Originally Posted by
Smokinapankake
The slow burn, as it were, is still smoldering on this project!
So, not quite smokin that pankake yet? Just smoldering?
unterhausen 's idea of plumbing pipe is a good one. You want thick wall, because the wedge bears against the tubular part only on it's edge, so you want that edge to be thick, basically as thick as possible. A solid bar drilled at a suitable size for the draw bolt might be even better but more expensive to make. The hole has to be a fair bit larger than the bolt since the wedge will need to go off-center as it moves through its travel.
At your seatpost size, starting with something about 1-1/8" OD would be fine I think. Starting with something larger and lathe-turning it to a custom diameter increases the cost of the tool drastically. A plain black iron pipe (or galvanized, whatever's handy), sliced at an angle, with a nut at the wedge end and a washer at the top end, could cost under $10 and work fine. You might need to weld the nut to the wedge to keep it from turning, or get creative to key them together by filing a matching shape into wedge and nut. You could even cut the angle with a hacksaw and dress the faces with a file, if you have no other way. 15 minutes, if you have a decently solid bench vise, hacksaw and a file.
Mark B