I'm the one who mentioned the ball joint press. It works great (automotive ball joints can take lots of force to remove), and it's plenty big for any bicycle cotter I could envision.

Thanks, that is good to know.

I have the Bikesmith Design cotter press, which is very nice, and a Harbor Freight chain breaker that I've modified to work on cotters. If it fits, the Bikesmith Design tool is the one to use, but there are situations where it won't fit --if the cotter hole is too close to the crank spider, which is the case on the better Williams cranks (of which I have two). The chain breaker is better for those, but still not perfect. That ball joint press might do the job better.

I made my own cotter press a few minutes after bending a favorite old antique C-clamp while trying to remove the second cotter on my old Raleigh. It works fine and is constructed entirely of scrap metal and spare hardware.
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