the inimitable sheldon brown describes just such a tool here
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/
galen pewtherer san francisco, ca
On Thu, 03 Mar 2005 19:27:13 -0500, HM & SS Sachs <sachs@erols.com> wrote:
> I don't remember where I got the idea, but it is not originally mine. But, Pete Rutledge and I had fine success with a cheap fixed cup tool. The design is not original, but works effectively and costs <$5. It's just a chunk of 1/2" fine thread rod, some washers, and a few matching nuts. 12 mm. Metric ought to do fine, too. Functionally, mine consists of 2 nuts separated by a piece of pipe or a stack of washers, so the nuts clamp down right smartly. Ideally the stack would be about 65 - 67 mm from outer edge of one nut to outer edge of the other. Leave maybe an inch (2.5 cm) of threaded end sticking out the other end. Now, how to use. Insert the stack into the fixed cup, after degreasing it and mounting a stout washer between the hex nut face and the inner flat part of the fixed cup. From the outside, slip on another stout washer, and thread down the nut. Tighten things up real well. If the Fixed cup threading is Left-hand (English or Swiss), trying to tighten the outer hex nut tries to remove the fixed cup. If the cup is Right-hand (French, Italian), put the wrench on the other end and tightening will again try to remove the fixed cup. Two hints: trust me when I say to degrease the cup first. And, you will discover that you have to use a wrench on each end sometimes, to keep trying to tighten the assembly against the fixed cup: the washers may be trying to discover new ways to be flat.
>
> your mileage may vary.
>
> harvey sachs
> mcLean va
>
> _______________________________________________
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-galen