FAQ: Q: Why not use penetrating oil? A: I did, as shown in the video, it's the first thing everyone tries. If this problem was so easy to solve, I never would have had to build this! It doesn't work when there's a lot of aluminum oxide, the oil can't get past it and doesn't penetrate far enough, and oil/rust removers don't affect the oxide either way. Q: So how did the carbon post get stuck? A: I'm not 100% sure, but after talking to some people who deal with carbon frames a lot, it seems to be caused by water and dirt that get splashed onto the back of the seatpost by the rear wheel when riding in the rain, and this mixture slowly works itself down the seat tube as everything slightly flexes during pedaling and allows dirt to migrate into the gaps (this happens over weeks, not hours). This seems to happen a lot more often on aero-seatposts than round ones, possibly because of the way that they're clamped. Q: Does it REALLY not damage the frames??? A: No, bike frames are sturdy, and the bottom bracket area takes all of your pedaling force + bodyweight when riding. It takes a LOT to damage a BB shell. None of the frames I worked on showed any signs of damage. I think if a post is stuck enough so that this device damages the frame, there was no hope for that frame anyway, so why not at least try? Q: Does this work with every type of frame? A: Almost, yes. For non-BSA Bottom Brackets, additional adapters have to be made, and frames with setback seattubes (which are rare) aren't ideal for mechanical reasons, but I can't think of many instances where this wouldn't work at all. Q: Why don't you use heat on the posts/frames? A: Aluminum expands almost twice as much as steel when heated, hence heating up the frame is pointless since it'll make the post more stuck. This is debatable, and some people claim the seattube heats up and expands first, but in my personal experience, heat doesn't seem to help. Q: What's the center hole in the Clamp for? A: This was a feature I included as a last-resort kind of solution. In case the head of the seatpost fails or is already gone, you can use those holes as a drill guide to drill a 6mm hole through the post and then insert a screw through the clamp+seatpost to keep the clamp from sliding up. With severely stuck posts I wouldn't rule out the possibility that the post might tear off at the hole though, hence why it's a "last resort". Q: Can this get out Seatposts when they're cut off? A: Possibly, if there is still enough sticking out to put the clamp on and use the option mentioned in the last question. Q: What about that GT Frame? A: Unfortunately the Post Extractor doesn't work for cases like that. Once it's gotten that far, there are very few options left. I'm determined to save that frame another time though - that probably won't make it to TH-cam, but I'll post about it on Insta if I do Q: What about the Pulling Plate that got bent? A: I revised the plans to use thicker materials for that part. I will probably make a thicker pulling plate for my extractor as well, or weld a permanent support to the current plate. That being said, the frame where it bent was the most stuck one I encountered so far. Q: Where did the frames come from? A: They came from a local Bike-Coop / Non Commercial Community Workshop I volunteer at. People donated them because they didn't have any use for them. With the posts removed, they will go back there so someone can hopefully use them! Q: Why not use a motor/hydraulics? A: I thought about it, but it seems rather pointless - the actual "turning the handle" part of the extraction only takes a minute or so, it wouldn't save much time or effort and just complicate things. It's not the kind of thing you use every day, making it slightly faster isn't worth the extra cost and complexity. Q: How hard is it to pull out the posts? Is the device strong enough? A: Actually not that hard. Even with the most extreme case I tried so far, it was still fairly managable to turn the handles. For the easier frames, you can turn it with one hand in the center - almost no resistance. I'm pretty much certain that the maximum force that can be generated with the current threaded spindle setup is also close to the maximum force that an average seatpost or frame can take. I think with the reinforced pulling plate, it's very unlikely that the device itself will be the limitation in extreme cases, I think most seatposts will fail in some way before you reach the maximum pulling force this can generate. Q: Can you build me one/sell me one? A: Unfortunately I'm not set up for production and/or sale for this kind of thing for a number of reasons. Q: I live in your area (Hamburg), can you help me get my post out? A: I can certainly try! You can DM me on Insta
nice build. working 12 years in a bikeshop as a mechanic, 99% of the case the heat trick actually works. the key is to let it cool down before trying to pull the tube out. while your expansion theory is true, key is to let shrink back the difference in expansion actually seems to help break the seized oxyde, trying to pull while hot doesn’t help. repeat expansion and retraction if doesn’t work the first time. don’t hesitate to go quite hot. for the rest 1% this is a good solution. nice video also
for the gt frame I see several options for solving the problem. 1 - make a plug, push it through the BB from below, and screw a long bolt on top and then pull it out with this device. 2 - make a spreading anchor with sharp edges, and pull it out with it. 3 - cut a thread in the seat tube and screw a large bolt. 4. dissolve aluminum with chemicals.
Just my thought on the bent pulling plate. Maybe make 2 of them and put them stack on top of each other with opposite placement? So they form complete circle instead of just one sided and if bolted together will provide even area of pulling. Great device and build👍. Thanks you for saving these frames.
I've worked in bike shops for 20 years as a mechanic. When the penetrating oil with mounting the post in the vice didn't work, we usually had to give up. This tool looks amazingly effective. High marks! One trick we used at my shop in San Francisco was dropping dry ice inside the seat post while torching the frame. There happened to be a grocery nearby that sold the dry ice. It was quite effective, but we often still had to use the bench vice.
Thanks for confirming that sometimes the oil doesn't work, which is also my experience! There's definitely many solutions other than building a device like this, but if you want to save a lot of frames this one probably ends up being the quickest one, as the time invested pays off more with each frame.
The timing is perfect, last month a seized seat post I was removing sheared in half…inside the seat tube. Had to get a reamer and progressively ream out the remaining of the steel seat tube… what a nice tool you have built
fun.. last month i had a aluminum seat post in a steel frame, and the bottom of the seat post had no through-hole so my first idea of cutting it with a sawzall didnt work.(AFTER trying to twist it with a pipe wrench which just crushed the post) i had to dissolve the aluminum post with caustic soda but that actually worked flawlessly and took only like 30 minutes of work to mix up solution and dump it in the frame a few times
I have successfully removed a few stuck seat posts using a home made slide-hammer. attached by drilling a M10 hole + bolt in the seat post and flat bars on each side connecting the slide-hammer. Thanks for the video.
I was looking for this comment before reposting something similar. Jolting it free via slide hammer is what I thought of as a first option. A portable version wouldn't be too difficult to come up with-well in theory anyway. 🤔 ;)
Slide hammers are such a beautifully non obvious tool, few people even know what they are. I wouldn't be surprised if a well designed slide hammer seat post extractor tool could be 95% as effect as Phil's extractor without stripping down the BB. Take the seat off the post, straddle the frame, and make an upward jerking motion with your hand between your legs, haha. Phil, please please build this and find the answer for us!
Impressive result. I've dealt with this in the past and having my modest machine shop I refused to just give up. I ended up with a pretty simple jig I used to hold the frame in alignment with the mill spindle and then after cutting the post off square I drilled out the remnant using progressively larger drills. I eased up to the ID of the seat tube and left a thin wall of the seat post which was much weaker and I could then deform the post enough to get some penetrant to soak in and eventually with a little more cutting get it out. Bike is still in service today with a new post! I think for one bike it would be a toss up on how the work compares. But for as many as you have saved yours is definitely the better solution. Well done sir.
For any seatposts that are snapped off, as with the GT, an alternative to corrosive chemicals is gallium. It will only affect the aluminium seatpost and the steel frame won't be affected.
Fantastic tool and I love that you give the ”unimportant” things some extra thought and care. That’s where a lot of the joy and fun making things come from I think. And on that note, I would add two smalll tubes through the posts at the lower mounting point. Not because it’s really necessary. But because it’s the ”correct way engineering wise”. 😊 Great job!
Brilliant. That was a super satisfying video to watch. Now I know how much force it actually takes to remove stuck seatpost. Way more than I expected. But amazing that you succeeded regardless.
Yep, it really is hard to get across just how stuck they can be. I expected it to take a lot of force but even I was surprised when it bent a 15mm steel plate
Excellent tool Phil. Very well thought out and designed. What makes your channel so appealing. A great solution to rescuing frames that would otherwise be junked.
This is so satisfying to watch those posts coming out. My 12 year old steel bike has its aluminium post well and truly stuck unfortunately. I get the bike regularly serviced but regretfully neglected this part.
Brilliant video Phil. Years ago a solution of 1:4 ratio water to caustic soda was the only way to remove an aluminium seatpost from a steel frame. The process involved cutting the top off the seatpost. Plugging any escape holes and pouring the solution into the seat tube, the solution would eat away at the aluminium 1mm per 24hrs, then tip out the old mix and refill with fresh solution, until the post could be removed a few days later. The only downside was you had to dispose of the waste solution at a specialist site, you couldn't just tip it down the drain!
Oh wow, such a serious tool you made there. For someone who has the same issue with the stuck seatpost but doesn't want to go through the effort of making something like this: you can use a bunch of caustic soda solution and dissolve the seatpost inside the frame. Used that method once, but you'll need to repaint the frame afterwards, as caustic soda dissolves paint and rust as well.
After a years of rusted in seatubes(full of salt), creative shims I've seen my share of welded stuff nightmares, This is a great tool, if you've run out of penetrants, heat, hopelessly long levers and expletives. Much respect. A lot to be said for anodised seat tubes and lithium grease, don't be stingy!!!
Another beautifully made device 😍 I have removed seized seat post, also from carbon frames, using a reciprocal saw, cutting down the inside of the tube. Also works on seized stems. You can get the GT's post out using this method. Needless to say - One needs to be precise when using this method, which is something you excel in 😊
I got one out one day with a combination of clamps forcing the seat post out of the frame, as much dry ice as I could fit inside the seat post and hot water being poured over the frame. Worked eventually!
awesome video. I saw a video of someone who made the same thing with a car jack instead of turning a handle. I thought the jack made a lot of sense and turning a handle wouldn't work very well, until I saw yours. seems like turning a handle works fine. thanks for sharing your video, it was fun to watch.
@PhilVandelay, please try making a compact slide-hammer version of this tool and see how effective that is vs your extractor. That could be a much more compact and accessible tool, maybe even commercially viable.
Brilliant in its simplicity!!! 😁 Thanks for showing me another tool I can add to my arsenal 😅, due to the lack of a lathe I will have to approach a few things differently but I think I can do it without any problem. Greetings from Poland!
There is a product that I think would help for this problem. It’s called “Corrosion Block”. It was originally developed to clean low voltage electrical connectors. When sprayed on a corroded connector, it foams up like a rootbeer float, completely dissolving the corrosion. As the foam settles down the connector is left with a thin film of hydrophobic oil. It really is a fantastic product. In the US, it can be bought from West Marine. Cheers.
It really does look like something Park Tool would make with those handles, ah a haaa! I'm very glad that you released plans, even though I may never make one. It might be a fun little video to see how much force you can pull using a force gauge. I suspect it is quite a lot, and so smooth!
I use an air hammer to extract seatposts, it works fairly well but it's also loud as hell, and takes forever to get the post out once it starts moving, I got a dropper post out with it but it will absolutely destroy the seatpost. This tool is so much better.
would be interested to see a load cell in there, maybe at the bottom bracket, just so you could see how much force you're putting into the seat post! Great video, great build, thanks for taking the time to create, edit, and share
For stuck bottom brackets a proper impact driver works very well. We got an automotive grade one for my local non profit bike shop (many shitty rusty bikes), manages over 500NM, combined with a 1/2" drive BB tool we've managed to save many frames where even the vice + frame as lever attempt was hopeless! The rattling and vibrations caused by the impact driver seems to help break the corrosion free while causing much less damage than a massive lever would.
I love this build! I lost my Salsa touring frame to this exact problem last year and ended up buying a new bike because none of my local shops do these extractions. But not before trying a number of methods which all inflicted their own special damage - the story as you called it. Ultimately I didn’t make any progress despite hours of hard eggort, but I did buy some Lye to try to melt the aluminum out some day.
i tried lye in a steel frame with a stuck aluminum post for the first time last month. it worked perfectly and i was able to save a customers frame. the paint didnt get ruined because i set it up in a way where any overflow from bubbling would come up the seat tube, hit a piece of old inner tube and drip into a bucket. that caused 95% of the lye mixture to not touch the frame, but some still got on the frame every once in a while. the important part is to rinse it off with water as soon as possible. also the other part which you must take into account is all the drain holes on the bike. you must plug all of them. i used an old inner tube, cut it into strips, and when you wrap those strips around the frame tubes tightly they will plug the hole with an air tight seal. zip tie them in place with 1 zip tie on each side of hole. One other trick with an inner tube that i used is to cut it in half so you have a long tube. tie a tight knot on each end of the tube (spray the knot with alchohol before tightening to get it air tight), and then you can push the tube into any hole such as: headset, seat tube, bottom bracket, and inflate the tube. that will create an air tight seal also. the shorter the tube the more sealing pressure you can get. total i used about 1 pound of lye, (mixed up about .25 pounds and dumped it in 4 times over the span of 12 hours) but the first time i checked on the seat post it was completely gone, not a trace was left
Aside from being excellent entertainment and educational content, this video also served a third admirable purpose as a public service announcement, scaring me into triple checking that all my bikes have adequately greased seatposts!
Really good video, especially for those who deal with bicycle repair regularly! Clamping force on a carbon fibre frame... I wish Stockton Rush knew. I´m not trying to make a cheap joke about this horrendous accident, but knowing the limit of carbon fibre (or any other material for that matter) is essential.
that was WAY too satisfying to watch ! I restored an old steelie Tandem which had a stuck alloy seatpost for the stoker, and that was a real fight. i finally gave out, cut it flush, and started drilling it out with a step 1" step bit that keeping itself pretty well centered, using a bunch of 1/4" extension bits, and lots of lube... When i was done with the drilling, i was able to destroy the remaining sleeve of alloy with a screwdriver, and i now use 22.2mm steel seatpost with a plastic shim that was made on the lathe to go from 25.4 to 22.2mm :)
Sounds like quite the fight! I fear that's what it'll come down to with the GT frame as well which I still want to save. Maybe I'll try the sawblade method (using a hacksaw blade from inside to slowly cut it in half)
@@PhilVandelay I use a fine long blade on a reciprocal saw. Works well and does not take long to do. Lubricating the blade. Got a very corroded aluminium seat post out of a carbon frame. Also works well on seized stems. Love your work 👍🏽
@@PhilVandelay Sadly, i had way too much length of seatpost to cut to do anything with an hacksaw... I had to drill on like 250mm... :) Good luck with yours !
Very elaborate solution. My take is a similar clamp to yours, but i milled a hex into it. Once this thing is pinned/clamped to a seatpost i use a pneumatic impact gun to just shatter the oxide layer. It usually takes 10s and then you can simply pull it out.
and all this time I mostly figured greasing seat tubes was to help avoid creaks and noises. I generally dont grease mine, but I also keep them in my garage, ride weekly, and maintain my stable of bicycles well, so this has never truly become a problem for me before.
Same here, I wrench on my bikes so much I've never had this occur on one of my bikes. But I've seen and heard about it MANY times among friends, it's more common than you'd think
As a kid, I stuck a way too big seatpost in my bike, and it was very stuck. Dad had to heat up the frame with a blow torch and then used a pipe wrench to remove it.
Very nice design, Phil. As for custom shapes, like the triangular post, I'd recommend to use a material called Polymorph. It's a thermoplastic that becomes moldable at 60°C. It doesn't stick and it's certainly hard enough for friction forces. But certainly not as hard as POM-C. Anyways thanks for sharing. I'll share the video with a friend who runs a bicycle workshop. Maybe he can use it.
Amazing build this one! really enjoyed it. I might build one myself. About your Gt i had success removing something like that with soda (drain cleaner) , I saved a cinelli once with this technique. If the frame it's steel and the post it's alloy , you can seal the frame at the bb and fill the vertical tube with soda water with high concentration, keep changing the solution every day for as long it takes. Soda will eat away the alloy till it becames powder. It might take 5 days to a week but works.
Very impressive. Well thought out. I used to have access to a real machine shop through work. The guys there taught me how to use a lathe and a milling machine. I designed almost all my own test equipment and learned a lot when the shop said they couldn't make that so I had to redesign with manufacturing in mind. The old guys in the machine shop were master machinists and I learned a great deal from them. I really miss not having access to a metal lathe and mill with all the tooling to make stuff. Perhaps you should licence this device to Park Tool...
I've seen somebody, but I can't find the video, if you put a dead center between the live center and your part, you indicate the dead center and bingo. Love your work!, cheers from Buenos Aires!
I like the 'battery mod' on the angle finder, I have a few old formerly rechargable bike lights with the same mod that i use to see a bit better on my drill press
For that cool GT frame, you can probably use Gallium to soften the remnants of the aluminum post thats in there, or if you want to do something a little bit more standard, try getting some JB weld (or similar metal epoxy) and gluing another tube inside of it, and then using that to pull the remnants of that tube out. or use a wedge clamp, like a gooseneck stem. GT frames are so cool.
What a fantastic build. I wish you had been here in Frankfurt with it a few years ago, when I bought a Peugeot with a stuck post! Ah well. Anyway top work and best of luck with your future projects.
Cool build 👍. I had no idea such a problem existed. Connecting aluminum with steel, happens often in the electrical world. So to prevent the galvanic reaction that takes place, they use a specific chemical grease. I’d suggest to get a tube of this, instead of simple grease, from the electrical area of any hardware store.
For a seatpost stuck in an alloy frame I was advised to use ammonia. I made a cup from Blu-Tack around the joint and poured in a bit of ammonia every day. After a few days the seatpost came out easily.
Who’d have thought that dissimilar metals corroding together was a thing eh? (Only joking) Good tool for fixing these things, I’m sure that you’ll get loads of use out of it! BTW, I much prefer watching you welding than hearing about sponsors, so thanks for the chapters ! ;-)
Sehr gute Idee, ich habe bis jetzt 2x die Alusattelstütze mit einem Metallsägeblatt von Hand durch gesägt ohne den Rahmen zu erwischen, geht auch, aber langwierig. 👍
I once extracted a stuck seatpost from a recovered bicycle by clamping something onto it and then hammering for about 20 to 30 hours. I'm sure my neighbours were delighted. No frame damage.
I worked in bike shops for years and we used to get frames like that GT in all the time with the seat post chewed out like that. The only way we ever got them out was to put a hacksaw blade into some vise grips and slowly saw thru the seatpost and pull it out in sections. Slow, painful and expensive.
Yeah there's also the chemical solution many suggested here, but at that point no matter which route you take, it's gonna require patience and will be a pain in the butt
To prevent the collar from slipping on the seat post you can make the shims slightly oversized and insert a 600-1000 grit sandpaper folded in half (such taht the grit is in contact with both the collar and the seatpost - although you can probably get away with one sided only if you squeze hard enough). This improves the grip a lot compared to metal on metal. Its the same trick that trains and trams use to increse the grip between the wheels and railtracks.
Regarding the pulling plate bending, the bolt on bridge is clever, but not always feasible. An alternative would be welding a permanent bridge to the top of the closed side, where it won't interfere with the frame even at minimal seatpost insertion. Or just bolt your existing plate to the top, rather than the underside.
Ah yes, the old machinist nursery ryhme: How much chuck can a three-jaw chuck when chucked in another chuck 😉. Such fond childhood memories. So lesson of the day; don't get a blue frame? 😂
Galvanic corrosion is easy to tackle but not easy to notice, since not many people realize it, even it is quit common around us. Take car battery contact as example, the contact should apply dielectric grease to prevent galvanic corrosion.
Didn't work on an alloy post stuck in a steel Kona frame. It actually began to distort the machine. I ended up sawing the post out from inside with a long saw blade and even then it was a huge effort to get it out.
What a cool build! Seeing those posts leave the frames was about as satisfying as taking a huge dump 😆 (sorry!) Also, I almost lost my new molar filling when you put the carbon Fram in the vise! Good one!
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FAQ:
Q: Why not use penetrating oil?
A: I did, as shown in the video, it's the first thing everyone tries. If this problem was so easy to solve, I never would have had to build this! It doesn't work when there's a lot of aluminum oxide, the oil can't get past it and doesn't penetrate far enough, and oil/rust removers don't affect the oxide either way.
Q: So how did the carbon post get stuck?
A: I'm not 100% sure, but after talking to some people who deal with carbon frames a lot, it seems to be caused by water and dirt that get splashed onto the back of the seatpost by the rear wheel when riding in the rain, and this mixture slowly works itself down the seat tube as everything slightly flexes during pedaling and allows dirt to migrate into the gaps (this happens over weeks, not hours). This seems to happen a lot more often on aero-seatposts than round ones, possibly because of the way that they're clamped.
Q: Does it REALLY not damage the frames???
A: No, bike frames are sturdy, and the bottom bracket area takes all of your pedaling force + bodyweight when riding. It takes a LOT to damage a BB shell. None of the frames I worked on showed any signs of damage. I think if a post is stuck enough so that this device damages the frame, there was no hope for that frame anyway, so why not at least try?
Q: Does this work with every type of frame?
A: Almost, yes. For non-BSA Bottom Brackets, additional adapters have to be made, and frames with setback seattubes (which are rare) aren't ideal for mechanical reasons, but I can't think of many instances where this wouldn't work at all.
Q: Why don't you use heat on the posts/frames?
A: Aluminum expands almost twice as much as steel when heated, hence heating up the frame is pointless since it'll make the post more stuck. This is debatable, and some people claim the seattube heats up and expands first, but in my personal experience, heat doesn't seem to help.
Q: What's the center hole in the Clamp for?
A: This was a feature I included as a last-resort kind of solution. In case the head of the seatpost fails or is already gone, you can use those holes as a drill guide to drill a 6mm hole through the post and then insert a screw through the clamp+seatpost to keep the clamp from sliding up. With severely stuck posts I wouldn't rule out the possibility that the post might tear off at the hole though, hence why it's a "last resort".
Q: Can this get out Seatposts when they're cut off?
A: Possibly, if there is still enough sticking out to put the clamp on and use the option mentioned in the last question.
Q: What about that GT Frame?
A: Unfortunately the Post Extractor doesn't work for cases like that. Once it's gotten that far, there are very few options left. I'm determined to save that frame another time though - that probably won't make it to TH-cam, but I'll post about it on Insta if I do
Q: What about the Pulling Plate that got bent?
A: I revised the plans to use thicker materials for that part. I will probably make a thicker pulling plate for my extractor as well, or weld a permanent support to the current plate. That being said, the frame where it bent was the most stuck one I encountered so far.
Q: Where did the frames come from?
A: They came from a local Bike-Coop / Non Commercial Community Workshop I volunteer at. People donated them because they didn't have any use for them. With the posts removed, they will go back there so someone can hopefully use them!
Q: Why not use a motor/hydraulics?
A: I thought about it, but it seems rather pointless - the actual "turning the handle" part of the extraction only takes a minute or so, it wouldn't save much time or effort and just complicate things. It's not the kind of thing you use every day, making it slightly faster isn't worth the extra cost and complexity.
Q: How hard is it to pull out the posts? Is the device strong enough?
A: Actually not that hard. Even with the most extreme case I tried so far, it was still fairly managable to turn the handles. For the easier frames, you can turn it with one hand in the center - almost no resistance. I'm pretty much certain that the maximum force that can be generated with the current threaded spindle setup is also close to the maximum force that an average seatpost or frame can take. I think with the reinforced pulling plate, it's very unlikely that the device itself will be the limitation in extreme cases, I think most seatposts will fail in some way before you reach the maximum pulling force this can generate.
Q: Can you build me one/sell me one?
A: Unfortunately I'm not set up for production and/or sale for this kind of thing for a number of reasons.
Q: I live in your area (Hamburg), can you help me get my post out?
A: I can certainly try! You can DM me on Insta
I like all of your builds! The last item in the FAQ warms my heart! I hope you can help out some people with it!
nice build. working 12 years in a bikeshop as a mechanic, 99% of the case the heat trick actually works. the key is to let it cool down before trying to pull the tube out. while your expansion theory is true, key is to let shrink back the difference in expansion actually seems to help break the seized oxyde, trying to pull while hot doesn’t help. repeat expansion and retraction if doesn’t work the first time. don’t hesitate to go quite hot. for the rest 1% this is a good solution. nice video also
for the gt frame I see several options for solving the problem. 1 - make a plug, push it through the BB from below, and screw a long bolt on top and then pull it out with this device. 2 - make a spreading anchor with sharp edges, and pull it out with it. 3 - cut a thread in the seat tube and screw a large bolt. 4. dissolve aluminum with chemicals.
Just my thought on the bent pulling plate. Maybe make 2 of them and put them stack on top of each other with opposite placement? So they form complete circle instead of just one sided and if bolted together will provide even area of pulling. Great device and build👍. Thanks you for saving these frames.
How about pouring ice water through the aluminium tube ?
"...so I prefer to make things a bit more elaborate." Brother, that perfectly sums up why most of us watch.
I've worked in bike shops for 20 years as a mechanic. When the penetrating oil with mounting the post in the vice didn't work, we usually had to give up. This tool looks amazingly effective. High marks!
One trick we used at my shop in San Francisco was dropping dry ice inside the seat post while torching the frame. There happened to be a grocery nearby that sold the dry ice. It was quite effective, but we often still had to use the bench vice.
Thanks for confirming that sometimes the oil doesn't work, which is also my experience!
There's definitely many solutions other than building a device like this, but if you want to save a lot of frames this one probably ends up being the quickest one, as the time invested pays off more with each frame.
The timing is perfect, last month a seized seat post I was removing sheared in half…inside the seat tube. Had to get a reamer and progressively ream out the remaining of the steel seat tube… what a nice tool you have built
May I ask how it happened? I'm trying to collect as much information as I can about this problem
fun.. last month i had a aluminum seat post in a steel frame, and the bottom of the seat post had no through-hole so my first idea of cutting it with a sawzall didnt work.(AFTER trying to twist it with a pipe wrench which just crushed the post) i had to dissolve the aluminum post with caustic soda but that actually worked flawlessly and took only like 30 minutes of work to mix up solution and dump it in the frame a few times
New subscriber here. You totally got me at 34:02 I literally said "No! No! No!" out loud. Thanks for tricking us newbies. Awesome video.
Glad to hear it worked 😁
Really got me with the carbon frame in the vice!
I have successfully removed a few stuck seat posts using a home made slide-hammer. attached by drilling a M10 hole + bolt in the seat post and flat bars on each side connecting the slide-hammer. Thanks for the video.
I was looking for this comment before reposting something similar. Jolting it free via slide hammer is what I thought of as a first option. A portable version wouldn't be too difficult to come up with-well in theory anyway. 🤔 ;)
Slide hammers are such a beautifully non obvious tool, few people even know what they are. I wouldn't be surprised if a well designed slide hammer seat post extractor tool could be 95% as effect as Phil's extractor without stripping down the BB. Take the seat off the post, straddle the frame, and make an upward jerking motion with your hand between your legs, haha.
Phil, please please build this and find the answer for us!
Impressive result. I've dealt with this in the past and having my modest machine shop I refused to just give up. I ended up with a pretty simple jig I used to hold the frame in alignment with the mill spindle and then after cutting the post off square I drilled out the remnant using progressively larger drills. I eased up to the ID of the seat tube and left a thin wall of the seat post which was much weaker and I could then deform the post enough to get some penetrant to soak in and eventually with a little more cutting get it out. Bike is still in service today with a new post!
I think for one bike it would be a toss up on how the work compares. But for as many as you have saved yours is definitely the better solution.
Well done sir.
There should be one of these in every town.
Yep... I need it...
You're right, every town should have their own Phil Vandelay
@@idabble5880 we've failed, because we don't. 'do you want me to tighten up the brakes'.
For any seatposts that are snapped off, as with the GT, an alternative to corrosive chemicals is gallium. It will only affect the aluminium seatpost and the steel frame won't be affected.
My ritchey is goaning at the tought
Fantastic tool and I love that you give the ”unimportant” things some extra thought and care.
That’s where a lot of the joy and fun making things come from I think.
And on that note, I would add two smalll tubes through the posts at the lower mounting point.
Not because it’s really necessary. But because it’s the ”correct way engineering wise”. 😊
Great job!
Brilliant. That was a super satisfying video to watch.
Now I know how much force it actually takes to remove stuck seatpost. Way more than I expected. But amazing that you succeeded regardless.
Yep, it really is hard to get across just how stuck they can be. I expected it to take a lot of force but even I was surprised when it bent a 15mm steel plate
"I just want it to look pretty" is a sentiment responsible for increasing the time consumed by my projects by at least 50%.
Same! But the satisfaction of doing it "clean" is (almost) always worth it
Excellent tool Phil. Very well thought out and designed. What makes your channel so appealing. A great solution to rescuing frames that would otherwise be junked.
That's awesome, great tool. It is indeed very satisfying to watch!
After watching the instagram clips of these being freed, this video including the build was 110% satisfaction
This is so satisfying to watch those posts coming out. My 12 year old steel bike has its aluminium post well and truly stuck unfortunately. I get the bike regularly serviced but regretfully neglected this part.
This is a brilliant build, the gold standard of stick seat post pullers, bravo!
Einfach unfassbar! Dieser Werkstatt und du die Erklärungen toppen einfach alles!!!
Brilliant video Phil. Years ago a solution of 1:4 ratio water to caustic soda was the only way to remove an aluminium seatpost from a steel frame. The process involved cutting the top off the seatpost. Plugging any escape holes and pouring the solution into the seat tube, the solution would eat away at the aluminium 1mm per 24hrs, then tip out the old mix and refill with fresh solution, until the post could be removed a few days later. The only downside was you had to dispose of the waste solution at a specialist site, you couldn't just tip it down the drain!
Very satisfying to see these obstinate seat posts be put in their place with mechanical advantage
Oh wow, such a serious tool you made there. For someone who has the same issue with the stuck seatpost but doesn't want to go through the effort of making something like this: you can use a bunch of caustic soda solution and dissolve the seatpost inside the frame. Used that method once, but you'll need to repaint the frame afterwards, as caustic soda dissolves paint and rust as well.
After a years of rusted in seatubes(full of salt), creative shims I've seen my share of welded stuff nightmares,
This is a great tool, if you've run out of penetrants, heat, hopelessly long levers and expletives. Much respect. A lot to be said for anodised seat tubes and lithium grease, don't be stingy!!!
I could watch this all day long.
This tool will certainly save many many bike frames from the trash. Great work! 👍
As someone who had to dissolve out an old alloy seatpost with caustic soda, I applaud this marvel of perfectionist-grade workshop tool making :)
Another beautifully made device 😍
I have removed seized seat post, also from carbon frames, using a reciprocal saw, cutting down the inside of the tube. Also works on seized stems.
You can get the GT's post out using this method.
Needless to say - One needs to be precise when using this method, which is something you excel in 😊
How do you avoid cutting into the frame though?
Thank you for saving so many bikes Phil!
Great work, Phil. Immensely satisfying to see an immovable object meet irresistible force!
34:00 😂😂😂 You got me!
Me too
I got one out one day with a combination of clamps forcing the seat post out of the frame, as much dry ice as I could fit inside the seat post and hot water being poured over the frame. Worked eventually!
Thank you for making this tool and video. You scratched multiple itches in one go.
awesome video. I saw a video of someone who made the same thing with a car jack instead of turning a handle. I thought the jack made a lot of sense and turning a handle wouldn't work very well, until I saw yours. seems like turning a handle works fine. thanks for sharing your video, it was fun to watch.
100 thumbs up Phil, especially for saving the carbon frame, cheers from Vancouver Canada
@PhilVandelay, please try making a compact slide-hammer version of this tool and see how effective that is vs your extractor. That could be a much more compact and accessible tool, maybe even commercially viable.
After having dealt with a stuck seat post that took me like 3 weeks to take out, this is extremely satisfying to watch
Brilliant in its simplicity!!! 😁 Thanks for showing me another tool I can add to my arsenal 😅, due to the lack of a lathe I will have to approach a few things differently but I think I can do it without any problem. Greetings from Poland!
There is a product that I think would help for this problem. It’s called “Corrosion Block”. It was originally developed to clean low voltage electrical connectors. When sprayed on a corroded connector, it foams up like a rootbeer float, completely dissolving the corrosion. As the foam settles down the connector is left with a thin film of hydrophobic oil. It really is a fantastic product. In the US, it can be bought from West Marine. Cheers.
It really does look like something Park Tool would make with those handles, ah a haaa! I'm very glad that you released plans, even though I may never make one. It might be a fun little video to see how much force you can pull using a force gauge. I suspect it is quite a lot, and so smooth!
I use an air hammer to extract seatposts, it works fairly well but it's also loud as hell, and takes forever to get the post out once it starts moving, I got a dropper post out with it but it will absolutely destroy the seatpost. This tool is so much better.
I did the hole drilling. And heat. And lots of WD-40. My old frame held up but by gosh this tool would have saved hours of headaches
I was quite surprised that it worked. I'd have guessed you'll damage the frame or the seatpost before you can pull them out. Well done!
would be interested to see a load cell in there, maybe at the bottom bracket, just so you could see how much force you're putting into the seat post!
Great video, great build,
thanks for taking the time to create, edit, and share
Satisfying in the extreme. I mean, Excalibur satisfying!
Nice work!
I used the same idea with using the bicycle frame as the lever, to unscrew stuck bottom brackets.
For stuck bottom brackets a proper impact driver works very well. We got an automotive grade one for my local non profit bike shop (many shitty rusty bikes), manages over 500NM, combined with a 1/2" drive BB tool we've managed to save many frames where even the vice + frame as lever attempt was hopeless!
The rattling and vibrations caused by the impact driver seems to help break the corrosion free while causing much less damage than a massive lever would.
I love this build! I lost my Salsa touring frame to this exact problem last year and ended up buying a new bike because none of my local shops do these extractions. But not before trying a number of methods which all inflicted their own special damage - the story as you called it. Ultimately I didn’t make any progress despite hours of hard eggort, but I did buy some Lye to try to melt the aluminum out some day.
Galium or ream it out if nothing else works?
i tried lye in a steel frame with a stuck aluminum post for the first time last month. it worked perfectly and i was able to save a customers frame. the paint didnt get ruined because i set it up in a way where any overflow from bubbling would come up the seat tube, hit a piece of old inner tube and drip into a bucket. that caused 95% of the lye mixture to not touch the frame, but some still got on the frame every once in a while. the important part is to rinse it off with water as soon as possible.
also the other part which you must take into account is all the drain holes on the bike. you must plug all of them. i used an old inner tube, cut it into strips, and when you wrap those strips around the frame tubes tightly they will plug the hole with an air tight seal. zip tie them in place with 1 zip tie on each side of hole. One other trick with an inner tube that i used is to cut it in half so you have a long tube. tie a tight knot on each end of the tube (spray the knot with alchohol before tightening to get it air tight), and then you can push the tube into any hole such as: headset, seat tube, bottom bracket, and inflate the tube. that will create an air tight seal also. the shorter the tube the more sealing pressure you can get.
total i used about 1 pound of lye, (mixed up about .25 pounds and dumped it in 4 times over the span of 12 hours) but the first time i checked on the seat post it was completely gone, not a trace was left
Aside from being excellent entertainment and educational content, this video also served a third admirable purpose as a public service announcement, scaring me into triple checking that all my bikes have adequately greased seatposts!
nice job on the build!
for the GT frame, you could use a pair of sturdy vice grips to grab the little piece sticking into the centre.
Nice idea.. meticulous execution.. excellent outcome. Thanks for sharing.👍
Oh bro ,sooo satisfying also watching ur ideas, plans and finally reall projects .
As i appreciate the perfectionism in the lil details ❤!
Really good video, especially for those who deal with bicycle repair regularly!
Clamping force on a carbon fibre frame... I wish Stockton Rush knew.
I´m not trying to make a cheap joke about this horrendous accident, but knowing the limit of carbon fibre (or any other material for that matter) is essential.
that was WAY too satisfying to watch !
I restored an old steelie Tandem which had a stuck alloy seatpost for the stoker, and that was a real fight. i finally gave out, cut it flush, and started drilling it out with a step 1" step bit that keeping itself pretty well centered, using a bunch of 1/4" extension bits, and lots of lube...
When i was done with the drilling, i was able to destroy the remaining sleeve of alloy with a screwdriver, and i now use 22.2mm steel seatpost with a plastic shim that was made on the lathe to go from 25.4 to 22.2mm :)
Sounds like quite the fight! I fear that's what it'll come down to with the GT frame as well which I still want to save. Maybe I'll try the sawblade method (using a hacksaw blade from inside to slowly cut it in half)
@@PhilVandelay I've used the hacksaw blade method in the past, it's slow but it does work. I did 3 cuts then peeled the remains out.
@@PhilVandelay
I use a fine long blade on a reciprocal saw. Works well and does not take long to do. Lubricating the blade.
Got a very corroded aluminium seat post out of a carbon frame. Also works well on seized stems.
Love your work 👍🏽
@@PhilVandelay Sadly, i had way too much length of seatpost to cut to do anything with an hacksaw...
I had to drill on like 250mm... :)
Good luck with yours !
amazing. this video was life-changing and heart-warming.
Nicely engineered Phil, the frame whisperer!
Very elaborate solution.
My take is a similar clamp to yours, but i milled a hex into it. Once this thing is pinned/clamped to a seatpost i use a pneumatic impact gun to just shatter the oxide layer. It usually takes 10s and then you can simply pull it out.
Interesting! The impact doesn't make the clamp slip?
Great work! Those stuck seat posts looked like nightmares after you removed them.
Moral of the story, service your bikes regularly, use appropriate assembly lubes or pastes. Proper maintenance prevents unnecessary waste.
Absolutely!
Truly awesome build! I can imagine a versiob using a hydraulic bottle jack or a scissor jack , too.
and all this time I mostly figured greasing seat tubes was to help avoid creaks and noises. I generally dont grease mine, but I also keep them in my garage, ride weekly, and maintain my stable of bicycles well, so this has never truly become a problem for me before.
Same here, I wrench on my bikes so much I've never had this occur on one of my bikes. But I've seen and heard about it MANY times among friends, it's more common than you'd think
As a kid, I stuck a way too big seatpost in my bike, and it was very stuck. Dad had to heat up the frame with a blow torch and then used a pipe wrench to remove it.
Brilliant solution to an age old problem!
Very nice design, Phil. As for custom shapes, like the triangular post, I'd recommend to use a material called Polymorph. It's a thermoplastic that becomes moldable at 60°C. It doesn't stick and it's certainly hard enough for friction forces. But certainly not as hard as POM-C. Anyways thanks for sharing. I'll share the video with a friend who runs a bicycle workshop. Maybe he can use it.
Amazing build this one! really enjoyed it. I might build one myself.
About your Gt i had success removing something like that with soda (drain cleaner) , I saved a cinelli once with this technique. If the frame it's steel and the post it's alloy , you can seal the frame at the bb and fill the vertical tube with soda water with high concentration, keep changing the solution every day for as long it takes. Soda will eat away the alloy till it becames powder. It might take 5 days to a week but works.
Yeah a friend of mine actually did this and says it worked too. I'll probably try something like that when I have the time
Nice build and the post removal is a very satisfying process.
Excellent job, well done, so satisfying video. 👏👏👏
Great design, build, and results!
Very impressive. Well thought out. I used to have access to a real machine shop through work. The guys there taught me how to use a lathe and a milling machine. I designed almost all my own test equipment and learned a lot when the shop said they couldn't make that so I had to redesign with manufacturing in mind. The old guys in the machine shop were master machinists and I learned a great deal from them. I really miss not having access to a metal lathe and mill with all the tooling to make stuff. Perhaps you should licence this device to Park Tool...
I've seen somebody, but I can't find the video, if you put a dead center between the live center and your part, you indicate the dead center and bingo. Love your work!, cheers from Buenos Aires!
It's a common technique. Quinn from Blondihacks often demonstrates this.
@Blondihacks
Yeah that's a great technique if you want it to be more accurate
I like the 'battery mod' on the angle finder, I have a few old formerly rechargable bike lights with the same mod that i use to see a bit better on my drill press
Yeah those things suck the batteries dry even when turned off, very annoying
For that cool GT frame, you can probably use Gallium to soften the remnants of the aluminum post thats in there, or if you want to do something a little bit more standard, try getting some JB weld (or similar metal epoxy) and gluing another tube inside of it, and then using that to pull the remnants of that tube out. or use a wedge clamp, like a gooseneck stem. GT frames are so cool.
This makes me so happy - so cool, awesome work!
What a fantastic build. I wish you had been here in Frankfurt with it a few years ago, when I bought a Peugeot with a stuck post! Ah well. Anyway top work and best of luck with your future projects.
Cool build 👍. I had no idea such a problem existed.
Connecting aluminum with steel, happens often in the electrical world. So to prevent the galvanic reaction that takes place, they use a specific chemical grease. I’d suggest to get a tube of this, instead of simple grease, from the electrical area of any hardware store.
Friends don't let friends buy cheap taps. Oh and great video ;).
Amazing as always Phil, thank you 🙏🏾
Bravo! Super professional!
For a seatpost stuck in an alloy frame I was advised to use ammonia. I made a cup from Blu-Tack around the joint and poured in a bit of ammonia every day. After a few days the seatpost came out easily.
Who’d have thought that dissimilar metals corroding together was a thing eh? (Only joking) Good tool for fixing these things, I’m sure that you’ll get loads of use out of it! BTW, I much prefer watching you welding than hearing about sponsors, so thanks for the chapters ! ;-)
Sehr gute Idee, ich habe bis jetzt 2x die Alusattelstütze mit einem Metallsägeblatt von Hand durch gesägt ohne den Rahmen zu erwischen, geht auch, aber langwierig. 👍
Inheritance machining needs this chamfering tool
Cannot wait for the powered version, amazing work !!! ;-)
I once extracted a stuck seatpost from a recovered bicycle by clamping something onto it and then hammering for about 20 to 30 hours. I'm sure my neighbours were delighted. No frame damage.
I worked in bike shops for years and we used to get frames like that GT in all the time with the seat post chewed out like that. The only way we ever got them out was to put a hacksaw blade into some vise grips and slowly saw thru the seatpost and pull it out in sections. Slow, painful and expensive.
Yeah there's also the chemical solution many suggested here, but at that point no matter which route you take, it's gonna require patience and will be a pain in the butt
Get a Patten # Quick. You made an awesome tool. Every bike shop should have one. Genius
Jeez! I need one of those!!
To prevent the collar from slipping on the seat post you can make the shims slightly oversized and insert a 600-1000 grit sandpaper folded in half (such taht the grit is in contact with both the collar and the seatpost - although you can probably get away with one sided only if you squeze hard enough). This improves the grip a lot compared to metal on metal. Its the same trick that trains and trams use to increse the grip between the wheels and railtracks.
Great idea, I might try that if I come across one without a head
I'm not even that interested in bikes, but i can't help but watch these videos
Great bit of work.
Regarding the pulling plate bending, the bolt on bridge is clever, but not always feasible. An alternative would be welding a permanent bridge to the top of the closed side, where it won't interfere with the frame even at minimal seatpost insertion.
Or just bolt your existing plate to the top, rather than the underside.
You have gained the title “The Seat Post Whisperer”!
well done, this is the answer !!
Thanks!
Ah yes, the old machinist nursery ryhme: How much chuck can a three-jaw chuck when chucked in another chuck 😉. Such fond childhood memories.
So lesson of the day; don't get a blue frame? 😂
Well, based on my small dataset, the correlation is clear! Blue frames eat up seatposts
That was really good.
Galvanic corrosion is easy to tackle but not easy to notice, since not many people realize it, even it is quit common around us. Take car battery contact as example, the contact should apply dielectric grease to prevent galvanic corrosion.
Amazing work!
Didn't work on an alloy post stuck in a steel Kona frame. It actually began to distort the machine. I ended up sawing the post out from inside with a long saw blade and even then it was a huge effort to get it out.
That's a busy tool !!!
Anyone willing to build one puller of all pullers, Yorkshire Bike mechanic has plans on their website. Nice build Philip.
What a cool build! Seeing those posts leave the frames was about as satisfying as taking a huge dump 😆 (sorry!)
Also, I almost lost my new molar filling when you put the carbon Fram in the vise! Good one!