Pat DeWitt inquired in the 10/23/10 MMDigest what is the best way to
split open the Duo-Art Expression Box.  I saw this demonstrated at an
AMICA convention a number of years ago.

1. Get a carpet and lay it on the floor.  It needs to have a little
give in it but not too much.  Note: This method will not work if the
expression box is sitting on a hard, solid surface -- there must be
some give in the surface that the expression box is sitting on.

2. Take all the stuff off the box, paying particular attention that
there are no screws that run from the top half of the box into the
bottom half.  There must be nothing but the glue joint holding the
bottom and top halves together.  This glue joint should be more than
80 years old by now.

3. Take the top off the box if you haven't already done that.

4. Get good solid piece of wood that's about 3/4" by 2" in cross section
and about a foot and a half long;  I'll call it "the stick."  Probably
it would be best if "the stick" is hardwood as it's going to have to
take a hammer blow or three.

5. Place one end of "the stick" down into the top of the open expression
box solidly against the top of the board that forms the top of the
bottom half of the expression box.  The top half of the expression box
is glued on this board that you should have "the stick" resting on.

6. Take a regular carpenter's hammer and give "the stick" a good hardy
blow.  You may have to strike "the stick" several times before the glue
joint pops loose.  Your probably shouldn't try to hit it as hard as
you can, but the blow(s) will have to be good, sharp blows.  Little
wimpy, easy blows won't do it -- you've got to really whack it!

7. After the expression box pops open you probably will want to go get
yourself a beer and relax for a while.

What makes this work is that when you strike your hammer blow it
drives the expression box down into the carpet it's sitting on with a
tremendous amount of acceleration.  An instantaneous and surprisingly
huge force is exerted on the glue joint by the inertia of the upper
part of the expression box as the lower part of the expression box is
driven down by the hammer blow.

Dick Merchant
Carlsbad, New Mexico