Put heat to work to loosen glue joints

I had to take apart an edge-glued panel because of a mistake. Unfortunately, modern wood glues hold so tenaciously that the wood breaks before the glue joint. The solution my wife gave me was a bit less drastic than splintering the panel or cutting out the joint.She loaned me a heat bag that she uses for sore muscles—a small cloth bag she made from a pillowcase and filled with 3 or 4 pounds of rice. At her suggestion, I heated it in the microwave to the point it was almost too hot to handle. I then wrapped the glue joint in the hot bag for about 15 minutes. The heat softened the glue, and the joint then came apart easily without any damage to the wood.—Richard Harris, Middletown, R.I.