# Removing dried PVA glue off of clamps?



## mporter (May 5, 2011)

Yes, I am the lone idiot that glued up a bunch of cutting boards without waxing my clamps first. They were brand new clamps, I was just too excited to make some boards I guess. Now the clamp bars are covered in dried PVA glue. Is there a good way to dissolve the glue without having to scrape it off? By the way i have tried to scrape the glue off and it looks like it is going to be about a ten hour job to get it done. Just looking for a lazy solution to this. I have about 45 glue covered parallel clamps. PLEASE HELP!!


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## NiteWalker (May 7, 2011)

Brass wire wheel brush in a drill. A bit of heat from a heat gun or hair dryer speeds up the process.


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## mporter (May 5, 2011)

Good idea, never thought of that.


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## mporter (May 5, 2011)

I wonder if I can stick them in the oven first.


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## GaryC (Dec 31, 2008)

De-glu goo a product that melts the glue That's it name. google it


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## NiteWalker (May 7, 2011)

I wouldn't stick them in the oven. The bars would probably be ok, not the handles or heads possibly.


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## JoeinGa (Nov 26, 2012)

After you get the glue off, try a piece of masking tape on each bar before using glue the next time. I like it better than wax.


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## mojapitt (Dec 31, 2011)

I assure you that you are not the lone idiot on this kind of thing


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## mattjrogers (Jan 2, 2013)

What about using a hot heat gun and just a hard plastic or metal scraper since PVA is a thermoplastic - meaning that it melts. You could also just blast it off with a propane torch. I can't see the torch causing any damage to the thick bar of a parallel clamp because the glue would certainly melt at around 400 degree max and the bar will not have any metallurgical changes until at least 700. I also have lots of dried glue on my clamps (although I did wax them sometime in recent memory) and think that I may go out and try to clean them up right now.


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## Bluepine38 (Dec 14, 2009)

Nearly all of my old pipe clamps have scrape marks from the putty knives removing glue until I discovered that
masking tape was not all that expensive and it pulls off real easy.


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## JAAune (Jan 22, 2012)

Hot vinegar softens PVA glues and causes them to peel away from the surface. I've actually used it once to reverse a glue up gone bad. I just put a little white vinegar into a cup then microwave it until it's nice and hot.


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