Cleaning up cork roadbed

[Blind Bruce]

I guess it was inevitable. I latex caulked the cork roadbed in the wrong place.
I carefully "sawed" it up with a very thin 1/2" metal spatula. All of the caulk stayed on the cork! How do I get it off to reuse?
BB

[Fergmiester]

Sand Paper

Paint brush cleaner

New Road bed

Fergie

[cacole]

Soak in water and rub it off with your thumb.

[Rotorranch]

I suggest new road bed.

Wanna buy some? [;)] [:)] [:D]

I dunno, as I don't caulk my track bown, but maybe, if the caulk hasn't set up too much, the water soak method suggested by cacole may work. If the caulk has set up, I'm not sure what you could do. The caulk will be waterproof if it's cured.

Rotor

[dgwinup]

I have been able to 'peel' the caulk off the bottom of the cork, but it wasn't the best job.

Try the other methods suggested above. If they don't work, use new roadbed. Save the old stuff for that branchline where the trackwork is never smooth anyway!

Darrell, peeling but quiet...for now

[claycts]

My $.02 is Alky, it will dissolve the latex and leave the cork.
George P.

[Blind Bruce]

Thanks to all. The sanding made too much dust, The water soak took 3 days and I am still sobering up from using alky.(scotch is too expensive anyway). I think I will buy new.
BB

[selector]

I was going to advise you to do just that, Bruce, but I thought it might be insensitive...not knowing much about your circumstances. So, I just lurked here. I am happy you have elected to do away with what is spent.

[Blind Bruce]

Selector,
Are you referring to the cork or the scotch?
BB

[selector]

Okay, you're waaay ahead of me on that one...heh, heh...[:D]

Speaking of which, I think I have some Dalwhinnie out in the trailer.

-Crandell

[Anonymous]

I use a very thin bladed kitchen knife with a very sharp blade. Slide it between the caulk and the cork and work it back and forth . It's a pain but it works for me. You may end up "shaving" a bit of cork but not enough to render the cork useless.

[Anonymous]

That is why I don't like to use caulk on my roadbed. I've tried using hot glue on the roadbed and it bubbled up and made the roadbed hilly which caused lots of derailments. I've also tried some adhesive material and I don't like it. I just use 3/4in. nails from Wal-Mart to nail down my roadbed. If I decide to take up the roadbed later, I just slowly pull it up in one piece and use a hammer to remove the nails. If I were you I wouldn't use caulking again, however, you've already used it so what you might try doing is taking a couple of days in your spare time and sand the caulking off using sandpaper or you might use a dremel and try to grind it off.

[icmr]

The Dremel might cut into the roadbed too much. I would scrape or soak and if that doesnt work I would buy new roadbed.



ICMR

Happy Railraoding.[swg][swg]