UPDATE: Went to orangeborg today to see what retail therapy they
could provide, and had my choice of two options. The first was a
floor scraper that was a full 14" wide. It had a wooden handle with a
stamped steel base into which a flimsy piece of low grade steel was
screwed as a scraping blade - price: $19.00. A bit further down the
aisle was another floor scraper - this one at $29.00. Must be
better....right?

Right-o indeed! This thing is EXACTLY what I was looking for. It's
made in Taiwan for Q.E.P. Co., Inc. (Boca Raton, FL) and the sticker
says it's an "8" ADJ. RAZOR FLOOR SCRAPER WITH BLADE". It has a
two-piece heavy steel handle that is adjustable from 4' to 8' long
using a simple twist lock. The head is a two-piece cast steel unit
into which nests a eight inch long "high carbon steel" blade and
secured with good sized machine screws. That's it.

This sucker is nice and solid - and really works. I was a bit
concerned that the twist lock mechanism wouldn't hold up under stress,
but after using it for a bit I get the sense it will last *forever*.
And the adjustability feature is actually fantastic. When I'm in
tighter areas like closets I shrink it down for detail work, and for
open spaces I open it up and let her rip! I think the heft really
helps because it carries a bit of momentum to help blast through the
crud. The only downside initially was that the included blade came
not only unsharpened - but fully rounded over. I took care of that
with my new Veritas scraper Jointer/Edger and an 8" mill file,
although I have to say it worked pretty well even prior to sharpening.

It doesn't get every last bit of glue up - there's definitely a thin
layer left unless you really go nuts on an area - but it appears that
it gets enough such that a bit of mastic remover will make quick work
of the rest. I'll let you know when I reach that stage.

Many thanks for pointing me in the right direction George!!! If
you're in Central New York, stop by and I'll give you one of the
six-packs from the fridge.

JP
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Top posting feels weird.

PS - Don't get *too* excited, it's still VERY labor intensive.






On Mon, 8 Dec 2003 10:14:26 -0700, "George M. Kazaka"
wrote:

What i found works better than the heavy Ice chippers is what the ceramic
tile guys use and also the carpet folks.
It is like the ice chipper they just call it a floor scraper it is only
about 4" wide and has disposable blades
There like razor blades that you would scrape paint off your window.
When doing some ceramic tile in the house a friend that does it for a living
pulled it out to clean up some old thinset and I said Yah right, well he
made me eat my words it scrapes that **** right down to the slab real good.
Picked one up next trip to HD for when i have to tear the Kitchen tile up
and replace it with the new stuff that is holding down my Garage floor from
getting up and running down the street.
You'll Find it is the Ceramic tile tool section.

Oh ya ya still need the six packs these scrapers do not work without the
proper lubricant

Have Fun,
George

"Jay Pique" wrote in message
.. .
On Mon, 08 Dec 2003 16:46:24 GMT, "David Babcock" wrote:

"Jay Pique" wrote...
DAGS, no real luck other than "try citrus based solvents" or "hire a
professional". Anyone here have any ancient Chinese secrets for
getting this stuff off?

"Ancient Yankee Secret"
Don't know what part of the country you're in, but get yourself and ice
chipper, the kind you use to break up ice on a sidewalk, or maybe the
tool
used to remove asphalt roofing shingles. Put a couple six packs in the
fridge and have at it. Especially if you're not saving the carpet.

Definitely not saving the carpet. Definitely familiar with ice
chippers and beer. Gives me a nice excuse to go get some more
Oomegang....

JP
*******************
Skaneatelean.