HELP!! How to remove glue from clamps

What kind of glue?

Ed Mulligan, Cape Cod

Titebond, yellow glue.

John Clifford in Chicago


>Sorry, Yellow glue, Titebond.

Try steam or boiling Water.

Paul in NJ

Re: Try steam or boiling Water.

John Clifford in Chicago


>won't that rust the bar?

Nah

Ed Mulligan, Cape Cod


>The metal probably has a protective coating of some sort - zinc or similar. But if it does rust, just steel wool the rust off and apply wax or machine oil.

Heat and or steam will soften the glue so it can be removed with a wire brush. A bit of vinegar will help with softening. There's a commercial product, De-Glue-Goo, which works well.

Ed

Re: Nah

John Clifford in Chicago


>Do you mean Goo gone? I have some of that, I'll give it a try, but I thought it was for soft glue like the glue left behind after you remove a sticker.

Not goo gone

Dan Donaldson


>It is something else designed to remove that type of glue.

Just pick it off, John

Andrew F in Australia


>Hi John,

I teach schoolkids - this is common.

The large lumps should scrape off - use the side of a chisel or an old chisel.

To get it from between the grooves, use a nail.

As glue doesn't really 'stick' to metal, the key is to push the globs sideways - they'll shear off with minimum force.

Cheers,

Andrew

Agree

Wiley Horne


>Andrew has got it. I also find I can knock off 'enough' of it just by running the head over it a few times after removing the clamps from a glueup. After several repeats of that, it gets too pesky to fool with and you gotta get after it with a Borg chisel or else a stiff putty knife.

Wiley

Disagree

John Clifford in Chicago


>This stuff is stuck on like a son of a beeahtch. Peeling definately won't work and I tried to chip at it with a stiff putty knife, it didn't work real well. And Wiley I tried to slide the jaw up and down to break up the glue, and I can't even get past the glue once let alone a couple of times. The good news is that it's the same glue from glueing up my bench top, so it should hold forever :).

I was looking for some idea that would break down the glue or at least soften it up a bit. Thanks for the ideas, and if anybody else has any more ideas I'm listening.

email the Titebond people?

Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX

Try this John,

Andrew F in Australia


>Get an old chisel that's blunt.

Hold the handle in one hand and the end in the other.

Put the side of the blade square on the steel behind one of the glue blobs.

Keep the side of the chisel against the clamp, press it firmly against the steel and then push it into the glue blob, so that the edge of the chisel remains at 90 degrees to the face of the clamp.

This provides the glue/steel interface with a shear force - usually just pops the glue off

This should work - it removes epoxy from steel.

Let me know once you've tried it.

Best regards,

Andrew

ps: after you get it clean, lightly coat in oil

Andrew F in Australia


>Just enough to smear the surface, or WD40.

Remove the excess with a rag - should have it ready to go for the next time and the glue should easily pop off.

Re: Not goo gone *LINK*

Ed Mulligan, Cape Cod


>As the other posters are suggesting, my experience is that you should be able to just knock off the dried glue with a putty knife or similar. Most of my clamps have a carefully applied coat of shop grunge which no doubt helps to weaken a glue bond. I usually use an old paint scraper with good results. But you say it's not working so maybe the the heat/water/De-Glue-Goo will help.

Ed


De-Glue-Goo

Heat gun

David Barnett - SW Florida


>Recommended by the manufacturer. Always works for me. Low setting's fine. I'm more likely to use a torch, though, since the heat gun's my coffee roaster and is usually out of reach.

Country boy sez...

jim reed @ tallahassee


>use a pocketknife. Put the clamp on yer lap while you and the missus watch TV at night. Use the sharp tip of the pocketknife to get under the glue blister and just pick it off. Start at the edge to break the bond. Patience is the key. Once you get started, your biggest problem will be settling down the missus on how you intend to clean up all that glue dot mess from the coffee table. If you have a big dog, he may be tricked into thinking that the glue dots are food and he could help with the cleanup. Good luck.

Thanks everybody.

John Clifford in Chicago


>Thanks for all the good ideas. I'm going to probably try the heat/steam method first, I'm thinking that should work. It's just a little frustrating since I've only used these clamps (gross stabil) once to glue up the bench top. For what they cost I don't consider them a one use item :). In hind sight I should have put some WD40 or something on the bars before I did the glue up. I guess that's how you learn, the hard won lessons are the ones that we never forget. I won't make that mistake again.

Thanks again, John.

how done commercially

bill tindall


>They hit the clamp racks with steam line. Obviously you will need to soften it as it sticks tenaciously to iron (doesn't stick to AL which is why I now mostly use Al clamps). Hot water will do the trick if your steam line is unavailable.

Re: how done commercially

John Clifford in Chicago


>I'm thinking of having the tea kettle going on the stove and holding the bar over the steam that's blowing out. May need to use the oven mitts though as I expect the bar will get hot.

Lot's of good way here to remove it, but...

Scott Burr in Ben Lomond, CA


>Once you get them clean, give them a good wax coat. Then the glue won't stick to them anymore.

Re: Lot's of good way here to remove it, but...

John Clifford in Chicago


>I most certainly will Scott, lesson learned.

So, how did it go, John????

Andrew F in Australia


>If the chisel/scraper rides over the top of the glue because it has a feather edge, chip away the corner of the glue so that it has somewhere to catch against.

You could try a hairdryer if you want to soften it up a bit.

CHeers,

Andrew