Originally Posted by
flyingscot57
I found a old Magneet Dutch bike with one cotter pin crank arm stuck. I went to Harbor Freight and bought the chain brake. Milled the tool very accurately. I then went to the crank arm. Sprayed it with wd-40 to loosen potential oxidation. Let it sit for an hour. I then heated the pin and arm with a Propane Torch. Let it cool. Then I started to use my Harbor Freight tool. I noticed a bit of tension nothing crazy, and as I continued to turn I heard a crack. I first thought it was the pin moving...and I looked further the tool was cracking severely on the corner. It took me an hour to mill this sucker and 5 min to break it. Flush $16 and time spent. I am in no way being aggressive with the tool or forcing anything. The Harbor Freight tool is just a piece of poo. Just my 2 cents. Now I am gonna borrow a real press from a bike buddy. Next time I will save my dollars and get a real press from:
New Crank Cotter Press
Happy Cotter Pin Pressing!!!!!!
I agree--crappy tools are usually a mistake. You use it once, you break it and add another piece of junk to the world's collection of junk, then you have to go out and buy the tool you should have bought in the first place. It's easier to just go directly to Step 3.