Thanks for replies ....
Ooops,

yeah should have mentioned, it's a shimano cartridge BB in a '92 cro-mo frame, probably LX as everything else is LX but could be one down from that, don't know if it's the original BB?
I've tried clamping the outer edge of the drive side into a vice as it's slightly proud of the shell but it just tends to slip, haven't tried seroius heat yet though as I'm trying to save the paintwork?
Also, tried cutting part of the drive side cup away to make an edge to tap around but this just squashed the metal of the cup around!
Thanks for the link, I read somewhere else about hammering it out but worried about damaging the threads of the bb shell?
I've got the seals off both sides so you can see the bearings and through one side to the other, thought if I could get bearings out from one side then the axle should come out easy, but the bearings are held in place by the bb shell and I still have the remains of the cups in both sides too so maybe forcing the bearings and axle out one side will be a bit hard? At the moment I'm trying to bend or make a bit of room to the shell on the non-drive side to get the bearings out?
I WILL do this, it's become a challenge now - can you imagine how good it's going the feel when it does come out!

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Then one day you find, 10 years have got behind you ....