Caustic Soda to melt stuck seatpost: COMPLETED!! (see p.2)

[samc]

I've got a lovely battered old Easton EA70 seatpost waiting for this beauty. I know it's aluminium too, but it'll actually fit!

Aluminium in steel is fine, but copperslip is your friend. Maybe this post hadn't even been greased, but even if it had been, grease is not a very good anti-sieze. The copper granules in copperslip prevent the galling reaction from taking place.

Well done with your project. I think you've done really well to get away with so little paint damage.

Sounds like a good tip, I'll get hold of some; I'd hate to get a proper nice seatpost stuck in, rather than the bog-standard one that was in there (& deserved melting out).

 

[mordorf]

it has about 7 1/2" showing original seat post so dont know how much more there is 18" frame

 

[Anthony]

it has about 7 1/2" showing original seat post so dont know how much more there is 18" frame

OK, as you're a fellow sufferer I've just taken out my replacement 94 O'Beam to measure it (I found an identical one, which was quite lucky as they're rare). It is 345mm from the rail to the end, so if yours is showing 190 to the rail, you have c155mm inside. I wouldn't like to say whether sawing that far down would be do-able. Obviously it would be a lot more difficult, but my 100mm was quite easy. It must depend on how long a metal-specific blade you could find - mine is only 162mm, which would be extremely marginal!

 

[mordorf]

it has about 7 1/2" showing original seat post so dont know how much more there is 18" frame

OK, as you're a fellow sufferer I've just taken out my replacement 94 O'Beam to measure it (I found an identical one, which was quite lucky as they're rare). It is 345mm from the rail to the end, so if yours is showing 190 to the rail, you have c155mm inside. I wouldn't like to say whether sawing that far down would be do-able. Obviously it would be a lot more difficult, but my 100mm was quite easy. It must depend on how long a metal-specific blade you could find - mine is only 162mm, which would be extremely marginal!

thanks for that

 

[jamabikes]

i had a really useful tool for doing this, but lent it to another rb'er on the premise that anyone who wanted to borrow it could. cant remember who it was though

 

[samc]

@sherlylock - those bar ends look lovely! That's a good tip, using either oven cleaner or CS diluted to oven cleaner strength (about a quarter as strong as I was using) to remove anodising. Especially purple anodising

@jamabikes - was it a tool for slicing into tube interiors? That would be handy! What did it look like? I tried buying a small holder for a fine-toothed hacksaw blade, but sawing just didn't remove material at any noticeable rate.

 

[FluffyChicken]

If you suddenly find you need large amounts of it and you cannot get it other cheaper ways
Go here
https://www.soapkitchenonline.co.uk/cgi ... 5#a1_21635

For Obeams and similar Kalloy/IRD/USE posts, try a long bar through the bolt bar first or as part of it.

 

[samc]

That's a good shout, £3.50 for 1kg is 20% less than I was paying.

 

[poweredbypies]

Samc you should change your avatar to the corrosive warning symbol.

 

[samc]

Samc you should change your avatar to the corrosive warning symbol.

if I could find a cool gratuitously animated 3d avatar one, I would!