Originally Posted by
wschruba
I would only use the gear puller if you wanted to get a new crankarm; since they bear on such a small area, they have a tendency to damage aluminum arms. They work great, but if you want to re-use it, try drill-chuck wedges, designed specifically not to damage the thing they are removing. A "pickle fork" style tie-rod remover works great as well, with lower incidence of damage to anything that matters, and can often be found for $10-12 at an auto parts store.
I've had better luck with the gear pullers than with the tie-rod end separators. I do think the drill chuck removers would work well if the distance between the arm and frame was small enough.
EDIT: As for the suggestion to use the crank puller as a thread chaser? No, that's a terrible idea. That never works right. It's very difficult to thread them on correctly when the threads are even the slightest bit messed up.