Bicycle Mechanics - stuck stem

I have a old schwinn road bike that i bought used. bike works good. It has a quill type stem and was thinking of replacing it but i have found that the stem over time will not come out, stuck good
tried the solvent thing of various types and no budging any sugestions and if cutting to remove
what might be the best way for that

Did you make sure the wedge is loose? I'm guessing you tapped the wedge bolt down---have you put oil in the bottom of the fork (steer tube) and let it set upside down over night?O.K.--you've done that too---sence you are prepaired to cut the stem--have you whacked it good with a hammer?Down,side ways etc---Put a pipe wrench on it a give it a twist? Be sure not to destory the steer tube and fork and try not to brake the stem off inside the steer tube--real problems then.Untill you brake it off down in the steer tube ,cutting it is the last and hardest way to go.

If you're able to remove the stem itself but the wedge is just stuck in there, you can often thread the long bolt into the wedge from the bottom of the steerer tube as well. A couple good whacks with a 5lb persuader should be plenty to pop it out. Other ideas include setting a flat punch into the stem bolt (if it's an allen head) to give you a little more surface area to bang on.

Basically if you have to do any cutting you might as well scrap both the stem and fork...that said, I haven't had one yet I couldn't to bust loose eventually with a little patience and a good heavy hammer. :D

Agreed with others: Put the bike upside down and put a lot of oil, rust remover, etc, down (or up) the fork steerer tube so that it penetrates around the stem. Loosen the stem bolt and hit it hard with a hammer from the top side. Try to loosen the fork locknut also to ease up on the fork pressur around the stem. If you are trying to loosen it by twisting it up, remember to keep the front wheel on for leverage. Cutting is an absolute last resort and may cause other damage to the frame and fork.

PB-Blaster would probably be the best stuff to use as a penetrant. It's designed to dissolve corrosion.

If you do need to whack it loose as suggested, don't hit it with a hammer directly. Put a hunk of wood over it and hit the wood.
Robert

Ammonia is the solvent to use when aluminum parts are stuck in steel