Josephine! - Restoring a Joe Waugh ladies tourer

Thanks for all the suggestions, particularly Purple Mist, who sent me an excellent PM about how to accuire surgical needles for getting the dismantling chemicals down into the gaps.

I'm still convinced that Sheldon's trick of sawing it will work if I can just get a blade in there, which means I either need to get a super-thin saw, or I need to make the hollow of the seat post wider. Or both.

Drilling it presents the following problems:
-Finding a long enough / thick enough drill bit
-Making sure the drill is perfectly straight to avoid damaging the frame.

However:

-I don't actually *need *to drill it all the way down. I need to put in a new post, and therefore need to remove enough of the old post to allow for the minumin insertion of the new one. So about 12cm. I figure if I aim to get 15cm out, then even the twisted off bits won't get in the way (that's how I'm planning on getting them out: not rocket science, but if the chopstick method won't work because the bits twist off, then maybe I can use this to my advantage).
-If I file it, then the scaryness of drilling is decreased, no? It will take longer, but at least with it being so slow there is far more control over stopping before I hit the frame. It shouldn't be too hard to find a file that can reach into the hole. Something like this, for example:

Then I can get one of these in:

...and continue with the Sheldon way.

In the meantime, a confession: I didn't really put vinegar in there, just Caustic soda. (Balsamic vinegar is for salads).. I did put some plusgas in there for phase II, once the CS had been tipped out. The neighbour who helped me swears by it.

I won't be working on this for another couple of days, but look out for an update.