Best way to remove old tolex

[RogerWilco99]

I've put on a lot of tolex and tweed in my time but I don't know a good way to remove it. I've got a heat gun but I'm afraid I'll just melt the tolex.

Anyone got a good way to remove tolex with glue that seems to have the grip of a gorilla? I've tried just pulling on it and using a putty knife with _very_ mixed results. I end up having to sand the wood before putting new tolex on. And the tolex usually tears or separates the plastic part from the cloth backing.

So, I need a good and relatively reliable way to remove tolex (and tweed if you have a method for that, too). Perhaps if we get good methods here it should be a sticky?

Cheers,
Bruce

[Don Doucette]

In my experience newer tolex seems to respond better to heat when carefully applied, older tolex takes an application of steam between the wood and tolex to help things along, Elbow grease and sanding however seem to be the two things that all tolex will eventually submit to.

Some warnings... colleagues of mine and I have attempted several other methods that in the long run led to an increase of work or total failure, some with catastrophic results;

-Chemical strippers work in varying degrees but the consensus is that it actually makes the job harder with all the cleanup and some glues turn to gooo and get all over everything, and the glue holding the cab together can be affected.

-Modified / custom dip tanks ala furniture stripping, again can cause havoc depending on the tolex and glue used, some seemed to come off with little or no outside interference and some became globs of jelly that deposited itself all over the cabinet making matters worse. Glue holding the cab together IS rendered useless and cab will have to be re-assembled.

-Hot water soak <--- Bad idea, bad bad bad. Don't do it. Trust me!

-A friend of mine found a tube amp at the dump and was able to remove the tolex with relative ease when he rebuilt the cab and so surmised that exposure to the elements would expedite the decomposition of the glue used on cabs, again this was a foolish theory as we left a cab exposed for near a year with disastrous results. I think the junk yard find was a recent drop off and the age of the tolex/glue had more to do with it's ease of removal.

Just so you know most of these experiments were carried out on garage sale/thrift store finds of no monetary or collectible significance, we may be crazy but we're not dumb ;-)

[Tinkerer]

A friend once told me that the best way to prune roses is with a bulldozer, so in keeping with that, maybe the best way to remove tolex is with a flame thrower!!!

Depending on how old the cabinet is will depend on what adhesive was used to glue the tolex down. I'm led to believe that in the 50s and 60s, hide glue was used, so heat is the answer, but be careful of the joints in the wood as they may also be glued with hide glue. If contact adhesive was used, then again heat is the answer. PVA is the other glue I've heard being used, and that is generally water soluble, but that will most likely destroy the cabinet as well as remove the tolex.

Having never had the misfortune of having to remove tolex, my plan of attack would be careful use of heat and a scraper, then a once over with a belt sander.

Hope this helps.
Tinkerer

[jaydawg]

Regular old lacquer thinner in a ketchup style bottle. Get an edge started then squirt a little thinner in between the tolex and wood and will loosen the glue. Just keep pulling the tolex and adding a little thinner as needed until you're done.