Right?! I had no idea that it was this thick! Who the heck made seatposts this thick?! SR Laprade. Why?! Strength, sure; so then why the heck would you bother with fluting? Obviously, not to save weight. So someone with more experience tell me I'm not crazy--this is an abnormally thick seatpost, right?

Hmmm. Okay. This is really tough. And to be honest, I don't really have the space or the resources to be dealing with this. Jeez. Zorro, your description was what I was hoping to do when I decided to cut off the top of the 'post, but the small size of the internal hole (maybe 4/5 mm, +/-) seems like it'll be impossible to get a blade in there. I guess the quickest next step is to try and get that junior blade or other small blade as suggested. But as point of reference, I cut off the top of this thing with a Dremel electric hacksaw, 18v. And while it cut easily, it was sort of slow going (imagine that moment after a long while of sawing when I actually cut through, and it began to dawn on me just how thick this post was. Ug.) So even if I can get a small blade down in there, the cutting time is going to be extraordinary. I mean, this thing looks like 6x thicker than any post I've ever seen! Will I even be able to crimp and bend it, provided I get it cut?

The other important point which someone alluded to, is I think that this is not so much a matter of being seized as perhaps being in too far. That also adds to the quandary. I don't know if the crimp and bend method will actually work very well, because there isn't enough to bend the post inwards. I guess I can drill it out. I do have a drill, but it's 12volts, not super powerful; don't know if that'll cut through. What kind of bit would I need?

This leaves me with lye, I guess. Ooooh, man. I don't have a bb remover/wrench whatever, so first I'm going to have to get one of those (which I need to do anyway: I realized when I removed the cranks that the bb needed replacing/rehauling.) Then I'll have to swing a system with a plug and paint protector, etc. TimJ, d'you think I could just use tape of some sort? Maybe electrical tape, carefully placed? All that plastic, gummy, pour-masking technique just sounds like yet another step I don't really want to try if I can avoid it. I don't have to worry about the lye on the inside of the frame? Will it at least clean out the inside?

Thanks a lot for all your suggestions, everyone. This has become very demoralizing .