Carpentry question

[ChadTower]

Okay, just about to make the repairs on this pin with a separated corner.  The wood is not damaged, but the triangular corner support inside the corner is broken in half and the corner is fully separated.  What is the best way to handle that?  The corner support seems to be screwed AND glued, so I can't just get it off to replace it.  It's also taking up most of the length of the inside of the corner.  What is my best course of action here?  Gluing the support back together while the cabinet is pipe clamped in place?  Trying some way to get that support out to replace it? 

If need be, I can get pics later today, but the situation is actually pretty simple and I'm a carpentry newbie.

[Paul Olson]

I would break out the triangle piece and replace it.  I don't think just regluing that piece would be very strong.  Take the screws out, then pry the support piece out.  I would probably use a chisel and a hammer.  The glue should give as you hammer the chisel in there.  Make sure you angle the chisel tip so it doesn't cut into the wood on the cabinet.  It should go between the 2 pieces, but angle it so if it does cut into wood, it is in the triangle piece.

Paul

[ChadTower]

I would break out the triangle piece and replace it.  I don't think just regluing that piece would be very strong.

Paul

That is what I am thinking too... what is the best way to do that?  It's glued in pretty hard.  Dremel, or chisel, or what?

[Paul Olson]

Look at the last post, I was editing it when you replied.

Paul

[ChadTower]

Yep... plywood is very porous, though, so the glue would likely not give, it would rip out fibers as it broke... that's okay, I can chisel off most of it.  It doesn't have to be pretty, it has to be strong.

[Flinkly]

chisel.  if you do it slowly and well, you can break it off pretty well with minimal damage to what it's glued to.  then just make a replacement corner, and put it back in like the one was before.  glue is really strong, but doesn't hold up well to shear force.  that's what you'll be giving it with a nice sharp chisel, so just be precise and you shouldn't have a problem.  i'd say practice on something else first if you've never used a chisel before, but you'd have to glue some scrap wood together...

[ChadTower]

Yeah, I should be okay.  Like you said, slowly, and a bit at a time, and I'm all set.

Now, if I only had a table saw so I could easily make a new corner support triangle.  I'm going to make it look odd and use a square. 

[Avery]

I'd remove the screws (make sure you have them all out) then use a chisel and then, to clean up the wood for glueing I'd use a block plane.

You probably don't have a plane though and probably don't want to buy one plus the stone and jig you'd need to sharpen the thing, so I'd recomend cleaning up the bits that don't come off with the chisel with a hand sander.

[nostrebor]

Don't use a chisel that you are proud of

[ChadTower]

Don't use a chisel that you are proud of

?  I don't get it... I bought a set of three chisels this morning, nothing fancy but effective.

[nostrebor]

Hacking away at a 20+ year old piece of plywood, not knowing what  metal bits lie within, is a great way to ruin a good chisel. I have some junky cheap chisels for that type of thing, and some high end chisels for fine woodworking. I try not to mix them.

[ChadTower]

Good point.  I didn't have any chisels so I had to buy some. 

[Tailgunner]

Hacking away at a 20+ year old piece of plywood, not knowing what  metal bits lie within, is a great way to ruin a good chisel. I have some junky cheap chisels for that type of thing, and some high end chisels for fine woodworking. I try not to mix them.

Completely off topic, but your sig pic rocks.

Been there, done that, still have curly hair to prove it. 

[nostrebor]

Hacking away at a 20+ year old piece of plywood, not knowing what  metal bits lie within, is a great way to ruin a good chisel. I have some junky cheap chisels for that type of thing, and some high end chisels for fine woodworking. I try not to mix them.

Completely off topic, but your sig pic rocks.

Been there, done that, still have curly hair to prove it. 

Thank You. It was blatantly stolen from another forum. It is a reflection on my PCB testing skills, so it seemed appropriate for this forum.

[Avery]

Hacking away at a 20+ year old piece of plywood, not knowing what

[ChadTower]

I managed to get it out without damaging the new chisel at all.  It actually took very little force to strip the support off because it was already damaged... I used minimum force, pried off what I had separated, and repeated.  It exposed any nails I encountered well before they were chiseled against.