A friend dropped by this evening with his mid-90's Diamond Back WCF Vertex – the one with carbon tubes bonded into steel frames. Lovely frame. Only it has the original bottom bracket, and we were intending on fitting some new hollowtech cranks and bb. Cranks came off fine, which gave me hope. However the BB is in the stubbornly. First resort of pipe on end of spanner failed,then the old mechanic's trick of bb tool in vice then twist also failed – the vice broke! A very cheap vice, but it broke nonetheless, that thing is in there tight. Cups and frame are steel. Any bright ideas?

plusgas, new vice, try again 🙂

fill the shell with plusgas (via seat tube) and leave to penetrate overnight, then vice it out.

Snapped a Clarke vice doing exactly the same, fitted it into a 6" Record vice (ask your local garage if you can use theirs), and with a good bit of grunt it came out without any more breakages.

Heat – kettle of boiling water.

New vice, MTFU!

fill the shell with plusgas (via seat tube) and leave to penetrate overnight, then vice it out.
2nd'ed
If you've got carbon tubes there don't use heat, well nothing hotter than a kettle. You don't know whats bonding the tubes in.

New vice, MTFU!

Helpful Daniel! 😯