Can I assume that the freewheel is still mounted on a wheel?

Whenever I've tried to separate cogs on a "free-standing" freewheel, the whips always try to flex, bend and break.

As for separating two smallest cogs, the first thing is to tighten the #2 cog tight enough onto the body so that the smallest cog can be twisted free without the #2 cog itself spinning free.


One trick for removing stubborn threaded cogs is to re-position the whip rotationally after each effort. This induces the cog(s) to flex cyclicly into an oval shape, which is enough to assist with getting the stuck threading to break free.
It works about the same as trying to get a headset top nut tight enough without making a reflector bracket/washer rotate out of alignment during tightening. One can use one hand's palm to hold the bracket from spinning and hold the front wheel steady between the knees, while the other hand turns the wrench. The nut actually "works" tighter with each application of modest torque if the wrench is simply put onto different opposing flats with each go.