I'm stripping down an old road frame i have removed the non-drive side but cannot get the drive side arm off. Is a crank puller required for this? Is there anyway to rmove it without one. I really dont want to have to go buy one.

I've used a tie rod end puller to do the job and managed to remove the crank arm without breaking anything. A crank puller is about the same price as a decent tie rod end puller, so get the tool for the job, IMHO

Doc

If you ever plan on doing anything again, I'd suggest spending the $15 or so to pick up a park crank puller. It works really smooth. With any other methods you risk destroying the taper on the cranks. I nearly bought the nashbar one for something like $8, but the $6 shipping would've evened them out pricewise (and I suspect that there is a large quality difference). It's not the sort of thing that you'll notice if you've never tried to do this feat without the tool, but they work VERY well.

Also, I'd be concerned about the quality of the taper on the crank/spindle that separated without the use of a puller. It's probably hosed.

It is possible to remove without a crank puller.

Put the ND crank back on. Undo the ND lockring and cup, so that it is loose and just hanging on the axle. Now turn over the bike.
Undo DS crank. Put the bike over a kerb or something, and tap the DS axle with a hammer, covering the axle with a piece of wood to prevent damage. The axle and ND crank come out in one piece.
Then you can undo the DS lockring and cup. (Use a blade screwdriver and a hammer to do this).
When you put it back together, you need to have an assistant also with a screwdriver and hammer, and tap the cup and the lockring in opposite directions.

Sounds like a lot of complicated ways to do something really simple which I just did a couple weeks ago. A friend and I were trying to get the crank arms off an old road bike, and we undid the nut and tried to pull the arm off by hand...that didn't work. He tried a tierod end puller (I think thats what it was), and it didn't budge because the axle didn't have a center point to keep the puller centered. Besides, the arms were really stuck on there.

As crazy as it sounds, I just took the nut off one side, went for a ride, and the arm came loose. I put that nut back on, and took the nut off the other side, and went for a ride again, and got that arm loose too. Both came off and I was able to grease the bottom bracket. I hope thats what you're talking about here.

This way usually works. You might want to leave the bolts on, but keep them loose - perhaps one or two threads before the bolt contacts the arm. So, when you ride, the crank arm will be able to free itself, and not inadvertently come off the bottom bracket spindle as you pedal. Also, you won't risk damaging the mating surfaces of the crank arm if the crank arms fall off.

However, I'd vote for buying a crank arm remover. You don't need a "shop quality" version.

You may round the crank arm doing that, where it splines onto the axle. Particularly if it's difficult to get off.

And it doesn't always work. I once rode around for a week and it wouldn't come loose.

A crank puller is under $15, there is no sense in being ghetto or cheap on this job.

The right tool makes this a trivial task. Get the crank puller. You'll use it more than once.