I Googled up the best ways to remove old hard rubber and used the acetone pick-and-pick-and-scrape method to remove this 30-40 year old rubber. Took an hour on the red side, but was starting to remove wood fibers that were wet with acetone so it was less than perfect. Plus I'm not a patient man.
After it dried I gently heated the black side over a gas burner until it was just barely manageable with my bare fingers (no gloves handy), and peeled it off mostly intact in 5-7 minutes.
I read somewhere to wrap in a wet towel and iron it, which would probably do just as well, without the risk of melted rubber.
After it dried I gently heated the black side over a gas burner until it was just barely manageable with my bare fingers (no gloves handy), and peeled it off mostly intact in 5-7 minutes.
I read somewhere to wrap in a wet towel and iron it, which would probably do just as well, without the risk of melted rubber.