Shoot - actual acetone. I have cans of about everything else in the workshop: boiled linseed oil, naphtha, denatured alcohol and mineral spirits and after 35 years owning an old house I don't remember why I bought most of them. But no acetone.
Originally Posted by
nlerner
tiger1964, what's your method for getting leverage on that post? I've had good luck with putting the post in a vise and twisted the frame.
Good idea, I started with an 18" set of water pump pliers ("Channel-Locks"), was going to graduate to "Vise-Grips", but I do own a vise.
Originally Posted by
Bad Lag
I'd say keep the exposed end of the aluminum seat post submerged in salted ice water.
Interesting, I guess I
then try to quickly move the bike to the vise.
Originally Posted by
wrk101
There is no magic bullet. Deal with enough stuck posts or stems, and you will find out every method fails, except cutting it out. [SNIP] And realize you can and probably WILL put more pressure on a frame trying to free up stuck parts. I've bent a frame trying to do it.
Ouch... and OUCH.
Originally Posted by
zze86
Solder will melt at approx 360degF. Keep it eell under 300 and you should be good. I would not hit the soldering joints directly. Do NOT try to cool the frame down by spraying cold water at it.
Thanks for that number. I'm used to "sweating pipes" with solder, I had always presumed brazed frames used a product with a higher melting temp.
Originally Posted by
satbuilder
If you have one of those gel type freezer packs, you could wrap the seat post in that while applying heat to the seat lug. Coefficient of thermal expansion is much greater in aluminum than steel, so you need to keep it colder that the seat lug. [SNIP] are you trying to save the seat post?
I have various freezer products to try. No, the old post is toast. There's a nice looking one on the For Sale forum but want to get the old one out first to check the seat tube inner diameter before buying anything as a replacement.