Removing leatherette residue?

[egdinger]

Okay so I pulled the nasty old leatherette off a kodak 3A that was given to me. But now there are, don't know how to best describe it so bare with me, "spots" on the wood. There are glue/leatherette residue. I want to know the best way to get rid of these. Sanding works, but takes for ever. And I'm going to stain it, so it does matter if they are there, I think?

 

[Dave Parker]

Home Depot, $16.88 orbital sander, and a light touch with about 100 grit sandpaper, stop often and check to make sure your not rounding things off that are suspose to be round, it takes a bit of practice, but once you get the touch, you will be amazed how quick it goes.

Dave

 

[egdinger]

Thanks, I think I have one of those buried somewhere. But I was kinda hopeing there was a lower tech (i.e. no powertools) way of doing it, that didn't take years. The idea of doing it all by hand was appealing. Also should I be woried about what they treated the leatherette with getting airborne when I sand?

 

[Dave Parker]

I always use a dust mask when sanding any of the older cameras, the last couple I have done the residue actually reminded me of a shellac based glue material or varnish, but I suspect it was a dried out rubber glue solution, I have not found a quick and easy way to do it by hand without using a heavy grit paper that creates heavy scratches in the wood surface...you could probably come up with a solvent that would disolve the residue, but I would suspect that it would penitrate the wood, leaving a base that could be difficult to stain correctly.

Dave

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Try naphtha. I find it removes most glues and it's safe for degreasing most wood finishes.

 

[Bob F.]

Not tried it, so treat this as just a suggestion; try on an unimportant place first; I accept no responsibility; etc etc etc etc.... Would paint stripper do the job? The kind that is a paste that you spread on and cover with plastic film for half an hour or so.

Cheers, Bob.

 

[Terence]

Scraper blade. It's a hardened piece of steel that you put a burr on one edge of. Done correctly, which isn't too difficult, it will take a nice fine shaving off. DON'T just use a cheap paint scraper from Home Depot though. Scraper blades are cheap. The trick is putting a burr on it. It takes a little practice, but I learned it in about 15 to 20 minutes. I use them all the time. And best of all, no dust. Look under scraping on the woodowrking portion of www.leevalley.com

Also, using a stripper will probably tak off the residue, but the wood itself will probably be discolored where the residue was. Scraping will provide a clean, even surface of fresh wood.

 

[Charles Webb]

My old stand by for glue residue is still WD-40! It and the recommended scraper technique should work! Try any of the posted suggestions on a small out of the way spot, where the whole world won't see it if it gums things up.

Charlie............................

 

[Craig]

The original glue was probably contact cement, so try some contact cement solvent, or lacquer thinner, its basically the same stuff. Don't get it on your hands though, and don't breath the vapours.

 

[David Brown]

Scraper blade. ... Look under scraping on the woodowrking portion of www.leevalley.com

I second this suggestion.

Good luck.

David

 

[egdinger]

I went with the orbital sander and it worked, though that scraper lookes like a nice piece, but very simmaler to a planer.

Just curious though, too all of you who are recomending solvents and such, do you really think they would work on almost 90 year old dried glue?

 

[Bob F.]

I went with the orbital sander and it worked, though that scraper lookes like a nice piece, but very simmaler to a planer.

Just curious though, too all of you who are recomending solvents and such, do you really think they would work on almost 90 year old dried glue?

Why not? It's probably water soluble in any case, but you would not want to use a lot of water on wood as it would swell the grain, so it's better to try a solvent that will not do so. That was my thinking anyway...

Sanding it off worked well and as mentioned leaves you with nice clean wood to do with as you wish so that was clearly a better solution.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Naphtha really works wonders for all kinds of gooey things. I first learned about it from a guitar repair technician.