Sticky situation

[Whiskers]

Hello from Canada. I need some solid no going back information please. I m building a very expensive ship model. The key word is very. Although I’ve built many models over the years I managed to make a rookie mistake on this one.
Please advise how to get some extremely delicate wooden parts to separate after bonding them with Gorilla (yellow carpenters) glue.
I assume the advice will be to use a heat gun. Are there any other ways? I’m terrified of burning or wrecking the wood.
If I ruin the one piece I m doomed as I would have no way of fixing or replacing it.
Any and all advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

John (too old to have made this mistake)

 

[Jake]

Maybe try heating up a metal implement - a knife or something. You could also try acetone or any other strong solvents you can lay your hands on. Start with experiments on some glued together scrap rather than the real thing!

 

[Trevanion]

Yes, heat is probably your best bet, unfortunately.

Although, I remember being told that you can microwave PVA glue (Which I assume the yellow carpenter's Gorilla is) and it will unbond/become easier to pull apart before any harm befalls the timber BUT I've never tried it so I'd take it with a pinch of salt and perhaps try a test piece glued together first.

 

[Ttrees]

A clothes iron with a damp rag might be good for the job, works well removing fretboards glued with PVA or Titebond original.

 

[Trainee neophyte]

The internet claims vinegar will dissolve the glue! https://www.doityourself.com/stry/how-t ... -wood-glue

I have never tried this...I have no idea if the vinegar will do strange things to your wood, so if you are going to believe random posts by strangers on the internet, then, as everyone else suggests, glue up some scraps and have a trial run before committing yourself to the real thing. I am now intrigued...must have a go for myself.

 

[MikeG.]

...... I remember being told that you can microwave PVA glue (Which I assume the yellow carpenter's Gorilla is)........

Gorilla Glue is PU, not PVA. It's that nasty expanding stuff which turns your fingers black. Fine if you want to fill gaps, but otherwise.....no thanks. Anyway, I would seriously look at replicating the parts, because I can't think that you'll have any success breaking the bond without breaking (or burning) the parts.

 

[MikeG.]

A clothes iron with a damp rag might be good for the job, works well removing fretboards glued with PVA or Titebond original.

The internet claims vinegar will dissolve the glue! https://www.doityourself.com/stry/how-t ... glue,......

Again, that's for PVA, not PU. This is a different beast altogether.

 

[Rob Platt]

https://uk.gorillaglue.com/contact-us/
ask the experts
all the best
rob

 

[Keith 66]

You can buy gun cleaner for PU foam applicator guns, The PU foam is a very closely related product to gorrilla glue. It works well, but i have no idea if it works on the cured stuff.

 

[MikeG.]

You can buy gun cleaner for PU foam applicator guns, The PU foam is a very closely related product to gorrilla glue. It works well, but i have no idea if it works on the cured stuff.

It doesn't work on the cured stuff.

 

[eezageeza]

Gorilla Glue is PU, not PVA. It's that nasty expanding stuff which turns your fingers black.

Not necessarily - Gorilla make both the original Gorilla brand glue, which is PU, but also a Gorilla brand wood glue, which is PVA.

 

[MikeG.]

Gorilla Glue is PU, not PVA. It's that nasty expanding stuff which turns your fingers black.

Not necessarily - Gorilla make both the original Gorilla brand glue, which is PU, but also a Gorilla brand wood glue, which is PVA.

Their PVA is white. The PU is yellow, as described in the OP.

 

[eezageeza]

But whiskers is from Canada, where PVA is widely known as 'yellow wood glue'. Best if we wait for clarification from the OP!

 

[MikeG.]

Just as an aside, and out of interest rather than criticism......I've noticed some people copy text rather than using the quote function, which puts it in a quote box. I've assumed this is perhaps due to viewing the forum on a phone, and the quote function either not being available or operating in a different way. Is that right?

 

[Droogs]

Personally i think all the above are looking at this from the wrong angle. It would help if you had a pic of the parts but as we don't my suggestion would be mechanical in nature not chemical. take a proper hand held fretsaw and a #00 (.0103'' thick) blade and slowly saw them apart

edit typos

 

[Doug B]

Gorilla glue is a brand not a single type of glue, though obviously to some it is best known for PU adhesive in part because it bought out the company that came up with idea & made it commercially available, it is still just a brand name.

Re the original question if it is standard pva (yellow carpenters glue) & it’s on small model parts I’d try a heated blade.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Just as an aside, and out of interest rather than criticism......I've noticed some people copy text rather than using the quote function, which puts it in a quote box. I've assumed this is perhaps due to viewing the forum on a phone, and the quote function either not being available or operating in a different way. Is that right?

I've noticed this, and I don't use a phone.

 

[profchris]

If it's a standard woodworking glue like PVA or Titebond Original (which I think is an aliphatic resin, and is yellow), that doesn't need a huge amount of heat to soften. So a hair drier will gently heat it - stop when it's uncomfortably hot to handle and you think the heat has soaked right through.

Then use a heated blade (heat it with your hair drier or heat gun). The parts should separate fairly easily, but be careful not to dig the blade into any runout.

This is standard procedure for disassembling musical instruments where the joint is one of those glues. The trick is to keep it all hot (thin wood cools rapidly, so do blades, so keep re-heating) and go very gently and slowly.

Cleanup after it all comes apart is usually warm water and a cotton wool bud, used damp not wet, again going slowly and gently (this part can be very tedious, but slow and gentle works eventually).

The heat and moisture might raise grain and maybe distort the wood a little, so let it dry out fully before and sanding or reshaping to fit.

If it's expanding PU glue then instrument repairers just curse and swear! I suspect sawing apart is best (the thinnest Zona razor saw, a few quid online, might be easiest).

 

[AJB Temple]

https://www.ct1.com/product-application ... e-remover/

This stuff works quite often, even when I don't expect it to. It is about £10 for a 500ml spray tin. It does not leave nasty stains. It may be worth a try on your application if gentle heat and a thin blade fail.

I originally used it to separate two parts of a stone garden feature that had been secured (against wind) with CT1 adhesive, which is immensely strong. It took 3 days to get enough penetration (the joint was horizontal) but it did the job.

 

[owen]

That multisolve spray is really good stuff, especially when you are resiliconing something like a bath you can use it to get the last stringy bits of silicone off. Just spray it on, leave ten mins and they rub off. It's great for spraying onto ct1 before you smooth it aswell, makes it a lot easier to work with.