You beat me to the answer. Unfortunately, I'm guessing OP does not have a heat gun if they used scissors and keys to hack away the wax on the first two. Still the best way to free them.
I’ll do this if the good ole hammer and flathead doesn’t work. The plates we have are flush all the way around and don’t really have a spot to pry it open through the wax.
Would a blow torch be too much?
I would not use a hammer. That looks like brass, which is fairly soft and will deform. This will damage them and make them not close or open properly.
Get a heat gun, or even a hair dryer.
Screwdriver or static shock. Deadblow against screwdriver. Use a utility knife around edge of brass?(around lid). Should have waxing crew free it, assuming third party was used.
Yeah I don't know why you can't just pry it open, but if not then, assuming it's actual wax, maybe place a clothes iron on it and heat it to the point the wax softens or melts and then pry.
Do they really use traditional wax in gyms? Im not a gym floor expert but i figured it was a urethane product of some sort since that would be way more resilient and easier to clean. imagine spilling some very hot liquid on the floor and now having to redo the finish? Doesnt seem like wax is practical.
I don't know, hence my caveat about it actually being wax. The advantage of wax is that it can be repeatedly redone relatively easily, whereas a permanent clear coat would be much more work to strip and reapply. And I think a school gym needs to be redone relatively frequently.
On the other hand its hard to imagine wax sealing those plates so tightly that they can't be opened, although it might be a hard wax and it might have gotten all the way down into the gap, and OP may just be cautious about prying at it too hard.
Box knife or other sharp and disposable edge to cut around the plate that has to open, then a set of thin screwdrivers you can use to find the right width to pry against the edge until its freed.
Gym floors are almost always polyurethane and that’s what I bet it is.. But if you are sure it wax then used wax stripper. I’m sure Home Depot sells it. If it is polyurethane then use paint stripper.
BE CAREFUL!!! You can make an ugly mess of the surrounding floor if you are sloppy with either wax stripper or paint stripper. Maybe first (very carefully) score around the edge of the circle with a utility knife. Then protect surrounding area with heavy paper and apply stripper product with a small paint brush. After the stripper product has emulsified the wax/poly then scrape it up with a small 1” scraper. Clean the stripper residue with damp rags (water) if it is wax or acetone or mineral spirits on a rag if it is polyurethane.
Whatever the stripper hits it will damage the finish so be warned. It might be worth asking the custodian what kind of finish is on the floor so you get the kind of stripper.
I have a lot of experience with both types of finishes.
I'd be pretty surprised if the custodian doesn't have floor wax stripper. Some on a piece of Scotchbrite should break the wax down to be wiped off pretty quickly.
Maybe a clothing iron and a rag you don't mind throwing away? Put the rag on top of the wax, and use the iron to melt the wax which the rag will soak up.
Heat gun and rag. Apply heat gun for a few seconds to liquefy the top layer of wax. Wipe off with rag. Repeat until the brass is clean.
You beat me to the answer. Unfortunately, I'm guessing OP does not have a heat gun if they used scissors and keys to hack away the wax on the first two. Still the best way to free them.
Guessing this is girls volleyball, so one of them has a hair dryer...
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I’ll do this if the good ole hammer and flathead doesn’t work. The plates we have are flush all the way around and don’t really have a spot to pry it open through the wax. Would a blow torch be too much?
I would not use a hammer. That looks like brass, which is fairly soft and will deform. This will damage them and make them not close or open properly. Get a heat gun, or even a hair dryer.
Use a torch carefully and keep it moving around from a distance. Don't burn yourself too.
Cut around it with a knife and pry up?
This is the actual answer since it isn't really wax, it's a urethane sealant.
a screw driver to pry it open?
Screwdriver or static shock. Deadblow against screwdriver. Use a utility knife around edge of brass?(around lid). Should have waxing crew free it, assuming third party was used.
Yeah I don't know why you can't just pry it open, but if not then, assuming it's actual wax, maybe place a clothes iron on it and heat it to the point the wax softens or melts and then pry.
Do they really use traditional wax in gyms? Im not a gym floor expert but i figured it was a urethane product of some sort since that would be way more resilient and easier to clean. imagine spilling some very hot liquid on the floor and now having to redo the finish? Doesnt seem like wax is practical.
It's almost certainly a floor finish that they're just calling wax, very likely to be acrylic based like what I use at work.
I don't know, hence my caveat about it actually being wax. The advantage of wax is that it can be repeatedly redone relatively easily, whereas a permanent clear coat would be much more work to strip and reapply. And I think a school gym needs to be redone relatively frequently. On the other hand its hard to imagine wax sealing those plates so tightly that they can't be opened, although it might be a hard wax and it might have gotten all the way down into the gap, and OP may just be cautious about prying at it too hard.
Something like Osmo polyx-oil? That's described as a wax, but it's applied like a varnish/oil.
Box knife or other sharp and disposable edge to cut around the plate that has to open, then a set of thin screwdrivers you can use to find the right width to pry against the edge until its freed.
Gym floors are almost always polyurethane and that’s what I bet it is.. But if you are sure it wax then used wax stripper. I’m sure Home Depot sells it. If it is polyurethane then use paint stripper. BE CAREFUL!!! You can make an ugly mess of the surrounding floor if you are sloppy with either wax stripper or paint stripper. Maybe first (very carefully) score around the edge of the circle with a utility knife. Then protect surrounding area with heavy paper and apply stripper product with a small paint brush. After the stripper product has emulsified the wax/poly then scrape it up with a small 1” scraper. Clean the stripper residue with damp rags (water) if it is wax or acetone or mineral spirits on a rag if it is polyurethane. Whatever the stripper hits it will damage the finish so be warned. It might be worth asking the custodian what kind of finish is on the floor so you get the kind of stripper. I have a lot of experience with both types of finishes.
I'd be pretty surprised if the custodian doesn't have floor wax stripper. Some on a piece of Scotchbrite should break the wax down to be wiped off pretty quickly.
Maybe a clothing iron and a rag you don't mind throwing away? Put the rag on top of the wax, and use the iron to melt the wax which the rag will soak up.
Sharp blade. Cut the inner circle, to the hinge. Let the school remove the rest to the wood.