Polyester welding machines

Harlan M. Greene <ncpc<-a t->mindspring< . >com> writes

>Does anyone have any experience with the fairly inexpensive
>heat-welding polyester machines in some archival catalogues?

We have used one at the Monmouth County Archives for the past two
years.  It took some adjustments of the tension of the metal band
that heats up to get it to work properly, but now we are very
pleased with its performance.  The research seems to indicate that
acidic documents deteriorate faster when encapsulated.  We limit
encapsulation of acidic documents to those that require it to enable
handling without physical damage.  To the extent possible, we back
the documents with Permalife paper to act as a sump for acid
migration.

Gary D. Saretzky
Coordinator, Public History Internship Program
Rutgers University and Archivist
Monmouth County, New Jersey

                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 11:7
                  Distributed: Wednesday, July 9, 1997
                        Message Id: cdl-11-7-010
                                  ***