HELP! Need to UNglue a face frame

[Ian Dodd]

I throw myself on the mercy of the Wreck. and beg for your wisdom and help.

I've been taking the introductory woodwoking class on Saturdays at my local community college. We're each building a small cabinet with dadoed shelves, face frame and a frame and panel door.

I dry fit my face frame to my case, making sure that I had 1/32" overhang all the way around to be trimmed off with the router (next week's lesson). All good. I glued and clamped it. I was worried that I had maybe been a bit too stingy with the glue because I didn't want a lot of squeeze out (I got none), but it seemed to hold fine when I removed the clamps. All good.

It wasn't until today (48 hrs. later) that I noticed my screw up. My face frame was glued (Titebond II) on upside down (proper face is out but it's 180º reversed with the bottom at the top of the case). Doh!

How can I break this glue bond with out destrying my wood? Heat? Solvent?

HELP! TIA,

Ian

[Swingman]

The harsh reality is that unless you believe in miracles, you may have to live with it.

Since the face that you will now want to show is going to have been subject to the reaction with glue, it is doubtful that there is a solution that won't cause some harm to the parts, and you won't know until after you've tried.

That said, and if it is only glued on, it may be possible to rescue the cabinet by carefully cutting the old face frame away (with a table saw, or straight edge, to get the straightest possible cut?), then build a new face frame, but I would think that would be your much needed miracle.

I did a similar thing with the FF on a two part, carefully grain matched, pantry cabinet a couple of years back and, to this day, it remains a constant reminder to pay attention.

[Charlie Self]

Swingman responds:

Been there, done that at least twice.

Given he used TB II, your solution about it. It is another reason for never using highly water resistant glues UNLESS they're needed. I used TB 1 and, once, hide glue, and just steamed the parts until they dripped. Took some scraping to clean up.

I understand there is a way to break the bond of TB II--did it involve vinegar?

Charlie Self "Abstainer: a weak person who yields to the temptation of denying himself a pleasure." Ambrose Bierce

[Bernard Randall]

IMHO a very thin kerf saw and fit loose tenons.

BTW you need enough glue that some squeezes out along the joint lines when clamped.

Bernard R

[Swingman]

Yeah, but it didn't work very well when I tried it on something much smaller than a FF.

[Mike G]

There comes a time in some screw ups where one has to recognize the fact that fixing the screw up will cause a bigger mess then not.

As I see it, when those times arrive, you have two choices. One, the least preferable, is to do the job over again. The second, my preference, is to switch ones efforts from trying to fix the screw up too making the screw up look like it's suppose too be there.

Just a thought, Good luck

[Tom]

Well, that's the place to learn, in a classroom. Have you tried some judicious whacks with a mallet and a block of scrap? Maybe (just maybe) the bond will break. That, or the case. How does it look upside down? You never said what the case material is, and that would have something to do with any solvents used. Tom Someday, it'll all be over....

[Michael Daly]

My first test of a new deadblow mallet was to take apart a commercially made cabinet door that was lightly glued. Three good blows and the rail and stile separated. Some of the wood splintered, but I could clean it up and sand it. None of the damage showed when I cut the door down and reassembled it at a new size.

Give it a whack if nothing else works.

Mike

[John Grossbohlin]

I think I'd try to saw it off with a thin kerf Shark Saw or something similar... If you start at a corner and index off the face frame you can probably get it off intact if you take your time. Once it's off you can smooth out the two surfaces again by either gently sanding with a block or by using a plane.

John

[Micro*]

(snip)

Alcohol, and a lot of time and patience. If you run some alcohol along the glue joint it will soften the glue but you must keep working the alcohol into the joint with something thin like a feeler gauge. The glue will turn to buggers and can be scraped off BUT it takes a lot of time and work. I suggest you hang that one in your shop as a reminder... :-)

-- "Shut up and keep diggen" Jerry

[Ian Dodd]

Thanks guys for all the suggestions. After doing some more research, cogitating a bit on it and taking your suggestions into consideration, I think what I'm going to do (gulp!) is put my thin kerf rip blade on the table saw and surgically remove the FF from the case, clean up the mess, glue it back on with the top at the top, and hope my prof doesn't notice the missing 3/32". Thanks for the input.

Ian

[J T]

Mon, Apr 19, 2004, 11:01am (EDT-3) [e-mail] (Ian=A0Dodd) My face frame was glued (Titebond II) on upside down (proper face is out but it's 180=BA reversed with the bottom at the top of the case). Doh! How can I break this glue bond with out destrying my wood? Heat? Solvent?

Hard to believe you guys. On the back of the bottle is a 1-800 number. Or, log onto the Titebond site, and it tells in the FAQs.

JOAT The Good are Innocent so they invented Justice. The Evil are Guilty so they invented Mercy.

- Unknown