To Dave and Pam who responded to my request for information on removing
old glue.
Thank you! Your advice is wonderful and I have plenty to do now. I have
never been on one of these lists before, so I apologize upfront if I
make mistakes or "post" incorrectly. I am thrilled at all the help and
advice, and look forward to seeing all your posts, regardless of the
topic. As an archaeologist, I am just learning the ins and outs of
museum work, and this list is a wonderful education. Thanks to all of
you for your hard work and efforts. You made my day and now I'm really
excited to get back to "my" museum!
Thanks again,
Gina Gage
-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of David Harvey
Sent: Wednesday, September 05, 2007 5:10 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] removing unknown glue
Gina,
I encounter this issue often. Objects conservators are always presented
with ceramics and other objects that someone "fixed" many years before
with no records or documentation (and folks often wonder why
conservators write treatment reports!:-)
If there is a loosened sample of the adhesive, or maybe a generous drip
that you can carefully remove from a join, then you can test it in
simple solvents to see what will solubilze, soften, or swell the old
adhesive.
You can also examine some of the mended pieces with a ultraviolet light
(black light) in a dark room (such as a bathroom or closet). If the
adhesive has a distinctive orange color, for example, you are probably
looking at an old shellac.
Now, as far as using solvents - you need to use very small amounts with
lots of venitllation. I would test using things like distilled water,
acetone, denatured alcohol, and xylene (but try to avoid xylene if
possible as it is a more toxic solvent than the others). Once you find a
solvent that works, then I would apply it via a syringene or other small
container that will let you feed a small mount right into the mend (I
like those small glue bottles used by cabinet makers and are in hobby
shops), cover with saran wrap, and repeat, testing the softeness of the
join with firm but gentle flexing. Once a sherd lets go and releases
then you will have to continue this same way to soften and remove the
remainng adhesive and using a scaplel to carefully pick it off of the
break edge.
This is work that takes infinite patience and no small measure of hand
skill to do properly.
Once the old adhesive is removed, check the registration of the break
edges. You can re-mend using a much more revesible adhesive such as a
50% solution oif Acryloid B-72. For very large ceramics or heavy
ceramics, you can consider using a more dilute soution of the Acryloid
to isolate the break edges and then using a higher strength epoxy for
the mend - this will allow the mend to be reversible. Use a sandbox for
mending and it is wise to also wrap saran wrap around the sherds that go
into the sand to reduce abrasion (especially important on softer
earhtenwares). Do not use your adhesive as a fill material. Use dots or
a line of it in the center of the sherd but do not use an excess to
where it squeezes out filling the seam and also getting on the body.
Again I warn you that this is not an easy thing to do well. Before
working on real artifacts I would suggest practicing on flea market
finds, buy something broken (if possible) and then drop it. Now you have
a group of sherds to mend!
Cheers!
Dave
David Harvey
Conservator
Los Angeles, California
On 9/5/07, Gina Gage <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>
> Hi,
>
> I am a volunteer at a small historical museum. We have several pieces
> of prehistoric pottery that previous volunteers glued together. We
> want to unglue them, but do not have any information on the type of
> glue they used. Any suggestions would be most welcome!
>
> Thank you
>
> Gina Gage
>
> Gina S. Gage
> Project Director
> Historic Archaeologist
> Northland Research, Inc.
> 1865 E. 3rd Street
> Tempe, AZ 85281
> Office (480) 894-0020
> Cell (602) 339-0933
> Fax (480) 894-0957
> [log in to unmask]
>
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