Conservation of bamboo

With respect, I think people are getting a little off-beam on this.
Techniques which are appropriate for the conservation of waterlogged
archaeological bamboo are unlikely to be relevant to the
conservation of relatively new and undegraded material.  What I
imagine has happened is that the bamboo object has been taken from
the tropics (constant high RH) and has been put in a museum (much
lower RH) and has consequently dried out.  I would recommend putting
the object in a high RH environment for a while to see what happens.
I wouldn't recommend applying any hygroscopic material or lubricant.
If the high RH increases flexibility or closes gaps you will need to
think about storing the bow in a container with buffering material
to maintain high RH.  Experiment will show what RH is necessary or
appropriate.

Barry Knight
English Heritage
London

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 10:88
                 Distributed: Thursday, April 10, 1997
                       Message Id: cdl-10-88-004
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