Un-gluing stuff...

tetters

tetters

Rail Spiking Fool!
Jan 21, 2005
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Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Say one wanted to unglue roadbed from a plywood deck. Is there a way to do so without damaging the decking? I know acetone will dissolve the glue, however it sounds caustic and not a very friendly way of doing this.

Oh, its glued down REEEEEAL good too! :rolleyes: sign1

Is there an alternative that could work? If its too much hassle, I may just suck it up and chaulk this one up to experience and know better for the next time.
 
What kind of glue, and what kind of plywood, and what kind of roadbed? I have semi-successfully unglued track from roadbed that was glued with wood glue. I used soapy water to soak it, then slid a putty knife under the track to lift it up. You could probably do the same with cork roadbed glued to plywood with wood glue. The problem is that the water may cause the plywood to warm unacceptably. If you used exterior plywood on your layout, you may be okay.

Kevin
 
Yeah...I know...the label said 2 tons of strength and I figure since I was going to be running trains on it I would need all the strength I could get to handle the weight.





I'm being sarcastic. LOL! :grin:
 
Roadbed's cheap. Just cut across it at the end(s) of the section you want to remove, and then use a single-edged razor blade or a chisel to scrape it off the plywood.

Destructive methods are among my favourites :D
 
By the time you separate the glue from the wood, you will have also separated the cork from the glue, leaving useless roadbed and lumps of glue here and there. As you said "lesson learned".
 
Since you used the waterproof glue, you will need to "mechanically" remove the cork. Try a metal putty knife and a hammer to scrape most of it away, then fire up a sander to smooth out the lumps and bumps, and get back to the nice "plywood plain"...

Andrew
 
I had a similar situation: cork roadbed attached to plywood with wood glue. I didn't think to soak it and just went at it with a putty knife. It took me a little while but I got it up (along with a few bits of plywood).

I now use latex caulk to hold down my roadbed and track. It has enough adhesion to hold the track and roadbed in place, but lets you pull it up easier. A little while ago I pulled up some track and roadbed that I had put down with caulk and it came up in one piece and I probably could have reused it if I needed to. The one attached with wood glue fought hard and ended up in about 20 or so little bits.
 
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