand etching was wiped on most plates, which means that the reaction was going. With enough iterations and correct setups, it looks like most of these seeds can be wiped by acid. The seeds with holes are the biggest challenge, because you'd have to fully dissolve them with this method.

OP said it is three Blockplates, not Blockstream Metal. Although Blockstream Metal fails when exposed to acid, Blockplates suffered no data loss whatsoever under Jameson Lopp's acid tests: https://jlopp.github.io/metal-bitcoin-storage-reviews/reviews/blockplate/. Another option for the Blockplates would be to simply punch a hole through every square, meaning the end result reveals zero information about your seed phrase.

One thing you should be careful about is to make new holes in exactly same way as you did the old ones - because if there's noticeable difference, like the size of the holes, they can be used to reveal the seed.

Coldbit is also not particularly susceptible to acid, and the whole process would involve a significant cost and risks to handling strong acid, particularly if OP has zero experience in this field. It is a lot of time and effort for potentially not achieving the desired outcome.

Absolutely, I wouldn't recommend handling acids to anyone who didn't do this before.

[AakZaki]

Actually there are many ways you can do to damage the steel phrase plate that you have. By refining it with an emery machine so that phrases will be lost and unreadable, by dissolving it in an acidic liquid, and by melting it into a fire at high temperature and much more.

You can also migrate your assets to a new wallet and without the hassle of destroying plates. The old phrase plate can become a decoration or display in your living room and it will be more useful than having to destroy it.

[gagux123]

I also agree with others users said, I think it's more viable you create a new seed phrase.

I think if you use some tools, for example, power drill, angle grinder, hatchet, I think it's enough to damage the steel phrase plate

[Hamphser]

better solution is to simply creating a new seed phrase and sending any coins you have in the old one (with its seed currently on those plates) to this new wallet so that you don't have to ever worry about anything; then simply throw away the steel plates you currently have.

This is the most simplest thing that you can do. Create the fifth steel plate then transfer all the balance into those 4 plates then viola, you wont be worrying about those other plates
since you know the new one had all the balance. If he do need something challenging then melting those plates would be quite enjoyable. 

[aesma]

Cut in pieces and put in the garbage bit by bit over some weeks. Nobody is going to find the puzzle, reconstitute it, and figure out the mistakes. Using strong acid, that's an accident waiting to happen.

[pixie85]

Pooya's idea is the simplest and the easiest, but if you have to use the same seed there's a number of ways to make the plates unusable.
1. Simply stamp a number of dots/signs on them at random all over the existing seed.
2. Drill a few holes in places of the existing symbols
3. Use an angle grinder to sand it down clean. If you don't have a grinder use a file.

If you want to save it, get a dremel and gently grind the wrong sign down and stamp it again. Coldbit is quite expensive so that's what I'd do.

Cut in pieces and put in the garbage bit by bit over some weeks. Nobody is going to find the puzzle, reconstitute it, and figure out the mistakes. Using strong acid, that's an accident waiting to happen.

Great advice! I'd like to see you cut a 4mm steel plate into pieces.

[tranthidung]

better solution is to simply creating a new seed phrase and sending any coins you have in the old one (with its seed currently on those plates) to this new wallet so that you don't have to ever worry about anything; then simply throw away the steel plates you currently have.

Moving all bitcoin in that wallet to a new wallet is the best option to do.
About potential troubles: no longer about fund if it already is or will (soon) be moved safely to a new wallet. It is about exposure of the wallet address to people who will find that steel phrase plate.

Destroy it with strong acid (easiest but be careful with strong acid) or cut into pieces (not easy to do) and throw those pieces away in different locations on different days. According to this article, it is not easy: https://jlopp.github.io/metal-bitcoin-storage-reviews/how

Easiest solution is throw it away as you suggested (should be at a location far from where OP is living).

[M-BTC]

In an feat of stupidity I screwed up not one, not two, not three but four steel phrase plates. One is a Coldbit and the others are Blockplates. The Coldbit I stamped a letter backwards, and the Blockplates I screwed up the position of punching the dots onto the grid. The end result is I now have 4 steel plates that have my seed phrase completed to various degrees, so now I need to know how do I go about destroying them?

1. Randomly stamp the entire plates.
2. Generate a new wallet and move your funds.