I was given a broken upright bass yesterday, and where the neck joined the body it looks like someone used epoxy to repair it during a prior mishap.

Since there is a tremendous amount of knowledge shared on this forum, I came here for advice first.

Does anyone know how to separate two pieces of wood. without damage, that has been glued together with epoxy?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Leon

Leon, I've had a few guitars come across my bench that needed epoxy removed.

I used an exhaust fan, a mask, dental picks and many applications of acetone.

Pack your lunch as you could be a while.

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

I would guess that chainsaw is not the proper answer.

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CSM, U S Army(Ret) 1963-1990

As said; Acetone works but it takes time and a little work

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Sceva
OGCA SWCA NRA

Thanks for the replies, looks like acetone and patience is the answer. That will have to wait until I can work on it outside. Acetone is extremely flammable.

Have a blessed day,

Leon

Heat helps soften epoxy a bit.
Getting necks out, especially when epoxy was used, is more of keeping the damage to the minimum.

Thin butter knives, that are heated, are helpful.

Rehairing bows and pulling necks are my least favorite things to do with fiddles large and small.
Patience is a virtue!!!

No first hand experience, but Google turned up these additional suggestions on music forums.

MEK - Methyl Ethyl Ketone

Attack Epoxy Solvent

Electric Hot Knife or heated putty knife

Be careful when using MEK.
From the Material Safety Data Sheet:
Highly Flammable liquid and vapor
Causes serious eye irritation
May cause drowsiness or dizziness
Keep away from heat/sparks/open flames/hot surfaces-no smoking
Keep container tightly closed
Take precautionary measures against static discharge
Wear protective gloves/protective clothing/eye protection/face protection
If swallowed immediately call a POSION CENTER
If on skin, (or hair) : remove contaminated clothing, rinse skin with water/shower
If in eyes rinse cautiously with water for several minutes
Store in a well ventilated place, Repeated exposure may cause skin dryness or cracking
Just be safe.
Philip retired Hazmat Tech (chemical)

MEK is chemically very similar to Acetone (it has an additional -CH2- group), but less volatile. However it is still flammable and can cause skin dermatitis (if contacted). I prefer using MEK over Acetone.

As a chemist of over 60 years experience yes, MEK is the better of the two and less volatile. However, do this outside and do not have any open flames or sparks around unless you want to be the centerpiece of a Viking funeral. Dave_n

I was having a conversation with an accomplished gunsmith the other day about using brake clean to clean some of my firearms and how it took some finishes off turning them into squid ink. He related a story of using Acetone as a degreaser prior to applying Duracoat. He couldn't figure out why he was having problems with the Duracoat "crazing", discoloring, and in some cases bubbling. He had run out of lacquer thinner and substituted Acetone because it degreases well. He thought there was some other problem and found out that Acetone looks as if it dries but takes more than a few hours to completely off gas or truly dry, where lacquer thinner off gases quickly and does not off gas under whatever is applied over it. Once he switched back to lacquer thinner his problems went away, it was the only variable that changed.

It is always wise to read the Material Data Safety Sheet on a chemical product that you plan on using that you have little knowledge of.

"Little Willie took a drink, but he shall drink no more, for what he thought was H20,(water), was H2SO4!(Sulfuric Acid)"

Please let us know how this turns out for you. Thanks

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Hue 68 noli me tangere

I deal with epoxy all the time with work on the boat. The easiest thing to get it off is xylene. Be advised though, xylene removes most everything else too. I've never known it to hurt wood fibers

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SWCA #3356, SWHF#611

MEK used to be a favored ingredient in paint remover. I look now because I get a reaction to it: dizzy, throwing up, stuff like that.

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Foster Positivity.

UGH... MEK is worse than acetone!

Hope this helps.
Pics of old Cremonese Cello and neck.
There is a .... dovetail.... in that the neck's side tapers to body join slides into place and will support lifting the cello. Tight but room for proper gluing.

Had to dust it off so I unscrewed the neck.
I'll get that up and running soon as grandkids and the rest of the flock will play.

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