Removing Glue to Re-Glue

[denis tuomey]

I have a 8 sided pedastal that a fried wants me to re-glue, about 1/2 of the pieces have come apart. A light hammer tap knocked the rest of them apart. The glue surfaces had some kind of white looking glue on them. I have tried DNA, and Acetone to remove the glue, they didnt touch it:eek:. The best was a orange colored paint stripper but even that doesnt get it all. After the stripper and a wipe w/acetone I used 80gt. paper which quickly clogs up. This was made in Tiawan, anyone know of a good glue remover? At present I dont think all the glue is removed, would Titebond work for re-glueing or would an epoxy be a better choice???

[Jim Matthews]

Glue works best between wooden surfaces, as the crosslinking ties the cell structures together.
Have you tried a small paint scraper? If you shear off a few thousandths of material on each side of the joint any glue will have a better chance to work.

If it was my project, I would look to put in some glue blocks on the inside of the hollow structure, to provide mechanical stability in addition to the long grain glue joints.

[joe milana]

Here's a good read on the topic:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?21822-Are-Your-Glue-Joints-Repairable

[sheldon pettit]

In conservation we use a mixture of acetic acid [white vinegar] and warm water, this is then gelled with agar agar or another like the cellulosic ethers. The idea is to brake down the polarity of the substance and it's hydrogen bonds. From your description it is most likely a PVA glue and this will work though it may take a few applications to rid it all. You will see it turns into a gooey mess as it dissolves the glue and can be then removed with water once it has. Be sure to neutralize with borax or tsp to insure no acid activity is still present, let dry 48 hours and re-glue with hide glue.

[Chris Padilla]

Try De-Glue on the glue. It might well be exactly what Sheldon above describes as it does kinda smell like vinegar.

[Bob Wingard]

+1 on the De-GLue GOO ... works great !!

[sheldon pettit]

Actually, the person who came out with de-glue goo or other, received that information from a former employer of mine, also a conservator, who then got upset for not doing it himself. Which i quickly reminded him that it was not "his formula" to begin with, but the societies!! :)

[Chris Padilla]

Actually, the person who came out with de-glue goo or other, received that information from a former employer of mine, also a conservator, who then got upset for not doing it himself. Which i quickly reminded him that it was not "his formula" to begin with, but the societies!! :)

Cool stuff! I don't recall neutralizing the De-Glue from the surface when I used it but I'll keep that in mind for the future.

[sheldon pettit]

Always a very good idea, especially if you intend to use the same or other like glues to join the surfaces again [hide/pva/etc.] better to have a neutral surface[s] than have the acid react with the new [water containing] glue, which will then fail early on.