Best way to clean up the inner ST?
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Best way to clean up the inner ST?
please share your corporate secrecy of how to clean up the
grease gunk, paint residues, rusts and goos that you don't wanna know the origin INSIDE THE SEATTUBE.
homemade tools—other than rolled rags—chemicals, spirits, potions or any spells will be greatly helpful too.
grease gunk, paint residues, rusts and goos that you don't wanna know the origin INSIDE THE SEATTUBE.
homemade tools—other than rolled rags—chemicals, spirits, potions or any spells will be greatly helpful too.
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I never gave it much thought. We used to just use a long screwdriver and a rag. If they still sold 8 gauge cleaning brushes and swabs that might work. Fashioning a home made oversized gun cleaning type rod might be an approach.
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Simple tool that I have found useful for really crappy ones. Grab a length of wooden dowel (3/8" is good), saw a slit in one end up about 1 1/2 inches. Fold a strip of fine emery cloth and stuff it in the slit making sort of a long flap tool. Twist and insert into seat tube. Attach variable speed drill and carefully whir away the stuff. I have also taped 3M scotchbrite to a dowel and used that for cleanup.
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Plumbers brush from Home Depot. At least that is what was recommended to me. I have used .17 and .22 CAL brass brushes for small holes and tubes as well as .30 or .338 CAL brushes. Tried 12 Ga. brushes too. If the top part is rough you can use a wheel cyclinder hone. I have yet to investigate the possiblity of using a drill extension used to drill down headers of walls used for routing electrical cables.
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Simple tool that I have found useful for really crappy ones. Grab a length of wooden dowel (3/8" is good), saw a slit in one end up about 1 1/2 inches. Fold a strip of fine emery cloth and stuff it in the slit making sort of a long flap tool. Twist and insert into seat tube. Attach variable speed drill and carefully whir away the stuff. I have also taped 3M scotchbrite to a dowel and used that for cleanup.

#6
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wire brush like this cut off the loop at the end and put it in an electric drill... probably easy to find at a local shop too.
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AH AH AH your mincing my words.... I said gun cleaning type rod. Something like Browngw is suggestion but rather than split the ends you put a slot in it so you could put say 3x3 inch rag through it.
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Round wire brush on a drill, brake hone on a drill. Just make sure to degrease the interior first before honing.
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the essential part of my question is quite there, in fact. best way to 'degrease' it. some gunk and goos are stubborn and stays 'deep',
having a hard time to put enough force of rubbing alcohol—that i use as a quick and dirty spirit to clean things up—to where needs attention.
having a hard time to put enough force of rubbing alcohol—that i use as a quick and dirty spirit to clean things up—to where needs attention.
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the essential part of my question is quite there, in fact. best way to 'degrease' it. some gunk and goos are stubborn and stays 'deep',
having a hard time to put enough force of rubbing alcohol—that i use as a quick and dirty spirit to clean things up—to where needs attention.
having a hard time to put enough force of rubbing alcohol—that i use as a quick and dirty spirit to clean things up—to where needs attention.
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I use a long bristle brush designed to clean out tubular bird seed feeders. Just a long twisted wire handle with about 6" height of bristles sticking out around the bottom. Diameter of bristles might be 2" or so. Just ream that up & down inside seat tube.
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Aerosol brake cleaner is very good at degreasing and leaves no residue. Take off the BB first to let excess gunk dribble out.
I like the wooden dowel suggestion. Or use an old broom handle, cut one end square, follow previous suggestion to attach emery cloth or rag.
Your seat tube must be pretty nasty to require this much attention.
I like the wooden dowel suggestion. Or use an old broom handle, cut one end square, follow previous suggestion to attach emery cloth or rag.
Your seat tube must be pretty nasty to require this much attention.

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I wasn't quite sure but I suspected it. But I wanted to be sure no one thought I was condoning the use of a gun cleaning rod to work on a bike oh perish the thought.
you know if your aim is simply to clean grease and lubes, if the BB is out you can always just push some small rags through with any old type of stiff rod
you know if your aim is simply to clean grease and lubes, if the BB is out you can always just push some small rags through with any old type of stiff rod
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awesome. guess i've gotten a clear idea what to do.
thanks for nice suggestions/ideas and insights, all!
thanks for nice suggestions/ideas and insights, all!

#16
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A carborundum ball flexible hone ... looking like a Brussel's Sprout stalk
(or Grape cluster)... and a drill motor.
(or Grape cluster)... and a drill motor.
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“One morning you wake up, the girl is gone, the bikes are gone, all that's left behind is a pair of old tires and a tube of tubular glue, all squeezed out"
Sugar "Kane" Kowalczyk
“One morning you wake up, the girl is gone, the bikes are gone, all that's left behind is a pair of old tires and a tube of tubular glue, all squeezed out"
Sugar "Kane" Kowalczyk
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Simple tool that I have found useful for really crappy ones. Grab a length of wooden dowel (3/8" is good), saw a slit in one end up about 1 1/2 inches. Fold a strip of and stuff it in the slit making sort of a long flap tool. Twist and insert into seat tube. Attach variable speed drill and carefully whir away the stuff. I have also taped 3M scotchbrite to a dowel and used that for cleanup.
Wow, that's spooky...has you been peeking in my garage?
OP, I can assure you the drill/dowel/scotchbrite combo is highly effective. (different grade of scotchbrite for different applications, and a bit of WD-40 for good measure).
Go slow on the drill though...if you go too fast and the pad catches it will break the dowel (don't ask how I know, lol).
Steve
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they sell these in bike tools catalogs for just this purpose, usually referred to as a flex hone.
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Another useful tool is one of those mechanic's claw-ended pick-things-up tool. Not sure what it is really called. When you lose contact with a rag or paper towel down the tube a tool like this is just the ticket to grab it.
https://www.sears.com/tekton-36inch-c...223403?prdNo=1
https://www.sears.com/tekton-36inch-c...223403?prdNo=1
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I am still unclear if the OP wants a flex hone type tool (a small cyclinder hone from harbor freight it good too) or just something to mop up lubes and grease and other fluids and semi fluids.
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so far, it's great learning same time quite entertaining.
always loving to see various ideas well seasoned.
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little bit of both. just wanted see what ideas are out there on the method side while wanted to see if there's a magic formular in terms of degunking the stubborn stuffs on the inner surface. 
so far, it's great learning same time quite entertaining.
always loving to see various ideas well seasoned.

so far, it's great learning same time quite entertaining.
always loving to see various ideas well seasoned.

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“One morning you wake up, the girl is gone, the bikes are gone, all that's left behind is a pair of old tires and a tube of tubular glue, all squeezed out"
Sugar "Kane" Kowalczyk
“One morning you wake up, the girl is gone, the bikes are gone, all that's left behind is a pair of old tires and a tube of tubular glue, all squeezed out"
Sugar "Kane" Kowalczyk
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Cleaning: Wad something up around a dowel or other similar long rod. Apply some type of solvent....alcohol, Dawn dish detergent, whatever. As long as it cleans the gunk.
Prepping/deburring: 8" half round file or ball hone as pictured above
Reference thread from back in the day...
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ght=%27file%27
Prepping/deburring: 8" half round file or ball hone as pictured above
Reference thread from back in the day...
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ght=%27file%27