Seat post stuck for 3 days, hot water and cold spray fixed it in 4 minutes

Last month a guy brought in an old Schwinn from the 70s with a seat post stuck solid. I tried every trick I knew, the torch, the penetrating oil, even the pipe wrench with a cheater bar. After three days of soaking and fighting, a retired mechanic from Ohio told me to pour hot water down the seat tube and then immediately spray cold water on the post itself. The expansion and contraction popped it loose in about four minutes. Cost me nothing but the effort of boiling a kettle. I've done it on two more bikes since then and it worked both times. Has anyone else used this heat and cold method, or do you stick with the more aggressive tools?

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