How to remove spray glue template paper from wood

[Alan Lilly]

I've used spray glue to attach a paper template to wood for cutting things like bandsaw boxes, but I've found it to be a bad idea to use my 12 inch disc sander to remove it later because the glue behind the paper badly gums up my 12 inch sanding disc. How do you remove this without sanding? A chisel is slow and can unnecessarily gouge the work. Maybe I need to find a less gooey/strong spray glue?

[pat warner]

Mineral spirits.

[David Eisenhauer]

I use Naptha to remove sticky stuff.

[Charles Lent]

It will depend on the glue. You need to find what solvent dissolves it. But you will likely need to sand it to remove the diluted glue left by the solvent.

Whenever I want a pattern that I want to remove easily without leaving residue I make the pattern using "Applique Film". It is a clear mylar sticky backed sheet that is designed to be used with a laser printer or photo copier. I print my pattern from my computer onto this film with a laser printer. Then roughly cut out the pattern, peel the backing off, and stick it to my project. It can be peeled loose and re-applied several times to get it positioned just right if the wood is clean and dry. After I finish cutting or carving I just peel the remains off. It leaves no residue behind. I buy Chartpak DAFR8 which seems to work best for this purpose. It's available through stationery stores and art supply stores, or over the internet, but you will likely need to buy a box of 100 sheets at a time at about $0.80 per sheet. It's worth it to me for certain projects, but I use paper patterns when my projects will be sanded. a ROS with 150 grit paper will remove paper patterns and glue quite easily. My glue of choice with paper patterns is usually stationery store rubber cement.

Charley

[Davis Young]

There are repositionable spray adhesives. 3m makes a No.75 Repositionable and Krylon has an Easy-Tack 7020.

[Max Neu]

I use Elmer's repositional spray adhesive,then touch it with a hot iron for a second or two and it falls right off.

[Larry Frank]

I put down blue painters tape first and then the pattern on the tape. I do this on all my scroll saw projects using 3M 77 spray adhesive.

[Lee Schierer]

I put down blue painters tape first and then the pattern on the tape. I do this on all my scroll saw projects using 3M 77 spray adhesive.

I was going to suggest the same thing.

[Frederick Skelly]

I put down blue painters tape first and then the pattern on the tape. I do this on all my scroll saw projects using 3M 77 spray adhesive.

Man, that's brilliant! I never even conssidered that. Thanks Larry (and Lee)!

[Al Launier]

I put down blue painters tape first and then the pattern on the tape. I do this on all my scroll saw projects using 3M 77 spray adhesive.

Same here!

[Andrew Hughes]

Painters tape brilliant! They should call that stuff everything tape I hardly use for painting.
Thanks for sharing your tip Larry.

[Kevin McCluney]

+1 on mineral spirits - I put some on a piece of paper towel and rub it on the pattern. It practically falls off after a minute. A little more mineral spirits removes any remaining adhesive. I currently use the 3M spray glue, but this method has worked on other brands as well. I hadnlt considered the painters tape underneath, which sounds great for smaller patterns.

[Marion Smith]

My hunch is perhaps you are spraying on too much glue? It took me a while to get the "less is more" habit on this one. I make a batch of scrollsaw Christmas ornaments every year for the grandkids out of 1/4" oak ply. I stack the blanks, brad nail them together, liberally apply the pattern adhesive and cut them all at once. I use plenty of spray here since the scrollsaw blade reciorocates and the pattern tends to peel away while cutting if you put a light coat on. An easy way to skip peeling off the paper and dissolving the adhesive is to just make the stack one more than I need and then throw the paper laden one away . More often than not, it takes longer to save the top one than to cut the whole stack. For my bandsaw boxes, I try to be very sparing with the adhesive, since the blade is always drawing the pattern downward. Once you get the right light spray down, they really do peel right off, then some clear mineral spirits to clean residue. Another tip is to limit the time the adhesive/pattern is on the piece to as little as possible. Hope some of this helps!

[Roger Pozzi]

I found THIS to work very well with a light coating. Removes easily with MS.