How do I remove this "Mystery Glue"?

[Retrograde]

If it's shellac the best solvent would be alcohol.

I too have found alcohol to be a good solvent, especially bourbon.

Heh heh heh... Denatured would be the type to try on the turn table, the other only loosens humans

[tomb]

If it was hide glue I believe that heat would soften it. There is a big difference between denatured alcohol and rubbing alcohol. Tomb.

[Mr Grumpy]

mmmmm.... methyl hydrate....

[wjw]

It looks like the felt has had a prior replacement. I agree with a coarse abrasion for removal. With the new felt only put the adhesive on the flat part of the platter. This helps the ribbed section look less defined under the felt.
Learned this from Walt Sommers' handy instructions.

[De Soto Frank]

If you go with the power wire-wheel, use a light touch, and keep it moving.

Those things can generate a surprising amount of heat in the work-piece, and there's a chance of warping that stamped platter.

Suggest scraping the majority off with a razor-blade scraper, then removing the rest with wire-wheel, or sanding.


The home centers used to sell an adhesive solvent for mastic and similar tile / linoleum / cove-base applications. It would be found with the paint-thinners and strippers. You might check into that.


The factory would have used a glue that was cheap, set quickly, and would not soak-into the felt.

My first guesses would have been hide-glue or shellac. Varnish takes a long time to dry, so that would not be at the top of my list.

Hide glue melts around 140-150* F, you might try placing the platter in a 150* F oven (use a reliable oven thermometer) for a half-hour or so, and see if that softens the glue, if so, heavily dampen some paper-towels and lay those over the top, and leave in oven for another 15 minutes, and see if that softens the glue enough to remove.

You shouldn't need to worry about excavating the glue from the channels, only the high-spots.

Good luck !

[steambc]

Thanks guys. Nothing seems to have an effect on this glue. I've tried Acetone, very hot water, alcohol, basically everything I could throw at it. The stuff remains as hard as a rock. I've never liked the effect of wire brushing, especially of the powered variety, as that tends to smooth and polish metal, so I'm going to try my hand with a sanding block and progressively smoother sandpaper, starting carefully with 80 or 100. That should do it.

[Curt A]

"I've never liked the effect of wire brushing, especially of the powered variety, as that tends to smooth and polish metal..."

Duh... the metal will be covered with new felt so you won't see it and guess what... sanding will "smooth and polish metal".

Obviously, it's up to you if you want to waste extra time sanding the stuff off, but I have done this many times with absolutely no ill effects... I guess I wonder why you asked for advice in the first place?

[JerryVan]

"I've never liked the effect of wire brushing, especially of the powered variety, as that tends to smooth and polish metal..."

Duh... the metal will be covered with new felt so you won't see it and guess what... sanding will "smooth and polish metal".

Obviously, it's up to you if you want to waste extra time sanding the stuff off, but I have done this many times with absolutely no ill effects... I guess I wonder why you asked for advice in the first place?

After your rude response I'll bet he too is wondering why he asked. Was that really necessary?

[EarlH]

That's interesting about all the trouble you are having with the turntable cement. I always thought they used burnt shellac to stuck the felt down with, but I've never really tried to do what you are doing with your turntable. Hide glue will not stick to the metal so they wouldn't have used that. They did use a glue made out of isinglass in those days, but I don't know why they would have used that for this. That was what they used to use to stick paper, or photographs to glass and it dried clear. I've always just scraped it off as best I could with a cabinet scraper. If you have one of those sharpened nicely, they won't score the metal. They might a little bit if you aren't careful, but a cabinet scraper is really handy for work like you are doing. And it shouldn't disturb the plating on the rim of your turntable.

[Curt A]

After your rude response I'll bet he too is wondering why he asked. Was that really necessary?

Yes...