hammering out headset cups?
#1
totally louche
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: A land that time forgot
Posts: 18,023
Bikes: the ever shifting stable loaded with comfortable road bikes and city and winter bikes
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 9 Times
in
8 Posts
hammering out headset cups?
I want to replace/swap around a couple of headsets on my bikes. When I was a kid we used to just hammer the cups out with a big punch and hammer. Can I abuse modern CaneCreek or Aheadset aluminum cups the same way or do I have to fork out the $25 bucks for the fourpronged Park cup remover? I haven't seen alternate methods mentioned by Zinn or any other books i've read.
Does anyone have a good way to do it on the cheap? Thanks.
Does anyone have a good way to do it on the cheap? Thanks.
#2
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Kentucky
Posts: 2,579
Bikes: 06 Lemond Reno, 98 GT Timberline mtn.bike
Mentioned: 7 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 419 Post(s)
Liked 689 Times
in
430 Posts
When I replaced mine, I used copper pipe-figuring copper would give before the harder metal in the cup. But I was replacing the headset anyway, so didn't matter. I have heard of using a piece of pvc (plastic plumbing pipe), cutting 4 slits lengthwise in it, then spreading out the ends with a cork or large bolt.
#3
a77impala
I used a punch and hammer on my Trek 6000 which is aluminum, and my wifes Trek 920 which is cro moly,just don't use a lot of force and they should come out without damage.
#4
Senior Member
When I replaced the 20 year old JIS no-name headset on my World Sport a few weeks ago (I ran it for a year with loose bearings before it was no longer useful) I didn't know that I could still get a decent Tange steel JIS headset. In hindsight, that's exactly what I would have done.
I bought the cheap nashbar threaded headset, punched off the cups and races with a long piece of all-thread rod (gently, but it didn't really matter because I was throwing away the old hs) or a punch. I don't think I'd ever do it with flimsy aluminum cups.
I also gingerly filed down the JIS fork crown race to ISO size with several grades of files and emory cloth until I got an absolutely perfect (feeling) fit, but maybe that's fodder for another thread. Honestly, to do it all again, I'd either replace the rather crummy bike or just get the proper sized headset. It does work like a charm, but it was an awful lot of trouble for a mediocre (at best) headset on a low end bike.
[note: I only added this because I didn't find, either searching here or the internet, any chronicles, either successful or otherwise, of a DIY low-budget fork crown machining and I thought this might be of interest to others.]
I bought the cheap nashbar threaded headset, punched off the cups and races with a long piece of all-thread rod (gently, but it didn't really matter because I was throwing away the old hs) or a punch. I don't think I'd ever do it with flimsy aluminum cups.
I also gingerly filed down the JIS fork crown race to ISO size with several grades of files and emory cloth until I got an absolutely perfect (feeling) fit, but maybe that's fodder for another thread. Honestly, to do it all again, I'd either replace the rather crummy bike or just get the proper sized headset. It does work like a charm, but it was an awful lot of trouble for a mediocre (at best) headset on a low end bike.
[note: I only added this because I didn't find, either searching here or the internet, any chronicles, either successful or otherwise, of a DIY low-budget fork crown machining and I thought this might be of interest to others.]
#5
Mad bike riding scientist
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Denver, CO
Posts: 27,274
Bikes: Some silver ones, a red one, a black and orange one, and a few titanium ones
Mentioned: 150 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 6147 Post(s)
Liked 4,092 Times
in
2,325 Posts
Originally Posted by Bekologist
I want to replace/swap around a couple of headsets on my bikes. When I was a kid we used to just hammer the cups out with a big punch and hammer. Can I abuse modern CaneCreek or Aheadset aluminum cups the same way or do I have to fork out the $25 bucks for the fourpronged Park cup remover? I haven't seen alternate methods mentioned by Zinn or any other books i've read.
Does anyone have a good way to do it on the cheap? Thanks.
Does anyone have a good way to do it on the cheap? Thanks.
[edit] The punch thing works too but it's not nearly as elegant.
__________________
Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
#6
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 205
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
I bought the cheap nashbar threaded headset, punched off the cups and races with a long piece of all-thread rod (gently, but it didn't really matter because I was throwing away the old hs) or a punch. I don't think I'd ever do it with flimsy aluminum cups.
Anyway, the secret is to simply tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap ... slowly but surely, it'll come out no problem.
A neat trick I learned for tapping a new crown race in place: Use the OLD crown race as an in-between layer, so that while you're directly tapping on the old race, it is in turn using it's matching rounded edge to push down the ring beneath it. The tight fit on the steering shaft prevents the old race from angling too harshly, making sure that the point of impact is fairly wide. Still, as above, tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap, slowly but surely.
#7
Senior Member
With the punch/threaded-rod/screwdriver technique to remove the cups, be sure to alternate back and forth to opposite sides so you don't angle the cup.
Good trick to get the crown-race back on is to use an adjustable crescent-wrench. Put the jaws on both sides of the steerer, tighten the wrench so it's snug, slide down onto the crown-race. Tap with hammer on the sliding mechanism that joins the two jaws and you'll be able to apply force on opposite sides of the race evenly.
Good trick to get the crown-race back on is to use an adjustable crescent-wrench. Put the jaws on both sides of the steerer, tighten the wrench so it's snug, slide down onto the crown-race. Tap with hammer on the sliding mechanism that joins the two jaws and you'll be able to apply force on opposite sides of the race evenly.
Last edited by DannoXYZ; 11-03-05 at 08:30 PM.
#8
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Between the mountains and the lake.
Posts: 16,681
Bikes: 8 bikes - one for each day of the week!
Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 3 Times
in
3 Posts
I use the Park Tool. Easy to use, and it was $20 something on ebay.