Is there any way to remove HO flex track that has been glued to cork roadbed with latex caulk?
I have been working on a 6" section with a long blade utiluty knife but it seems to not want to part company.It has been set there for about a year now and I really need to remove it. BTW, the cork is also glued to the 2" foam with latex caulk.
Any ideas?
Bruce in th ePeg
Bruce, I use a 2" wide flexible blade putty knife to remove flex track that I’ve glued down with caulk. I slide the blade under and slowly work it across the width of the track, then start working the blade down the length of the track, a few ties at a time. It usually comes up with no problem.
I hope this helps,
Don Z.
[#ditto]
You beat me to it Don! The same technique works for me, using the putty knife just as Don described.
I also use a flex blade putty knife, but when I used too much caulk I have used the steak knife that I usually carve foam with.
I use a metal spatula or putty knife as well, see-sawing the entire implement rather than slicing under the ties. One has to be careful to keep pressure downard on the edge that is impacting the still-glued ties so that it tends to slide under them, not press them away and break the spike heads. This takes a fairly strong grip and determination, and is not going to be easy going, no matter what.
I wonder if wetting the caulk for a few hours would soften it a bit…dunno.
Crandell,
Not that I’m aware of. White glue or wood glue can be reactivated and softened by sustained wetting. (Like laying a damp paper towel across the area.) Once caulk sets up, there’s no turnin’ back.
Tom
OK, I got it up but…
I used waaaaay too much caulk. There was plenty of room for ballast but when I pulled up the track, there was a substantial caulk left on the cork with no visible caulk where the ties were. Now, I.m trying to scrape and sand the residue to bare cork.
Thsnks guys,
BitP
I wonder if one of those electric carving knives would work. Check out a garage sale for one suitable for the MRR.
I suspect that the electric knife would be too thick as they have parallel blades oscillating back and forth. It would probably slice the ties though.
BB
NOT without damaging or bending something in the process - specially $10 - $20 turnouts.
I use a Photographers mounting spray (Artists Supply) to adhere cork to Plywood (press fit) and RR spikes to hold track. The Photogs spray mount allows repositioning and the spikes pull out.
With foam, I find using a ‘sandwich’ combining rigid /soft (or soft /rigid) formulae hard to beat. (such as Atlas ‘TRU Trak’ or or Kato Unitrack when using a foam base.
I’d be tempted to try the roadbed + track combination. Removing bonded track & turnouts without bending something is difficult and tricky. Good luck.
Keep in mind for future.
I have used a hacksaw blade in the past to do a similar separation job.
Try one of these …
It’s a Japanese flush-cutting saw. The teeth have no set, so it will indeed slice easily between ties and roadbed with little to no damage to either. I use one of these to flush cut dowels on pegged furniture joints. The saw is very thin and razor sharp.
Lynda
This is why I use yellow wood glue. I’ve never had any problems pulling up track and scraping off the excess glue is easy on Woodland Scenics trackbed and it doesn’t tear it up when you take off the glue. As good practice I generally will go ahead and replace the trackbed, if I pull up track. But it isn’t required.