Spokes "frozen" in hub

[jbell]

Finished the rebuild on my '78 G5 forks.  Went with FAC dampers and glad I did.  What a difference in construction from the factory dampers.  Now redoing the front wheel.  Standard 40 spoke on Borrani rim.  The nipples came off after an overnight soaking in Liquid Wrench but the spokes are "frozen" in the hub, every single one of them.  Tried soaking in a vinegar water mix for about an hour to remove some of the corrosion but still no go.  I've been reinstalling a nipple and trying to tap out the spoke to no success.  Next I'll try heat.  Would a heat gun work?  I'm hesitant to use real fire.  Or any other suggestions? 

[canuck750]

I have used a propane torch as well as a heat gun. Wave the propane tip back and forth over the hub, thread a nipple back over the end of the spoke and tap the nipple lightly, the spoke will brake free of the hub.

Cheers

Jim

[JoeW]

I usually soak the hub for a couple of days before I try to break down a wheel. It's a little late for you now but, as I loosen each spoke, I back it off a couple millimeters and then, I use a brass punch at drive the nipple and spoke towards the hub, this will break the spoke loose from the hub. I don't beat on them, if the spoke doesn't move with one or two good whacks I move on. The stubborn ones I'll go at with a little heat. Good luck!

[Kiwi_Roy]

I have just been there and done that, most of the stainless spokes came out quite easily with an Aluminium drift. For the tough ones I drilled a hole about 3" deep in a piece of Al. flat bar, to slip over the spoke, with the extra support a few taps is all it took. No damage to the thread.

The steel spokes I got out by grabbing with a pair of vice grips and wiggling back and forth until they broke free, I will replace those anyway.

[jbell]

The heat gun didn't work.  I'll try a prolonged soaking before I go to the propane torch.  I'm trying to save the spokes, I'd save the corrosion if I had a use for it.  Thanks for the tips and advice. 

[jbell]

A combination of things worked.  I think my overnight soaking with Liquid Wrench was pointless.  What did work was application of heat with an acetylene torch to the area around the spoke I was working on till it reached over 500 F, the propane torch was too slow.  Then using an aluminum bar with a spoke sized hole drilled in one end about 3" deep and pounding on the other end.  Some spokes required two heatings before coming out.  I did lose three spokes till I figured things out, not enough heat and not drilling my aluminum bar deep enough.  Once you get going, it takes about 30-40 seconds per spoke.  If you have two people, one heating and one beating, it would really go fast. I used a HF non-contact thermometer to measure the hub temperature.  Thanks to all the suggestions I received.

[nc43bsa]

After using the above mentioned methods on a Convert front hub (and bending a couple of spokes into S's) I brought out my air hammer.  It made quick work out of the remaining spokes. 

[jbell]

Air hammer............. now I have a backup plan.   ;-T