Volume 18, Number 8
Dec 1994

Supplies & Services

Note: Elizabeth Morse, Assistant Conservator at Harvard, is the column editor for "Supplies and Services," and her material appears first. Announcements from other conservation newsletters follow. Suppliers should send their news and samples to Ms. Morse, Harvard University Library Conservation Laboratory. Since the lab has just moved from Morrissey Blvd. in Boston to the Cambridge campus, it is advisable to call at her new number, 617/436-5127, and ask for the new address.

Talas is now selling Goretex® barrier and felt laminate in quantities as small as a yard. Their phone number is 212/219-0770 and their fax is 212/219-0735.

Italian made matte black tiles for use in pasting out repair tissues (and later finding them!) can be had through B&F Ceramic Design Showroom, P.O. Box 1544, 8900 Telegraph Road, Newington, VA 22122. Their phone is 703/550-1600. Ask for Florida Tile Designer Series, Natura #8805 Black, 12" x 12" squares.

Marvelseal™ 360, an aluminum/plastic laminate film, can be ironed onto wooden surfaces such as frame rabbets which require sealing. It can be cut into strips and used to seal out volatiles from pressure sensitive tapes. It can be used in sheet form to produce an RH barrier. Marvelseal 360 is available from University Products, 800/628-1912 or Ludlow Corporation 413/538-7390.

The conservation sewing frame designed by C. Clarkson and P. Clothier, the Mark III, has gone into a second making and will be available at the end of February for £320. It is a modified version of the cantilevered frame that he and Sandy Cockerell developed in 1981-82. It comes with dual purpose keys that permit anchoring of tapes, cords, braids or thongs at the front edge of the base board. Order from Christopher Clarkson, 100, West Dean, Chichester, West Sussex, PO18 OQY, England. Tel.: (0243) 811 626.

Simon Green announces that Hayle Mill is reintroducing Bodleian handmade conservation paper after an interval of seven years. It has taken that long, he says, to find someone who can make it to the traditional Barcham Green standards. It is made of cotton and flax, sized with Aquapel, buffered with calcium carbonate, pH about 8, and watermarked with the name of the paper and year of manufacture. The Hayle Mill Newsletter #18, from which this news is taken, does not give the price of the Bodleian paper, but it does give the prices of 32 other kinds of mouldmade and handmade papers, sized with gelatin or Aquapel. For more information, fax the mill at 01622-756381.

Vacuuming to remove mold from books has been discussed lately on the DistList. Someone suggested using a wet/dry vacuum, but somebody else said that simply sending the air through a tank of water before discharging it would not take the mold spores and particles out of it. Annie Armour and Cathy Atwood both suggested vacuum cleaners that are designed to trap fine particles. Annie Armour, of the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, has a Euroclean HEPA vacuum that she is very happy with, and this is significant, because she is one of those people who are very sensitive to mold. It costs $545.70 from Lab Safety Supply (YB-14391); replacement filters are $80 each.

Cathy Atwood, of the Missouri Secretary of State Office, uses a 3M vacuum with a Type 1 filter that traps particles as small as 0.3 microns. She says it "is a nifty vacuum which looks like a plastic toolbox, including handle." It is noisy, though.

Preservation Resources (formerly MAPS) has a series of one-page handouts that clearly describe each of its remarkable services:

• Preservation Resources full services [an overview]
• Preparation of materials for preservation microfilming
• Bibliographic control of preservation microfilm;
• Preservation microfilming of non-book formats, rare materials, & items requiring special handling;
• Color and preservation microfilm;
• Preservation quality continuous tone microfilm;
• The new generation of cameras for preservation microfilming;
• Protection for preservation microfilm;
• Preserving microfilm.

Preservation Resources is at Nine S. Commerce Way, Bethlehem, PA 18017-8916 (610/758-8700 or 800/773-7222; fax 610/758-9700).

Kate Colleran had a technical notice in the December 1992 Paper Conservation News, recommending a material that makes a better blotter than blotting paper does. She says, in part, "It is a white version of something called Capillary Matting, used in horticulture to hold moisture for seedlings and potted plants. It is particularly useful when used as a water reservoir beneath Goretex. It is light, does not cockle or disintegrate, is reusable and, most importantly, produces excellent results." It is a polyester fiber with an acrylate binder. She and Alan Buchanan had been experimenting with it. It is obtainable from Alan Buchanan, 3 Arlington Cottages, Sutton Lane, Chiswick, London W4 4HB, tel. 081 995 9780.

An enclosure film that reacts with corrosive gases to protect artifacts and electronic equipment within the enclosure was announced in the May 16, 1992, Science News. It is now being manufactured and is in use at beta sites that include the Getty Museum, Colonial Williamsburg, the Vatican and the Guggenheim Museum. At the Getty Museum they are wrapping bronze statues in it to prevent bronze disease.

The materials in the film are all solids, non-volatile, covalently bonded. They stop ozone too. A bag no thicker than a plastic garbage bag would last about 30 years, then would tell you its scavenging ability was exhausted by turning dark.

At present the manufacturer is calling it "the Intercept Technology" or "Corrosion Intercept." It has not been marketed yet. The inventor is John P. Franey (AT & T Bell Labs, Room 1 B 401; 600 Mountain Ave.; Murray Hill, NJ 07974. Tel. 908/582-2490, fax 6290). The manufacturer is Keith Donaldson (Engineered Materials Inc.[EMI]; 113 McHenry Rd., Suite 179; Buffalo Grove, IL 60089. Tel. 708/ 215-1725, fax 1743). Samples and literature can be sent by the manufacturer on request.

A copying cradle for photographing the text of fragile books has been invented, and a small prototype produced. It was designed to minimize stress to the bindings and pages of copied books, produce good quality copy images, and speed up the copying process. The book only opens to about 90°. The inventor, Curt Lang, can send a sketch and information, or even a model, to anyone who is involved in photographing fragile books and who can give their comments. His address is #2 - 216 West 17th St., North Vancouver, BC, Canada, V7M 1V6; tel. 604/985-4794; e-mail clang@crossroads.com.