Getting Glue Off The Besseys

[rick7938]

Anyone have advice on getting glue residue off the bar of my Bessey K-bodies? I have been putting paste wax on them, but I guess it wore off. Now I have glue building up on the bars. It just pops off the wax, but not off the chrome.

Thanks for any feedback.

 

[McRabbet]

Rick,

You may need to use very hot water to loosen it up (even steam) on a terry cloth washcloth to get it off (scraping will work, too) -- aside from waxing the bars, I keep a roll of kitchen wax paper that I put over the tops of my K-body clamps when doing a glue-up as it keeps them and my assembly table top lots cleaner.

 

[Glennbear]

As Rob mentioned, hot water. If that does not do it, heat gun OR acetone. :wsmile:

 

[Bas]

A heat gun can be a little aggressive. I use my wife's hairdryer (shhhh, don't tell). Also, vinegar helps loosen the glue. Harbor Freight sells cheap brass bristle brushes that help getting it off the ridges, they're softer than the metal of the clamps. Still lots of manual labor involved.

 

[eddie joe]

That hair dryer may suprise you. I know they are in every bathroom and dry hair and seem so innocent. but i put one on a stove thermometer and got over 250* coming out of the hair dryer. It can do some damage. Suprised me too. Use it with care.

Edd

 

[ScottM]

+1 on the wax paper after you get the old glue off.

 

[PChristy]

That hair dryer may suprise you. I know they are in every bathroom and dry hair and seem so innocent. but i put one on a stove thermometer and got over 250* coming out of the hair dryer. It can do some damage. Suprised me too. Use it with care.

Edd

That is a surprise to me - I knew that they put some hot air out but never thought it would be hot -Tho I have heard that the hair dryer is one of the "appliances" that uses the most electricity in the short period of time that it is used -
I use my wife's hair dryer(she knows that by the way:wink_smil) to dry the brown paper on the back of my scroll saw picture frames - double side tape the paper on - use a damp rag and wet the paper then dry it with the hair dryer and the paper will tighten right up:icon_thum

 

[jlwest]

I have used a propane torch, caefully. It is interesting that Titebond gets soft when hot.

Jeff

 

[cpowell]

I use a putty knife with a medium-stiff blade to scrape it off. As I've gotten better at glue-ups I don't get quite as much runoff any more.

I've tried the wax paper but it just makes things more complicated, especially for larger glue-ups.


Chuck

 

[Howard Acheson]

You don't say what adhesives you are using but keep in mind that ANSI Type I adhesives like Titebond III are waterproof. To be rated as ANSI Type I Waterproof they must withstand multiple long term immersion in boiling water without losing their adhesion. Application of hot water or rags will not soften or loosen these adhesives.

Sometimes application of hotter heat gun temperatures will have some effect. But, most often, it will take scraping to remove the adhesive.

Once you get them cleaned up, use one of a number of techniques to keep the adhesive off the bars. Wax paper is good but I like using the shower curtain bar plastic covers you can get at most home centers. They are tubes of split plastic that you can slip right on the clamp bars of either parallel face clamps or pipe clamps. Cut them into 4-5" sections and position them under the glue lines.

 

[Tarhead]

I've had an epiphany about the amount of glue I use and no longer am using huge amounts on my big glue-ups with the Titebond II and III type glues. As a result there is very little seepage. These glues are really good and if you get them spread well you only need to apply to one side on most woods. I'm using an old plastic hotel room key card notched with a heated up piece of threaded rod as a spreader or a 3" foam paint roller. I gave my clamps a good wax job when I got them. What little bit gets on my clamps pops off when I slide the clamp heads or with a thumbnail.

 

[CrealBilly]

Wax paper works great IF you remember it has wax on only one side. I must have forgot that little bit of trivia... because just yesterday I glued some wax paper to a glue up :roll: