How to REMOVE this leg?

[Randy Red Bemont]

I've done the vinegar method many times and it worked like a charm. Same setup as you with the doweled legs. It did not damage the finish and the dowels did come out. I cleaned it all up afterwards, let it dry well and re-glued. Happy customer.

Red

[Peter Aeschliman]

Good heavens! all these destructive methods. apply heat, while using a pair of wooden wedges one from each side and tap them in as the glue softens.
Simple.
Mike

Seconded. I would use soft wood wedges to try and minimize marring. Sounds like vinegar might be a viable option in lieu of a heat gun- I've never tried that trick myself.

[Greg Hines, MD]

I would go ahead and cut off the two exposed dowels and redrill them as you would anyway, while the other legs are there to stabilize the piece, before you go any further.

Doc

[Rich Engelhardt]

Vinegar is 99% safe.
I hate to say 100% because you never know.
Ammonia can damage some varnishes & will attack shellac and some NC lacquers as well as waterbornes.

[Allan Speers]

I've done the vinegar method many times and it worked like a charm. Same setup as you with the doweled legs. It did not damage the finish and the dowels did come out. I cleaned it all up afterwards, let it dry well and re-glued. Happy customer.

Vinegar is 99% safe.
I hate to say 100% because you never know.
Ammonia can damage some varnishes & will attack shellac and some NC lacquers as well as waterbornes.

Thanks for this !

[David C. Roseman]

Allan, if you end up having to cut and drill out the dowels after all, you don't need a drill press to do it. Pare or sand the exposed ends of the dowels flush, then mark the centers carefully (ideally with a sharp awl, perhaps followed by a spring-loaded center punch). Then just use a hand drill, starting with a 1/16" twist bit, to drill well into the dowels, followed by increasingly larger bits. An inexpensive set of brad-point bits would also be good to avoid wandering, but it really shouldn't be necessary.

[Clint Baxter]

If you do cut off those dowels, and/or legs, you don't need a drill press to re-drill your dowel holes. Use one of these, http://www.biggatortools.com/products.html with your hand drill. Just clamp it in place and drill nice straight holes in round or flat stock.

Clint

[Alan Marchbanks]

Looks like you might have enough room to try two or three pair of opposing wedges driven from opposite sides.