Fixing a burr inside my seat tube

[David Johnson]

Was trying to find a seat post from my junk pile to fit my Santana Tandem,
because my daughter doesn't like my wife's Terry seat. Found one without
a size marked that went in the seat tube without much effort, but when I
tried to pull it out, it refused. I finally got it out with a lot of lube
and effort, but now the original doesn't want to go in more than a few
inches, and by the scratches on the seat post, it's obvious that there is
a burr or something inside the seat tube just past the reach of my
fingers. How do I get rid of this without damaging my frame?

I've thought of an automobile brake cylinder hone if it will fit. For the
non-auto mechanics, that is 3 fine abrasive stones on spring-loaded arms
that is attached to a drill.

 

[Werehatrack]

On Sun, 11 Jul 2004 12:13:56 -0400, David Johnson
<[email protected]> wrote:

>... but now the original doesn't want to go in more than a few
>inches, and by the scratches on the seat post, it's obvious that there is
>a burr or something inside the seat tube just past the reach of my
>fingers. How do I get rid of this without damaging my frame?
>
>I've thought of an automobile brake cylinder hone if it will fit. For the
>non-auto mechanics, that is 3 fine abrasive stones on spring-loaded arms
>that is attached to a drill.

A three-stone brake hone will probably fit unless the seat tube is
under 25mm ID. If that's the case, use a two-stone hone instead;
they'll compress to fit a 17mm cylinder.

Before you get too carried away, take a peek down into the tube with a
small flashlight. It may be that your offender is a piece of loose
(but sharp) junk that can be swabbed out with a rag on the end of some
coathanger wire. If the seat tube is aluminum, soak the rag in
ammonia to get the oxides out of the tube while you're at it.


--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Surrealism is a pectinated ranzel.

 

[David Johnson]

On Sun, 11 Jul 2004 17:58:26 +0000, Werehatrack wrote:

>
> Before you get too carried away, take a peek down into the tube with a
> small flashlight. It may be that your offender is a piece of loose
> (but sharp) junk that can be swabbed out with a rag on the end of some
> coathanger wire. If the seat tube is aluminum, soak the rag in
> ammonia to get the oxides out of the tube while you're at it.

I've swabbed the seat tube out with a chunk of towel and a stick, that
didn't help. Frame is steel. I've tried to look inside with a flashlight
and haven't seen anything obvious, I'll try again before I get the hone.

 

[David Johnson]

On Sun, 11 Jul 2004 17:58:26 +0000, Werehatrack wrote:

> A three-stone brake hone will probably fit unless the seat tube is
> under 25mm ID. If that's the case, use a two-stone hone instead;
> they'll compress to fit a 17mm cylinder.
>
AutoZone had both 2 and 3 that would fit my seat tube, the 2 was cheaper,
and I'm cheap, so...

> Before you get too carried away, take a peek down into the tube with a
> small flashlight. It may be that your offender is a piece of loose
> (but sharp) junk that can be swabbed out with a rag on the end of some
> coathanger wire. If the seat tube is aluminum, soak the rag in
> ammonia to get the oxides out of the tube while you're at it.

It probably was a chunk of something wedged in by the steel seat tube I
was checking out, but I couldn't see it with a flashlight, and the rag
didn't take care of it. The hone took care of it. In fact, it took longer
to take the hone out of it's blister pack than it took to hone my seat
tube back into working order. About 15 seconds with the hone.

 

[Werehatrack]

On Sun, 11 Jul 2004 18:37:31 -0400, David Johnson
<[email protected]> wrote:

>It probably was a chunk of something wedged in by the steel seat tube I
>was checking out, but I couldn't see it with a flashlight, and the rag
>didn't take care of it. The hone took care of it. In fact, it took longer
>to take the hone out of it's blister pack than it took to hone my seat
>tube back into working order. About 15 seconds with the hone.

It worked; that's what matters. It can be amazing how much of a
difference knocking off a visually imperceptible obstruction can make
in the fit of telescoping tubing.
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Surrealism is a pectinated ranzel.