SUCCESS! Caustic Soda to remove seat-post-my experience

[OJAP109]

What have you tried so far?

Soaking, vice and hack saw - all ultimately unsuccessful. I think I was too impatient with the hack saw and didn’t cut far down enough, because I managed to fold it in but it’s still stuck further down the seat tube. I haven’t touched it for a few months but told myself I’d give the caustic soda method a go over the summer. I’m attracted to the ‘slow and steady’ method that @Ray_72 describes as it sounds like it gives me the best possible chance of preserving the paintwork, which is basically pristine!

 

[highlandsflyer]

Soaking, vice and hack saw - all ultimately unsuccessful. I think I was too impatient with the hack saw and didn’t cut far down enough, because I managed to fold it in but it’s still stuck further down the seat tube. I haven’t touched it for a few months but told myself I’d give the caustic soda method a go over the summer. I’m attracted to the ‘slow and steady’ method that @Ray_72 describes as it sounds like it gives me the best possible chance of preserving the paintwork, which is basically pristine!

I'm due a couple of these jobs once the brief summer is over. One is a daily rider, luckily stuck at the 'right' height, another is a strip down for refurbishment. I may replicate one of the contraptions I've seen if the usual methods don't suffice.

 

[Canuk]

This is a pretty similar design (though a lot less robust) then the one my LBS has made (they're French, a lot of the design uses recycled tool steel and stainless, it's approximately twice the size). Their design also has legs which makes the whole design more stable.

The one real improvement they've made is that the top nut and lever is integrated into one piece, with approx 60cm of leverage. I've only seen one frame defeat it, and the real benefit of this design is that it can be used on steel, aluminium and even carbon frames. The load on the bracket is not as much as you'd imagine, especially if well braced, most of the friction force is happening at the top of the seat tube between the interface of the steel/aluminium rusting weld.

 

[Canuk]

Here's a more elegant design, used on what looks a carbon Intenso frame:

 

[highlandsflyer]

That looks superb. Getting the 'pull' as near straight as possible is the ticket.