Pealing off laminated shims.

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John Illinois
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Pealing off laminated shims.

Post by John Illinois » Sun May 10, 2020 11:00 am

Is there a good way to separate shims ? I alway have difficulty pealing off the thinnest shim. Finger nail,sharp knife?


John

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RajoRacer
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Re: Pealing off laminated shims.

Post by RajoRacer » Sun May 10, 2020 11:02 am

I've used a small Exacto hobby knife before AND a magnifying visor ! I seem to recall reading something about heating up one end to delaminate the adhesive ?


Dan McEachern
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Re: Pealing off laminated shims.

Post by Dan McEachern » Sun May 10, 2020 11:16 am

Yup- Exacto knife.


modeltbarn
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Re: Pealing off laminated shims.

Post by modeltbarn » Sun May 10, 2020 12:22 pm

Heat a corner with a small lighter to soften the adhesive, then us a sharp blade. I use a utility knife because it has a good handle and supports the blade well, but a single edge razor blade or exacto knife work as well.


Jerry VanOoteghem
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Re: Pealing off laminated shims.

Post by Jerry VanOoteghem » Sun May 10, 2020 1:29 pm

I do more than heat the corner. I hold a propane torch near the shim stack until the adhesive, (paraffin?), burns away. They all come part nicely then. You obviously don't want to melt them... ;)


John kuehn
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Re: Pealing off laminated shims.

Post by John kuehn » Sun May 10, 2020 4:05 pm

I have good luck with single edge razor blades. That work fine for me.


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John Illinois
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Re: Pealing off laminated shims.

Post by John Illinois » Sun May 10, 2020 5:08 pm

Thanks for all the ideas. I will work on some shims tomarrow.

John


Jerry VanOoteghem
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Re: Pealing off laminated shims.

Post by Jerry VanOoteghem » Sun May 10, 2020 6:35 pm

Jerry VanOoteghem wrote:
Sun May 10, 2020 1:29 pm
I do more than heat the corner. I hold a propane torch near the shim stack until the adhesive, (paraffin?), burns away. They all come part nicely then. You obviously don't want to melt them... ;)
A refinement on my suggestion above would be to put a tie wire through the hole and hold the shim over a stove flame, (which in retrospect, is what I actually did).


Steve Hughes
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Re: Pealing off laminated shims.

Post by Steve Hughes » Sun May 10, 2020 7:05 pm

I don’t want the whole pack to come apart so I hold it with a pliers a ways from one end. Then hit the end with the torch.


Topic author
John Illinois
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Re: Pealing off laminated shims.

Post by John Illinois » Mon May 11, 2020 5:13 pm

I had good luck heating the shims with a micro torch. I held one end and heated just the outer layer all over. The outside layer would curl and loosen. They came off one at a time. The forum helps me once again.


John
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StanHowe
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Re: Pealing off laminated shims.

Post by StanHowe » Mon May 11, 2020 10:21 pm

Take your soldering gun, hold it on the pack until the top one slides off. Repeat as needed.


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Re: Pealing off laminated shims.

Post by Original Smith » Tue May 12, 2020 10:35 am

I have used an x-acto knife too, as well as a single edge razor blade. What I don't like is the shims are usually .003" which is too thick for close adjustments. I have to make my own .001" shims to get the adjustments I want.

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