Cyrano4747
Well-known member
If you decide to try and flip the disk, get yourself an exacto knife or a scalpel or something similar and chase the edge of the disk where the wood buts up on it. You can have a lip of wood there where it swelled or got forced down over it over the last century+. It might be wood, it might just be a hundred years of petrified grunge, but either way if you're very very careful you can clear it up without screwing up the stock or making it unsightly. If you don't there is a chance that it tries to stick to the disk and you end up pulling a sliver of stock out with it, which will look like absolute hell.
The other thing to keep in mind is that this is a flat piece of brass sunk below the surface of the wood. It's challenging to pull up without levering it against a spot that is going to leave a mark. I recommend dental picks and trying to pull up from the hole that the screw sits in. If you screw up and put a small dent there it won't be visible once it's all put back together.
edit: don't take this to mean it's impossible or even overly difficult. It's just one of those things where you need to know what you're getting into and use the right tools. It's the kind of operation that bubba in his garage will make a mess out of but someone who's going into it with care and taking their time should come out OK.