Thread: My Escher arrived today !!

Originally Posted by AndrewJM

That sounds easy enough... is there any worry re the temperature change of cracking the stone?

I did mine with hot water. IIRC I just put it in a bowl of hot water/poured water over it until the glue loosened and it could be easily removed.
The glue holding the case together may loosen too, but they're very easy to reglue.

And so glad I did. Using that stone in the case was painful.

Remember that stones freeze all the time. The only caveat is if you have a crack in the stone. You arent heating the whole stone at once , you are starting in an area and trying to loosen the stone.The rest of the stone acts like a heat-sink and disipates extreme changes in one area.
Or you can do like I did and freeze the stone and box lost my patience and took frozen stone outside and droped it from 8 feet up. Broke 1 inch off my stone and fractrured the box. All of which is of course extremely stupid of me. It took me a week to recut stone and repair the box.
Dont be me .

Originally Posted by ultrasoundguy2003

Remember that stones freeze all the time. The only caveat is if you have a crack in the stone. You arent heating the whole stone at once , you are starting in an area and trying to loosen the stone.The rest of the stone acts like a heat-sink and disipates extreme changes in one area.
Or you can do like I did and freeze the stone and box lost my patience and took frozen stone outside and droped it from 8 feet up. Broke 1 inch off my stone and fractrured the box. All of which is of course extremely stupid of me. It took me a week to recut stone and repair the box.
Dont be me .

Ouch! I would be crying!

Here are a few done by scotch-taping around the sides and paper over the honing surface, all taped up. Spray polyurethane, and lots of it!

Originally Posted by ultrasoundguy2003

I put it in the freezer for 4 hours , when the glue is brittle I ran a sharp blade around the periphery. Then steam . Specifically a tea pot on the stove , rapid temp change caused the glue/epoxy to fail. Use a butter knife to work it in one area and see if it will loosen.
Other option is acetone/Fingernail polish remover, or lighter fluid. Freezing cause contraction,you then make a space around periphery. heat causes expansion, chemical reaction of above mentioned have been used with sucess by me personally. Results may vary .

While this may work it sound risky on a treasured stone. Why not whittle away the box and then plane off the remaing wood and glue and then sandpaper. Then you can seal it. Low risk and it still gets the job done.