Removing faux wood panel

[David Prochniak]

I'm in the process of building a murphy bed and as part of the design I have incorporated some faux 1/4" thick wood panels that simulate the look of cabinets and drawers to the carriage that holds the mattress and fold down. I initially glued and pin nailed these pieces to the main carriage, but apparently at some point the edge of one of these panels lifted up and now I'm left with a corner of the panel sticking up higher than any of the other panels. I used regular yellow carpenters glue during the assembly, does anyone have any suggestions for softening or dissolving the glue that's holding this panel on so I can re-apply it? The biggest issue I see is that the corner that popped up is surrounded on all sides by other panels and I only have an 1/8" gap between the neighboring panels.

[Edward Dyas]

Yellow glue can be softened by soaking in water however it takes a lot of time and patience to do it. Then the water may make some pretty unsightly stains especially if the wood is red oak. If the corner is lifted up it might be better to work some epoxy under it and either clamping it down or more pins. You can use a cake spatula to work the glue underneath the plywood.

[Gary Ragatz]

If the panel is solid wood, maybe you could plane it down to be level with the adjacent panels.

[Bill Dufour]

I tried using a dentists amalgam packer to place some wood filler and it is so small a volume it did not really work. I vote syringe and large bore needle. the needles can be bent a little without kinking shut. Can they be hot forged?
Bil lD

[David Prochniak]

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The panel in question is one of the long rectangular solid maple panels in the center, on the inside corner. My concern is that I'll never be able to plane this panel coplanar with the surrounding panels and have it look correct after paint; hence the question about removing the panel after glue up. I'm wondering now of maybe a heat gun applied to the panel and a stiff putty knife might be able to break the glue Bond and slowly remove the panel.

[Al Launier]

David, I was also thinking of using heat, but using steam instead. Could you try gluing up a couple of scrap pieces together, of the same thickness, letting the glue cure, and then place a t-shirt or clean rag on top, then use a steam iron to see if that, along with a wide putty knife, would break the glue bond. If this works, allow ample time for the moisture to dry before re-gluing & staining, or use a heat gun to dry..

[Bradley Gray]

I have an old clothes iron I use for such tasks. Since the panel is only 1/4" thick this will likely work although the iron may damage the panel.