Separation

[Alan East]

loml brought home a small round table that she wants to refinish. Problem is it has a round piece of marble attached to the top which is off center. My assignment, should i choose to accept it or not, is to remove the 10" round 3/4" thick piece of marble from the 12" round 3/4" thick wood top without damaging either piece beyond being able to be refinished. I am also to mount the top on a lazy susan. I cannot see what was used to attach the two (contact cement?) Anyone got a suggestion about how to separate the two? Thanks reading the post.

--Alan

[Brian Kerley]

You could try running a heat gun and putty knife around the edges. The heat gun might loosen up whatever glue is there.

[John Eaton]

If it's a modern piece, stone is often attached with clear silicone. When you heat it up it'll smell vinegary.

-- John

[J. Z. Guest]

Alan, it seems like it'd be much easier to remove the border, save the marble, and start from scratch. Women always have these ideas of what they want done without any idea of the execution. (if it is even possible)

My policy with women-demanded projects is that I'll do it, but it's going to be done my way. If she insists on micro-managing, bring her right into it, down to the ugly stuff. She'll soon give up and trust your judgement. ;)

[Richard M. Wolfe]

Alan, I'll leave it up to you to try to find a way to separate the two. The primary problem is going to be if glue (whatever kind) has been smeared across the entire marble bottom which will make it awfully hard to get loose. Just don't pry too hard or 'pop' goes the marble.

My suggestion (and you can tell her you got this from a (chuckle,chuckle) :rolleyes:expert:rolleyes:) would be to take the top off and use a bandsaw to cut within an eigth inch or so of the marble and use a pattern cutting bit to take it flush to the marble. The way I read it is that the marble top is to be put on a lazy susan. If so, the marble should probably have a backer on it anyway to attach to the lazy susan....it would have to be glued down otherwise. Make note of what the wood is and save scraps to match the finish if you rebuild a top.

[Alan East]

thanks for the responses guys - we have successful separation! I hadn't looked at the project in detail and it turned out not to be a problem. Whoever put the top on hadn't done a proper job glueing in addition to poor centering. There was enough of a gap to get a broad tipped screwdriver in. The two separated with a exploratory "how tight is this" twist. They had used some kind of black stuff that looks like undercoating. I don't recognize it anyway. Thanks a lot for the responses.

--Alan

[Vernon Taylor]

Now is the TIME to tell her you nees a Fein Multimaster to scrape that nasty black stuff off the marble.:)

[Peter Quinn]

That black stuff could be toxic...very dangerous coal tar roofing compounds in there...might need a dedicated festool vac with a HEPA filter to back up that multimaster, and possibly a rotex sander to grind of an trace particulate after that!;););)

[David Epperson]

Then again a putty knife might do it. :D

[Richard M. Wolfe]

Glad it came apart easily, Alan. Make two people happy.

Just remember, you have the - ahem - expert standing by in case you need help getting the gunky black stuff off. Let's see.....hmmmmm......flame thrower??......uh.......jack hammer??......um.....