Removing epoxy

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HyperSpeed

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I have an ABS R/C boat hull which I am trying to split in half and strengthen inside. It is a two-piece molded hull, and it looks like it was glued from the factory with some sort of epoxy that resembles the color of wood glue.

Is it possible to remove such glues or epoxies by heating, without damaging the plastic? I tried running a blade in between, but the stuff is just too hard to cut.
 
You have to know the Tg (glass transition temperature) of the epoxy you're dealing with (assuming it is an epoxy resin). Then you have to heat it to above that point, which degrades the epoxy and you stand a better chance of breaking it free.

Of course, any such attempt is likely to damage the plastic, as well.

When you say it's the "color of wood glue," that leads me to believe it's probably a polyurethane adhesive, instead of epoxy. Epoxy doesn't tend to stick to plastics such as ABS very well.

-Kevin
 
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