Dried Glazing Putty

[TeeDee]

Picked up a glazed antique type thing for the wife the other day , one of the glass panels is cracked , anyone know the best way to remove dried rock-hard glazing putty??


Thanks.

[coln18]

best way is with a nice sharp chisel, then replace it with linseed putty.....

[Mesquite]

best way is with a nice sharp chisel, then replace it with linseed putty.....

As Coln said, just watch out for the retaining pins that are usually fitted underneath the putty to hold the glass in place whilst the putty sets.

[TeeDee]

Fair enough , I didn't know if there was anything you could apply , chemical wise , to resoften the putty? It quite a delicate piece and with my usual Ogre-ish dexterity i wanted to build in a safety margin before i attack it with the sharp stuff.

[hiho]

just see me doing that.
whack....smash need i say more

[Tengu]

As far as I know, no. (gentle heat might help)

Says she who has done stained glass.

Just be very patient

[Toddy]

Fair enough , I didn't know if there was anything you could apply , chemical wise , to resoften the putty? It quite a delicate piece and with my usual Ogre-ish dexterity i wanted to build in a safety margin before i attack it with the sharp stuff.

If you are in no desperate hurry, you can soak the putty with linseed oil. Neatest way I know of to do this is to cut long strips of cotton wool and soak them in the linseed oil and pack them closely along the putty.
Putty is really just a mix of clay and linseed oil anyway, sometimes with some drying oils added. It will soak in eventually and then you can scrape the old putty out with something with an edge but not something rabid. An old table butter knife or the like. That should let you get at the damaged bit without forcing anything.
Dispose of the linseed soaked cotton wool carefully, it burns very well indeed.
Commercial glaziers soften hardened putty using a blowtorch Probably not a good idea in a fine piece though.

Best of luck with it

cheers,
Toddy

[Adze]

Dispose of the linseed soaked cotton wool carefully, it burns very well indeed.

If there's enough oil on the cotton wool and too little moisture in the air it can and will combust spontaneously. A sliced up washing up sponge might be a safer bet.

[TeeDee]

Thanks Toddy , I 'll give that a go.

If you are in no desperate hurry, you can soak the putty with linseed oil. Neatest way I know of to do this is to cut long strips of cotton wool and soak them in the linseed oil and pack them closely along the putty.
Putty is really just a mix of clay and linseed oil anyway, sometimes with some drying oils added. It will soak in eventually and then you can scrape the old putty out with something with an edge but not something rabid. An old table butter knife or the like. That should let you get at the damaged bit without forcing anything.
Dispose of the linseed soaked cotton wool carefully, it burns very well indeed.
Commercial glaziers soften hardened putty using a blowtorch Probably not a good idea in a fine piece though.

Best of luck with it

cheers,
Toddy

[stevesteve]

A cricket ball... don't bother asking how I found out aged 10!


Cheers,
Steve