Wood consolidation

Jane Ketcham inquired about the use of Abatron "Liquid Wood" and
"WoodEpox" products on maritime/architectural objects.  I would
agree that an architectural stabilization approach, in this case,
would be the one to take.  I am currently developing a treatment for
a wooden boat which also has been exposed to extreme conditions, but
which fortunately will be stored indoors after treatment.  I am
going to use the Abatron products on the areas of the structure that
have been rotted and broken, in addition to wood fills.  I would be
important to insure that the wood is as dry as possible before using
the wood consolidant.

I have visually compared Abatron's products with other similar epoxy
wood filling/consolidating systems that I have seen at trade shows,
and the Abatron products are superior in terms of density,
appearance, workability, and ease of coloring.  I have recently used
the WoodEpox filler on a small wooden object and the results were
very good.  In that case, I consolidated the insect-damage areas
with 5% Butvar B-98 in ethanol prior to reconstructing major lost
features and filling gaps in areas that would have structural
stresses.  I wanted the treatment to be as reversible/retreatable as
possible.  The WoodEpox adhered well to the consolidated areas.  The
company literature leads one to believe that it will only work well
with Liquid Wood treated surfaces, but as usual, one has a wider
range of options.  The product is easy to mix and work with and it
does not add much weight to the object as do other epoxy fillers.
After setting, it is easy to shape with sandpaper and rotary tools.

Abatron can supply an extensive list of institutions that have used
their products for architectural restoration projects.  Perhaps you
can find someone who has used the materials on objects that are
exposed to the same conditions as the ones that you are surveying
will be.

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 11:18
                  Distributed: Friday, August 22, 1997
                       Message Id: cdl-11-18-003
                                  ***