Originally Posted by
bulgie
The other trick is to use a stout punch with a concave end that holds it centered on the cotter. My punch is actually a cottered BB spindle that has dimples on the ends, that just happen to match the curved ends on cotters (most cotters anyway; maybe not all have curved ends). Whatever metal that spindle is made of, it's about perfect, hard but not brittle. Been using that same one since about '72.
Mark B
Mark, I was using a cottered BB spindle with a dimpled end for that very purpose (I think Sheldon Brown mentioned it, too), but one day on a particularly stubborn cotter, the end of the spindle just split in half. Guess I got the brittle one!