Glued parts seperation?

[martin9428]

I have two parts that have been glued and painted and now have to get them back apart. Any tricks to soften the glue and get the parts apart? I will repaint so, that isn't a problem. I just don't want to damage the parts

[robdebie]

Freezing the parts will probably help, you should be able to snap the glue joint, while cold of course. I've also been told that brushing Tamiya Ultra Thin over the joint will soften it, so you can break it. But I never tried that.

Rob

[Foxer]

1 hour ago, robdebie said:

Freezing the parts will probably help, you should be able to snap the glue joint, while cold of course. I've also been told that brushing Tamiya Ultra Thin over the joint will soften it, so you can break it. But I never tried that.

Rob

This has helped me. Any thin polystyrene glue will due.

[Jantrix]

I'd go ahead and dunk them in some paint remover (see several threads on the subject). If they were glued AFTER paint, it might solve the problem. If they were glued before painting it might still loosen the glue enough to separate the pieces, depending on the adhesive. I've seen both happen many times.

[Ace-Garageguy]

A LOT depends on the specific glue used, and how much of it, and whether the parts were clamped while drying.

Parts glued with a slower-evaporating liquid cement and clamped will almost always be damaged by disassembly.

Damage can be minimized by sawing the joint apart with one of the very thin PE saws. I've even been able to separate things that were assembled with lotsa tube gloo with minimal damage.

On the other hand, sometimes fitting the blade of an X-Acto chisel-tip #11 into the joint, and striking the handle with a small jeweler's hammer, will be enough to split the parts apart cleanly.

 

 

[Daddy Mack]

There are several ways to skin the cat but, similar to Ace-Garageguy, my favorite method is to force a single-edge razor blade through the glue joint. Rocking the blade helps with difficult joints.

Disclaimer: don't try this at home unless you have strong fingers because if the blade bends to one side it will likely break and then warm, red liquid will be all over your workpiece.

As with Ace, sometimes i get the blade into position and whack it with something. My weapon of choice is a light hammer with nylon head inserts. This technique usually reserved for very old and hard joints. The downside being that there's usually nothing to steer the blade unless you were born with 3 hands .