Designer Firewood in picture format

[Becky]

I got my clock back today.  The gable ornament has been removed as has half of the roof.  Both had to go to get to the did panel.  It is gone as well.  I've got to remove some of the glue remnants (I figure some combination of razor blade and sanding.  Today got above 60* so I went straight out into the shop after work and cut a new side.  Well, two new sides as I am DEFINITELY rusty and cut the first one too short, lol.  I'll save the fine tuning until I get rid of the excess glue.  The acetone definitely damaged the finish but I think I can sand that down and it'll be OK.  It'll take some more elbow grease but I think this thing might just work.  Time will tell.

[lennywin]

Good luck Becky!!  Can't wait to see it.

[dirtrider73068]

Wonder if this will work for any glue, like wood glue if once you glue it up and dries and discover a mistake before you finish it. I always try to look things over as I am putting it together before glueing up to make sure everything is in its place before I glue to make sure its all correct. I have found myself like this a few times working on something and haveing to tear it down or start over is a pain.

[Rapid Roger]

Wonder if this will work for any glue, like wood glue if once you glue it up and dries and discover a mistake before you finish it. I always try to look things over as I am putting it together before glueing up to make sure everything is in its place before I glue to make sure its all correct. I have found myself like this a few times working on something and haveing to tear it down or start over is a pain.

I use Titebond wood glue and in the past, I have found that heat sometimes works to dismantle mistakes in gluing.
If you catch it soon enough (within 6 hours), you can heat the joint with a heat gun (old hair dryer in my case) and the glue will release fairly easy. If it has set longer like overnight, FORGET IT!! The wood will break before the glue lets go.
I've never tried acetone (to be honest, I have never heard of this method before) but, it might be worth a try but, I kinda doubt that it will work.
Any port in a storm though!

Rog

[Becky]

FWIW, the piece I gave him to practice on had been sitting around for over six months.  It was also glued with yellow Gorilla wood glue.  I like the Gorilla glue because the set time just seems to work well with my pace.  The clock had been assembled and finished and sitting around for a good month before I realized I had put it together wrong.  The basic box was finished well before that because I tinkered for about forever (OK, three or four weeks) before getting the cuckoo to work the way I wanted it to.  Only then did I add the gingerbread and proceed with the oiling and lacquering process.

I don't know about how acetone would work on Titebond.  The key is patience.  Let the acetone soak into the joint multiple times and then slowly work at inserting a razor blade into the joint.  Then add more acetone so it can get to the newly exposed areas of glue.  If you have a lot of glue in there, you can actually see it sort of bubble out.

[Becky]

I wanted to give you an update.  I have replaced the side piece and was able to reuse all the other parts.  There was a fair bit of sanding required to get rid of the old glue residue but I did that last week and just tonight finished putting the gable ornament back on.  The wood elements of the clock are all now reassembled.  So far, so good.  I'll let the glue dry through tomorrow and then get the (re)finishing going.  So far, so good.

[dirtrider73068]

Good deal, glad your able to fix the mistake and keep it. I know what its like to make a mistake and start over but thats part of woodworking.

[jerry1939]

WAY TO GO LADY!!!    

"I have been told"  (Ahem)  what a great feeling it is to be nearing a solution to something that I screwed up. 

However, this is not to be considered an admission of guilt in the past.

jerry

[Becky]

It *is* a relief, I can tell you that.  I put Danish oil on it  (just in the places I had to sand on on the new side wall) tonight. 

I also had a brilliant, if I say so myself, idea.  Even as the finishing process progresses, I know I will still have tweaking to do when it is done.  There are eye screws that go on the back side of each of the doors.  They hold thin wires that pull the doors closed when the cuckoo retreats.  They have to be set just right or the doors will either not close completely or will close on the bird.  I am going to take a scrap of plywood and cut the shape of the door hole in it.  I can mount the housing on that temporarily while the real clock is going through finishing and at least a little curing.  Then I can used that wait time to get everything working just so.  That way, when it is ready to assemble, the tweaking will already be done. 

Pretty stoked about how well this is all working out.  I just hope there aren't any other surprises waiting to bite me in the butt.