W. Watson wrote:
Fortunately, my local h/w store had a conduit magic wand that would do the
trick. However, they were out of stock. Apparently, some guy who was buying
something called the London Bridge had bought them.

With a little more thinking and strategizing, I found a place to cut that
got me around the problem. However, while I was struggling with a way to
separate them, I did make progress with heat and peeling one pipe away from
the other. Just too awkward to continue.

However, I ran into the opposite problem last night. Putting two 45 degree
bends for 1.5" conduit together. Sanding didn't help. A visit to the h/w
didn't help either. I had a limited choice, since I had cut one of the
bends. Soap? I'm going to cross my fingers and hope the glue will act as a
lubricant. If not, I'm out $12 and some more time.

Not a lubricant, the glue softens the surface of the conduit and
coupling. The fit is deliberately made tight because of this effect.

Jerry