I predict this ends with an Impact drill and penetrating oil.

This is a lot easier in the end than risking messing up a nice frame

This is a lot easier in the end than risking messing up a nice frame

that will make a nice doorhandle for the workroom!!

I ended up chopping the stem off. I tried the slide hammer and it simply wasn't moving. Everything else survived.

will you just replace the steerer tube then?

Why not break the corrosion bond by pulling it further into the steer tube? Rig up some sort of affair that will hook onto the underside of the fork crown and won't snap under the considerable tension you're going to be putting on it. Also, this way, you won't strip out the threading in the aluminum.

Be careful. I cracked the brazing into the fork crown trying to get a stem out by twisting it, which was an expensive mistake. I came up with /\/\ that plan during a late-night after-action review over beers, but never did make up a tool.

Can I come out from the basement now?

So is there a piece still stuck in the steerer tube? What happens to it?

Maybe it gets milled out or sawed apart in removable strips. Regardless, stems are much easier to replace than a fork or frame......

Chombi

Stick the end of the fork in a bit of weaker lye solution it'll dissolve the aluminum in a few days... leave it ventilated of course it makes some fumes and the lye will eat some paints...

2 mins in the mill and it's done. Like my barber says. "when it's done, stop"

This past spring I had a stem that wouldn't budge on a Nishiki road bike, I cut it and soaked it with PB Blaster tapping it several times a day with no luck, then I got a deep jar & made up some OA and soaked it, took almost 3 weeks but it finally came out. I never had a stem as stuck as that before & thought using OA would speed up the process eating away at the aluminum.
I now have a very very stuck seat post in a early Stumpjumper that all the soaking & heating did nothing for, I am going to fill the seat tube with drain cleaner through the BB & see if that works. I want to save the seat post if I can or I would just try cutting it out, it is a long post that is deep in the seat tube.

Glenn

The joys of having the right tool for the job. A full size milling machine, as opposed to a hack saw blade and lots of time and elbow grease.

If you had done it my way you wouldn't have chopped it off.

Frank was not concerned abut the wedge nut coming loose. The stem itself was fused into the steering tube. This is why "your way" would not work in the first place. I think you misunderstood the original challenge.

Hey Frank, I didn't know you had a dog!

Congrats Frank!

Yea, this sounds like you haven't encountered any stuck stems, just stubborn stem wedges.

There is probably not enough evidence left now to examine the sticking mechanism. But I'm still curious whether it was just corroded into place or whether some bonehead previous owner applied something to hold it in place. Loctite, Superglue, strawberry soda?

You forgot to mention training stand sweat and sometimes, heat stroke induced puke.....
Unfortunately, the TT, stem and seatpost areas seems to be a place where a lot of PO's "effluence" and DNA can get deposited. That's why all sorts of rust and "stuckage" problems happens there....so clean those used bikes very well when you first get them!

Chombi

Cutting out a stem is just not that big of a task. One hacksaw, plus a 1/2" drill bit (or something like it) to get it started, and in about 10 minutes, its out.

While I am a chemical engineer, and love using various chemicals to accomplish tasks for me, sometimes, mechanical means are best.

The brute strength methods can result in damaging the steering tube, the fork, or the frame (depending what you are working on, and where you are applying the force). While I will still try Kroil briefly, I will not put much time into it (squirting Kroil on it a few times = 2 minutes of time invested, and if successful, you also do not destroy the stem or seat post).

Quote from above: "If you had done it my way you wouldn't have chopped it off."
+1 How many stuck stems or posts have you successfully gotten loose? At one point, I was 100%, I really thought I could work magic. Then I got my butt handed to me. Check with someone who has handled hundreds or even thousands of neglected bikes, like Randy Jawa and others.

I'm not even gonna' ask about a stuck seatpost.

Were I ever to try and tell FTW how to do something mechanical I'd hope there'd be someone close by to smack me real good.

I've only ever had one seat post that I had to mill out. It didn't even repsond to two full length 1/8" strips being cut and peeled out. Luckily, you can easily and quickly tell when you've taken out the last of the aluminum and have reached steel.

I had my torch running today so I ended up clamping the steerer in the alignment table fork steerer thingy and warming up the steerer. I applied some heat and waited 2 mins and gave the stub a twist and nothing, I said "forget it, head to the mill" (I have a bridgeport set up at 90 degrees for mitering fork blades). It sat for five more mins, and I gave it another twist and the piece came right out. There was only 75mm of "slightly corroded" stem that came out. I was really shocked that it took the amount work and really "fell out" when enough heat was applied. Which was still under 600F.

Unfortunately, you can't heat the steerer while it's in the head tube. I think next time the giant soldering iron will spend more time in the steerer. It was pretty humbling getting beat by such a thing. I look forward to the next one.

+1. This worked for me a couple months ago. It works so well for seatposts, why not?

HMMM and a dim flicker of an idea lamp. I have a heat gun made for soldering and shrinking thick heat shrink, it might work on a headset. I'll try that on the next stuck stem.

Brad