Corfam removal help needed

[Christopher D. Purdy]

>Friends,
>
>I need some fast advice.  I have here at home a Baldwin action with the
>really wood-hard Corfam on both the catchers and the butts.  I am having
>trouble getting the stuff off.  Is there any better way to do this?
>
>I am following Rob Kiddell's technical document on this job.  He says
>start at a corner of the catcher with a knife, then peel it off with a
>pliers.  The corfam rips before I get to the other end of it, and of
>course I run the good chance of slicing my finger before I finish doing
>this 176 times.
>
>I also tried something I saved off the list by "Marvin" who said it just
>falls off with 409.  I don't know how long one is to wait after soaking
>the Corfam, but so far this hasn't worked, either.  Hasn't even made a
>difference.
>
>Since I use wallpaper remover to get old key bushings out, I am about to
>give this a try.  There should be a better way to get this stuff off.
>Please help!  (desperate tone of voice)
>
>Thank you,
>Clyde Hollinger

clyde,

i've done a ton of these things. sometimes those puppies jump right off and
sometimes you have to fight and cuss.  here is what works best for me:

on the butts, take a small screwdriver, go under the corfam from the side
and twist so that the top section pops loose.  (these are glued at the top
and bottom only)  sometimes they don't pop as neatly as you would like.
here i trim with a razor blade.

now take the blade and cut down either side of the corfam into the bottom
section.  go parallel to the corfam and cut down to the bottom of the slot
that the corfam fits into.  this is usually pretty easy.  now that the
sides of the corfam are loose, use the pliers or maybe even your fingers
and pull the little bugger out.  this method almost always works very well
for me.

as for the catcher, i have not found an easy way to get the stubborn ones
off.  in the worst cases i tear it off the best i can and then sand the
rest off.  tape a sheet of 80 grit to the bench and hold the butt in your
hand and have at it.  you don't have to get a perfectly clean surface here.
the glue will adhire to a rough surface better than a pretty clean one.

hope this helps,
chris

-Christopher D. Purdy R.P.T.   School of Music  Ohio University  Athens OH

-purdy@oak.cats.ohiou.edu   (740) 593-1656    fax# (740) 593-1429