Precisely how they shouldn't be installed.

+1 over and over again.

You can make a pretty good cotter press out of a Harbor Freight heavy duty chain breaker



You have to drill out that bottom part so a cotter pin can fit through there, and you may have to grind off part of the jaws depending on your crank.

More recently someone posted another tool you can get at Harbor Freight that you can use as a cotter press, and I don't remember what it was called. Looked like a really good idea, though. It was not a drill press vise, though that too will work (as described above).;

"How did you make your homemade press? I'd like to have one because it would be a lot cheaper to keep everything as is. I just don't want to mess around and search for cotter each time I want to lube the BB. I don't lube the BB that often but when I must I want peace of mind."

I used a tie-rod end press. All I did was remove the swivel from the threaded end. The slot on the non-moving end of the press is wide enough to allow the cotter to be pressed through. I can't remember where I got the tool but it was cheap, probably around $10.
Sandy

My homemade cotter pin press...

Here's the other tool I was thinking of. I haven't tried this, am not sure of the scale -- it may be too small for crank cotters.

But for $17 I think it may be just what I need. It's called a 3/4" Forged Ball Point Joint Separator.

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.