Rocket-Sauce 

Here we go again...

cudak888 

Ah, that should work better. At least the transition between aluminum to steel should be felt at the handle.

-Kurt

thinktubes 

Love the Wilton vise!

AdventureManCO 

Okay I’ll give the hacksaw thing a try. Still super leery about it but why not. If that doesn’t work I’m 100% absolutely going lye and there is nothing anyone can do to dissuade me

thinktubes 

AdventureManCO 

Funny story about the Wilton. Got it from my father-in-law, who got it out of a dumpster where he was working at the time, on a govt contract. It was
technically ‘Govt property’ but the gov wanted a bunch of stuff gone, so - garbage. Tons of really useful stuff - trash. The govt ordered a bunch of stuff thrown out and technically they weren’t allowed to save any of it but he couldn’t let a perfect good vise go, so he snuck it out

He told me that one time they ordered work gloves for the team, and it came to $400, and went through the govt contract to place the order. Someone down the govt line accidentally got the decimals wrong, and it was invoiced for $40,000 instead of $400. There was no system in place for issuing a correction, or talking to any particular cog in the machine about the mistake that was made in hopes of explaining the mistake. Most expensive pairs of work gloves ever made, apparently. He told me this stuff happened all the time, and was just jaw-dropping the stuff and the waste he saw.

Thanks taxpayers!

squirtdad

apropos to nothing in the thread.... but elemental calcium dropped in water is a fun event (from a guy who took high school chemistry on less safety regulate times....... and no it was not me that blew up the sink)

AdventureManCO 

the JB Weld and power buffer are standing by!

thinktubes 

yep

AdventureManCO 

Oh and by the way Kurt, don’t you dare think I was too enveloped in the seatpost debacle to miss this gem.


I only hope that you were not so enveloped in the debacle yourself to miss mine

Schweinhund

In Jr High, circa 1975, We were learning about mineral acids, I heated test tube of dilute(I want to say nitric acid, but I'm not sure of that) acid and managed to get some on my clothes. I forgot until my mother washed them and they literally fell apart whereever the acid landed

xiaoman1 

I would agree with M.H.......but it is too late to turn back now........Perhaps, in the future, one will heed the words of the another 'Master"

Forge on!
Best, Ben

cudak888 

I've been wrapped up too much in this debacle to have noticed.



I will nevertheless re-read more throughly for your sick burn. 😂

-Kurt

AdventureManCO 

You are contributing to it with this picture alone

cudak888 

Sounds like both of our BFTool powers are unlocking for our respective projects.

And by that, I don't mean "BikeForums."

-Kurt

P.S.: Did you mean the seatpost saga as a whole in your earlier post? If so, I've been watching every minute of your agony with great interest

AdventureManCO 

The power of the Bottom Bracket pictures, Kurt!

Expect FAR MORE BB pictures to come!

Mr. 66

I've gotten good with my friendly Sawzall. The last one I took out was stuck 8" deep. I put the frametube horizontal in the stand, and just held the tool so the blade parallel to the post with no extra weight than gravity, a couple of beers, and press the trigger, you have that out in minutes. I also used some all-tread rod, a couple of washer, a socket and a nut to create internal slide-hammer to aid my process.

cudak888 

BB pictures for seatpost removal? Now I really am worried.



-Kurt

dedhed

Simply the best vintage tool for the job. I've seen them branded Skokie, Snap-on, Rigid, Klein. All the same tool.

AdventureManCO 

Come on now! You were the one who suggested I invert the frame so that the BB was at the top. You bringing it up was all the permission I needed.


But let's be honest, I never need permission if we're talking BBs. At this point, its just a given

Kabuki12

It is one of my favorites as well. My buddy comes by my shop to use mine for various stuck seat posts and stems. It ain't my preferred method but that's how he does it and ,I gotta say , he gets them unstuck!

dddd

Wow that is a nice Skokie saw blade handle! If ever there was a good blade handle for a job like this then that is the one. With a sharp and well-oiled blade...

I had already typed this post before seeing dedhed's saw blade handle, and have had good luck using the Sawzall myself, so:

How long before we give the Sawzall a try, so as to relieve the fierce interference between the seat tube and the oversized post?

I so wish that I could have used it on the one pictured below, but the oversized post was steel unfortunately.

The few cautions/notes on Sawzall (or really any saw/blade use) are:

First assess the post length and the post ID so as to select a long and slender enough blade to reach the entire length of it.
Then assess and add the saw's stroke length, so that the blade tip never catches on the post or seat tube opening.
Make sure that the teeth near the blade's tip are sharp, as they will need to be.
Fashion a sharp probe from a bent-tip spoke to test the cut for full penetration to bare steel (the sharp tip "grabs" aluminum but not steel).
Insert oiled blade into the post, clocked away from the slot in the seat tube's lug.

Have cold beer at the ready for after-work celebration.
Drink cold water first so you won't feel so hurried. Be extra attentive/sober whenever using powered tools (I once distantly observed a hot-headed dude drill a well-deserved hole right through his Subaru's expensive A/C condenser while apparently drilling mounting holes for fog lights into his bumper brackets, the ozone layer has been recovering ever since)!
Relax while working and imagine how much time and effort you are saving versus having to work a saw manually! Re-apply oil periodically and keep plenty of slack in your power cord. Don't be "that guy" who borrowed/stole my extended-length drill bits without permission to "modify" and "improve" his Subaru... ...I'm still able to laugh about that after all of the past 32 years.

Again be sure to assess the saw's blade stroke with respect to the tip of the reciprocating tool itself and the tip out at the far end of the blade, (both relative to the ends of the aluminum seatpost).

The post needs to be cut completely through, starting from it's very bottom end (but only just up to the approximate height of the slot in the seat tube lug, and no further). This will prevent the saw blade tip from ever threatening the seat tube lug opening as long as you tilt the saw so as to do all cutting using the teeth near the tip of the blade (why the teeth near the tip need to be sharp).
It has been found to be impossible to cut into a seat tube ID with the teeth out near the tip of the blade, unless the blade is leaned toward the edge of the seat tube opening.
Higher-grade aluminum may challenge a blade's required degree of sharpness.
Taller-section blades may need to be slenderized using a bench grinder to fit within the post ID.

Ideally, one would practice first on a disposable frame and post, just to be more at ease with positioning the frame, handling the saw and manipulating the moving blade.

Once the slot is continuous with no aluminum bridge remaining, moderate torque on the un-slotted post stub will impart a sort of twisting along the post such that the two narrow faces of the cut try to move up and down within the seat tube, and the post is free. This last step should be relatively easy but is further eased by use of WD40.
Once again we are not trying to cut into the seat post itself above the height of the bottom of the seat lug slot.

Classtime 

I'm very fond of the Jim Merz SE Allez and hope patience rules in this stage of that bikes restoration. Besides, the paint looks ok.

cudak888 

But it's the saw we want to see, and whether you choose the slow but safe choice of a hand saw or the precision work that dddd has lined out extensively (and I might add, one of the most detailed I've ever read - super work there), we want every agonizing, excruciating second of it!

Honestly, your whole post deserves to be pinned. Best overview of the slotting method I've ever read, and confidence-inspiring enough that I might just try this method again.

-Kurt

dedhed

For the life of me I don't understand why these are no longer made. I also don't know how my Dad or his sons lost the end cap.

​​​​​​https://www.ebay.com/itm/37462649017...MaAlJqEALw_wcB