Real Good Toys: Taking Things Apart

     

This slideshow features a floor that was put in incorrectly. A second person heating the outside of the walls with an iron or heat lamp would have quickened the process. If the surface is painted, put a sheet or towel between the paint and the iron.


Blog: (Link)
Other heat sources:
    Heat lamp
(Link)
    Oven
    Microwave (careful!)
    Hot Air Gun
(Movie)
    Hair Dryer
(Slideshow)
    HotAir and Clamps
(Link) (Here)
    Hot Air and Spatula
(Link)
    Iron and Spatula
(Link)

Spatula used here: (Amazon)

 

I hardly go a week without taking something apart, something that didn’t dry straight or something that has had a change of plans… heat is the key. I use an oven when I can, but a heat lamp, a hot air gun, a hair dryer, an iron, even a microwave – they all get heat into the glue and the glue gets stretchy so I can slowly and gently stretch, stretch, until the glue isn’t holding anymore. The key is to keep the surface cooler than what damages the wood or paint, but warm enough so the heat will travel thru the wood to the glue. That temperature is 150 – 170 degrees, which is the heat that I can touch with my hand but not leave it on the surface for more than a few seconds, like dishwater that’s too hot to put my hands in but I can snatch out a dish to wash.