Classic & Vintage - Lyer!

anyone use lye to remove a SERRIOUSLY stuck seatpost? I've tried all of sheldons methods and I've been doing about 4 hours of searching on the net for other methods. I even tried to cut out the post, to no avail.

There was a post in the mechanics forum about a day ago. The guy borrowed a syringe from the school nurse :eek: no joke, filled it with ammonia, and squirted it into the seat tube. It worked.

Take it to a machine shop and have them drill it out, very carefully. Some universities (usually ones with good engineering programs and a lot of research going on) have pretty high tech machine shops accurate to the 1/1000".

If they have a bit the right size it can be done..

There was a post in the mechanics forum about a day ago. The guy borrowed a syringe from the school nurse :eek: no joke, filled it with ammonia, and squirted it into the seat tube. It worked.

hmm already tried the ammonia method.

also i think i ovalized the seat tube slightly so boaring it out may not work.

It works. Just make sure to plug that post, and to have a bucket underneath to catch the lye if it drips - lye is NASTY stuff. Mask the paint too.

You might have to cork the post more then once in case it leaks, but the effort is well worth it. The aluminum is eaten up in about a week, if that.

Take care,

-Kurt

A google search of BF for "lye & seatpost" (http://www.google.com/search?q=seatpost+%26+lye+site%3Abikeforums.net)

One of the longest-running threads - "Screwed the Pooch" (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=224807)

A google search of BF for "lye & seatpost" (http://www.google.com/search?q=seatpost+%26+lye+site%3Abikeforums.net)

One of the longest-running threads - "Screwed the Pooch" (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=224807)


yeah I did do the bike forums search for lye & seatpost and such, looking for more people with expirence.

I've been thinking about going the lye route myself. Since I haven't handled it before, I was thinking about a controled test with an old beat up post that I have that is not in a bike and putting it in a small container with lye to see how it works.

I'm going to throw this out there, I don't know if it'll work but... There is a product called Peel Away 1 that is basically lye in a gel matrix. It is used to peal multiple thick coats of paint off of about anything and I have used it for that purpose quite a few times. The advantage I can see in this case is that it is not a liquid but a paste and you could fill your seat tube with it and forget it for a day or so. come back and hose it out then neutralize it with some vinegar. Another advantage is that it can be handled briefly without burns (use gloves and have water nearby anyway) and is not fumey. Since it is still lye it should still do the same thing but with a slower reaction time. Last time I bought some it was at a Sherwinn Williams store.

I have'nt had a stuck seat post in a while but has anyone tried CLR?
I have always thought this would be good at corrosion stuck seat posts.

There was a post in the mechanics forum about a day ago. The guy borrowed a syringe from the school nurse :eek: no joke, filled it with ammonia, and squirted it into the seat tube. It worked.
borrowed a syringe from the school nurse? is that the story he's sticking with?:rolleyes:

"I GOT IT!

After injecting the post with ammonia via a syringe from the campus nurse, I threw it up on a vise and twisted the frame off the post. The guy at Evergreen Bike Shop in East Lansing let me use his vise, and we were able to drop it in about ten min.

I figure the old owner dropped on a 27.0 when the shaft looks like a 26.8. The shaft was all brown with rust, and there was a pile of it underneath the bike when we schwacked it with a rubber mallet. I picked up a nice post and an in the market for a more comfortable seat, but otherwise, I'm back in business."