Sonny wrote:

Hide glue is fine. If you can open the joint enough to clean it well, then reapplication of hide glue will do just fine. If you can't clean the joint well enough, epoxy might be your best adhesive option for a "dirty" joint, less than perfect(?) joint.


This has me confused: I thought one point of hide glue is that it sticks
to itself, so can be reapplied and reassembled. I thought it was synthetic
glue that had to be cleaned off.

Do I have the story backwards?

And I'm about to abandon you, as to any follow-up with *assistance. I'm leaving for vacation, Saturday, so I won't be here to comment or encourage you, until September. But I suppose you'll do a good repair and modification job and keep the integrity of the desk as best intact, as you can.

Thanks for the vote of confidence, I hope it's justified!

bob prohaska