Stuck together Glass Plates - how to unstick?

[pgk]

I have been asked to digitise a load of glass plates, mostly 1/4 plate, many from the 1920s. A few are well stuck together and before I have to resort to force, has anyone got any tips on less potentially damaging ways to unstick firmly stuck together glass plates?

[Tin Can]

Never tried that

force may not work

How about soaking in 80F water for an hour and watch

[jnantz]

I had rc prints stuck to glass I asked a similar question over on APUG. Ron mowrey ( a retired kodak photographic engineer ) suggested
the same thing Tin Can suggested warm water (with a little photo Flo ) didn't work ..
I also had 1940s era fiber prints stuck together I did the same thing .. it didn't work either.
I hope your luck is better than mine!

[Greg]

I've had luck with soaking the plates in room temperature distilled water BUT they have to soak for days. No luck with with emulsion to emulsion stuck plates though. Also with very slightly (emphasis on VERY SLIGHTLY) stuck glass plates, slowly moving a piece of paper back and forth between the plates has worked for me. "before I have to resort to force" Separating the plates with force doesn't work unless you try sliding one plate over the other without trying to physically separate them... most of the time this will not work but at least there's less chance of breaking glass.

[Gianluca-LFP]

Helloes.
In my past I have been an optician working on telescope lenses and mirrors.
Lens blanks can easily stick to the tool if the abrasive/polising slurries are allowed to dry; it happened to me a pair of times when I was at the beginning of my trraining with 8"glass disks.
Not the same as thin glass left sticking for decades on the gelatine side, so I have not a definitive solution. But leaving the glass/tool in water in my cases was the way to go. Having the whole thing going trough temperature intervals (VERY slowly) could help a bit.
No mallets nor screwdriver prying of any kind ! Detaching should happen spontaneously.
Gianluca