One of those day.......Help!

[Dick Parr]

Did ya ever have one of those days when you should have stayed in bed? Today is one of them fo me. :(

Does anyone know how to remove epoxy foam from wood, without damaging the wood or finish? Is there anything that will dissolve the foam? I grabbed the wrong glue when adding the grapes to the top of this bubinga stopper. I had the Gem Tack, CA glue and Epoxy sitting on the work bench and was going to get the Gem Tack to glue with when a neighbor came in and started talking. Not paying attention I grabbed the epoxy instead and didn't even think about it until I went back to get the stopper to show the wife and, SURPRISE! :eek:

I would hate to start over, but will if there is no way to remove the foam without destroying the stopper.

Thanks for any help.

[Chris Padilla]

I'm not sure epoxy can be removed easily...it is tough, tough stuff and one of the strongest adhesives on the planet! Can you try scraping, uh, grinding, it off at all?

I hope I'm wrong, Dick, and I learn something from your post!

Are you sure it is epoxy? Poly glue tends to foam but I'm not sure I've ever seen epoxy foam like that in your picture.

[Lee Schierer]

I have to agree that the glue looks like polyurethane to me. Since both parts appear to have finish on them, if the glue hasn't hardened and the foam is still soft, it should peal off pretty easy if you get it before it sets hard. I think the containers for poly glue say to clean up with mineral spirits before it sets up.

Once it sets, sandpaper or dynamite is the only way to remove the glue.

[Tom LaRussa]

Did ya ever have one of those days when you should have stayed in bed? Today is one of them fo me. :(

Does anyone know how to remove epoxy foam from wood, without damaging the wood or finish? Is there anything that will dissolve the foam? I grabbed the wrong glue when adding the grapes to the top of this bubinga stopper. I had the Gem Tack, CA glue and Epoxy sitting on the work bench and was going to get the Gem Tack to glue with when a neighbor came in and started talking. Not paying attention I grabbed the epoxy instead and didn't even think about it until I went back to get the stopper to show the wife and, SURPRISE! :eek:

I would hate to start over, but will if there is no way to remove the foam without destroying the stopper.

Thanks for any help.
Dick,

I agree with Chris. That looks like Poly to me as well. :(

More bad news. Here is a quote from Titebond regarding poly adhesives:


Polyurethane based products can be removed with mineral spirits before they have cured, and mechanical scraping or abrasion after full cure. http://www.titebond.com/FaqTB.asp (http://www.titebond.com/FaqTB.asp) :mad:

On the other hand, I also have found a comment (on a different but somewhat related subject) -- which sort of implies that denatured alcohol, mineral spirits, and/or acetone may be of some help.


As you may know, acetone; along with denatured alcohol and mineral spirits is a solvent for polyurethane adhesives. They are very useful in cleaning up excess adhesive from joints before the adhesive has cured as well as, removing the adhesive from the skin and other surfaces. http://www.woodworking.org/WC/GArchive98/4_29ringstuck.html (http://www.woodworking.org/WC/GArchive98/4_29ringstuck.html) :o

So, putting all of this together, here is a half-baked suggestion on how to go:

[1] Scrape off as much foam as you can mechanically.

[2] Use a stiff brush along with one of the three solvents mentioned above to attempt to remove the remaining junk.

GOOD LUCK!

Tom

[Dan Stuewe]

According to my friends who helped glue up 20 pen blanks for the Freedom Pen Project nail polish remover works well to remove poly from skin. (guess I should have suggested they wear gloves when doing this for me :rolleyes: )

[Dick Parr]

Thanks everyone. You are all right.

I told ya I was brain dead today. :( It is Titebond polyurethane glue. I don't know where I got epoxy from. :o

I was able to peal most of it off. I will go out and turn it upside down and try some MEK or something with a little brush.

By the time I'm done with the MEK, it will be time to go to bed. :rolleyes:

Thanks again

[Jim Becker]

If you use the MEK, Dick...do it outside and wear a respirator. Nasty stuff.

[Dick Parr]

Thanks again everyone. :)

Some Acetone and a little brush got the rest of the poly glue off. :D Now it looks like when she gave it to me. :cool:

[Kevin Gerstenecker]

Nice save Dick..............it looks great now. From the pictures, I can't even tell the glue was there. Just an idea for ya................maybe you can seperate the glue bottles a little on the shelf so this calamity doesn't happen again. "Brain Fade" just happens...............we all get it at one time or another. Everything is looking good now! ;)

[Dick Parr]

Thanks Kevin, they are already on opposite sides of the shop. :p :D

That's what I get for rearranging the shop the other day. :confused:

[Chris Padilla]

BTW, Dick, that is a great little stopper you have there...very nice and I love the detailed ornament on top...pretty cool. Glad you got your problem solved!

[Dick Parr]

Tyler, before I got it fixed I was going to tell her it is suppose to be Champaign bubbles. :D

[Chris Padilla]

I checked Joe Myers' acronym list in the support forum but I'll be darned if I can figure out what MEK stands for! I'll know I'll kick myself when someone reveals the answer so go ahead and make me feel like a doofus! :)

[Bruce Page]

If you use the MEK, Dick...do it outside and wear a respirator. Nasty stuff.Good advise - they banned the stuff where I work.

[Bruce Page]

I checked Joe Myers' acronym list in the support forum but I'll be darned if I can figure out what MEK stands for! I'll know I'll kick myself when someone reveals the answer so go ahead and make me feel like a doofus! :)Chris, MEK stands for Methyl Ethyl Ketone.

P.s. Rich & Chris, thanks for the new avatar, I like it!

[Chris Padilla]

Ahhhhh!!!! That is exactly what I thought...I still remember a fair amount of chemistry from college....

[Dick Parr]

I have been toting this last little bit of MEK around for about 10 years. This was my last job with it. Not enough left to put the cover back on. This was the clean all in the aviation world for a long time. ;) Bottles of it sitting everywhere. The stuff they replaced it with isn't much better for ya. You should try working inside a wing with this stuff. :eek: Or worse yet someone else working with it and spilling it all over. :eek: It's hard to get out of the wing fast enough. :D

[Jim Becker]

MEK, amongst other things, is the solvent you use to "weld" Lexan and other plastic materials together.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Nice recovery Dick! Beautiful stopper! I was sure the world was flat....now I'm starting to have some doubts!.......