How to remove tolex glue?

blakejcan

Well-known member
Trying to refinish a Marshall cab. Stripped tolex off and tried a belt sander to clean up glue

All it did was gunk up the belt and leave gouges in the wood

I'm thinking a stripper or some kind? (The not fun kind)
 
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Re: How to remove tolex glue?

I've never tried to remove it but I would start by trying a heat gun and scraper to remove the bulk of it. Then use the appropriate solvent to take off the rest.

Maybe someone with more experience can confirm this would work.
 
Re: How to remove tolex glue?

I would think that any sort of moisture would penetrate the wood if it's as porous as the cabs I've seen.

Maybe hand-sanding? Or maybe just add more while you're re-covering it?
 
Re: How to remove tolex glue?

I used a long hobby knife blade and scraped if off. It took quite a while but was worth it because very little damage to the wood. I did realise after though that if you put a thick or deep grained tolex back on such as Marshall "elephant" then you don't need to get all the glue off, just spray over it.
 
Re: How to remove tolex glue?

I wouldn't worry about removing all of the residue, as d1dsj said, just spray or roller new glue over it all. It's not going to show through the new tolex. However, if after your sanding you find that there are big globs of glue, you could try rubbing them with a rag saturated in paint thinner. Try paint thinner on a spot first to see if it will "melt" the glue. If not, you could try lacquer thinner or acetone. None of those solvents will hurt the wood. Just don't use water.
 
Re: How to remove tolex glue?

just used some kleanstrip. really wished I'd started with this stuff. Thanks everyone!
 
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