Removing leatherette from Retina

[colyn]

I have a Retina parts camera coming in that I want to use the leatherette from. The original was glued using shellac and for the most part is easy to remove. However there is usually a hard to remove area which usually results in damage to the leatherette.

What is an easy way to loosen the shellac so the entire piece can be removed without damaging it??

 

[n5jrn]

What is an easy way to loosen the shellac so the entire piece can be removed without damaging it??

I believe the solvent used in shellac is ethanol (aka ethyl alcohol), typically in the form of denatured alcohol since shellac is not a foodstuff 🙂 .

 

[Chris Sherlock]

G'day Colyn,
I've never had much luck using any solvent to remove the adhesive that looks like shellac on the Retinas. I suspect it is something else, maybe resorcinol.

Regards, Chris