After years of using a variety of makeshift clamping methods when dismantling freewheels , I finally found a nice old Suntour freewheel vise at a reasonable price. I clamped a Suntour Perfect into it (they're pretty much the only freewheels I use these days), tightened the assembl into my bench vise, and promptly broke both of my Park chain whips in trying to remove the outermost 14-tooth cog.


I had lubed the outermost cog with PB Blaster over the course of several days, as I always do. It evidently didn't help.


I have four questions for those with more experience in this area than I have:


1. What's the best way to repair a busted link on a chain whip?


2. Is there a more rugged chain whip on the market than the Park version?


3. Are some freewheels just impossible? After breaking a couple of chain whips, is it time to just throw the freewheel into the scrap metal barrel? There's nothing special about this one, really, though I would like to salvage the 6-speed spacers for re-use if I can. It also has some cogs in useful sizes, but it's not as if Suntour cogs are hard to come by.


4. Any hints on technique? After breaking the second chain whip it occurred to me that instead of just giving a mighty yank, I might have done better to put a long cheater bar on the chain whip handle and apply slower, steadier pressure instead. Would that have been more likely to work? Or is there some other method that, in my innocence, I don't know about?