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Removing 3mm cork sheet from a plywood baseboard.


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I have a acquired a couple of plywood baseboards which presently have some uneven 3mm cork sheeting glued to them with PVA adhesive I believe. Are there any tips on removing the old cork sheeting as it is quite well bonded to the ply baseboard it seems!

Any suggestions gratefully received.

Martin

Edited by Martinnj
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A good sharp chisel. At least 25mm wide. Then 40 grade abrasive paper. Don't forget the six litres of elbow grease.

Alternatively, in the absence of EG, a soft pad on the angle grinder. Dust protection essential.

Edited by doilum
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I have also used a flat wallpaper scraper once you are able to get underneath one of the edges. To make the surface good after scraping, I would use a flat sander, either a belt sander or one with a flat bed and orbital motion. The risk with an angle grinder or any rotary sanding device is that they have a habit of suddenly digging in and you can end up with an unwanted groove in the ply.

 

Edited by gordon s
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I can't answer for the OP, but would never reuse a cork trackbed, particularly if the track had been glued down and ballasted. Cork is not particularly expensive and the key to good running is always a perfectly flat set of rails. Any compromise from sanding and removing material is always going to reduce the rail height in a localised area and without refilling or packing it back to the correct height you are just introducing a problem where there is no need. Taking extra care when laying track will always reduce the chances of problems later, so why cut corners to save a few bob......

 

 

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Another vote for the water and using a 12" ruler, preferably a grotty old one.

 

Hopefully the PVA used was not the waterproof variety. If it is the right sort, I have found that hot water loosens it enough to allow the rule to be used in two ways. Either as a long flat chisel, or with a sawing action using its long edge.

 

One time I got really lucky and the hot water was all that was needed. The cork just peeled away once it had soaked through the thickness of the cork.

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I've just being doing that very thing, albeit lifting an old cork trackbed rather than whole sheets.  I found that a wallpaper scraper worked best, followed by a going over with an electric sander (flat, not rotary).  I'm not sure that water makes any difference, at least initially, as I don't think it permeates through the cork.

 

DT

Edited by Torper
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