Figural !

[A. G. Maisey]

Detlef, the problem with holding a piece of timber over hot water to loosen adhesive is that there can be risk of raising the grain of the wood, thus creating a situation where you could need to refinish the entire piece.

If you use a damp --- only damp, not dripping water --- cloth & cold water, that risk of raising the grain is reduced to a minimum.

In fact, with fine cabinet work, and other types of fine finishing of timber, we deliberately raise the grain prior to polishing, I was taught to do this by using a damp cloth and then a hot iron on the damp cloth, but these days I often use an electric steam iron.

Additionally, now we sometimes find that a repair has been done with other than ordinary wood adhesives, these will not loosen up from the damp by softening the adhesive, but with damp and time, the grain of the wood itself will usually weaken and you can separate the joint.