is cutting my monster aluminum seat post down with a hacksaw the preferred method to shorten it? should i sand down the new bottom of the post or anything before putting it back down into my seat tube?
We have a very small home bike business, so my husband builds a lot of bikes. He used to use an air powered cutter, but found that a handheld hacksaw works much better and is quicker. He then uses the grinder to smooth off the new cut edge, but mostly just to get the big burrs off, not for a finish per se. Then just grease the post before inserting into the seat tube. Hope that helps.
If you have a $10 tubing cutter (or want an excuse to buy one) that will give you a cleaner, faster cut. Probably won’t even have to debur it.
I second the tubing cutter, makes a very straight cut as well, I use it all the time for cutting steere tubes, shortening aerobar extensions, etc. Best 10 dollars I ever spent!