Shimano 600, 6 speed freewheel hub disassembly (UPDATE)
 

Hey guys and gals;

So many folks offered advice when I posted about my vintage Shimano 600 freewheel hub (which I had cut out of the rim before realizing I needed to remove the freewheel, and thus the leverage of said spokes and rim) that I thought I'd let you know how things turned out.

Well it turned out AOK. I actually mixed a bit of the advice I got on that thread. And now I can at least show an example of a successful technique for removing a freewheel from hub which has been removed from the rim. I knew I needed to clamp the hub down hard in a vice. And I knew I'd better find a way to spread that kind of stress evenly over the hub in order to avoid damaging it.

I took Dr.Deltron's advice and drilled a 4x4, just a bit bigger in diameter than the outer flanges of the hub. I then sawed it down the middle, so it would be easy to fit each half around the hub.

Next I rolled a length of old innertube around the narrow middle section of the hub, and taped it in place. Then I wrapped the whole thing in a piece of rubber boot from a PVC connector.

Finally I placed the rubber wrapped hub in the blocks and clamped it in the vice. I locked the removal tool in place and gave a heave-ho. The hub turned with the freewheel in the blocks. So I just tightened the vice MORE. After all; I was at the point of no return. On the second attemp the freewheel broke loose. Thank God the last guy greased those threads!

PS; If you ever need a 2 prong Shimano freewheel remover, don't sweat tracking down the original tool. The $6 Sun Race tool (available in most LBS's) will do. You just need to file it a bit and it works like a charm.

DanO