Removing carbon ink from paper

Bill Minter <wmntr<-a t->aol< . >com> writes:

>I have an unusual request. A client has a 19th c. stock certificate
>with a 20th c. commemorative rubber stamp that is not wanted. Use of
>the typical solvents on a suction device has removed a trace of the
>ink (dye). An electric eraser removed about 50% of the carbon ink
>that remained. Does anyone have any suggestion as to another
>approach to remove the remaining carbon?

Before I give you a direct answer to your question I would like to
remark about the topic at large. The saying "The customer is always
right" may be correct in commerce but is problematic when it comes
to conservation. Conservators deliberate when it comes to bizarre
requests made by their clients and how far they can interfere with
the conservation treatments (overcleaning, overpainting, over
retouching stain reduction etc.). The fact that the owner gives his
approval to these type of requests and assumes responsibility frees
the conservator from personal responsibility but isn't necessarily a
correct conservatory approach and the border lines are pretty thin.
I think a conservator should increase his clients knowledge of
conservation approaches and offer them solutions that are reversible
(if the stamp is important it will not be salvageable once removed).

As to the solutions to your problem: There is a non reversible
solution, you can use erasers but I do not suggest you use them
because of the erosion they will do to the paper. It is possible to
remove the ink with a laser (Eximer laser) though there is some
erosion it is slight and can be controlled. The drawback of this
solution is that it may be too expensive and it requires expertise
and costly equipment. Once again I strongly advise to exclude all
use of erasers since they cause erosion and weaken the area they are
used on.

The reversible solution is to use a leaf casting technique. I
recommend covering the stamp with a delicate local leaf casting that
requires a correct choice of paper fibers that enable local covering
with a suction disk or suction table. This technique does not weaken
the paper and is reversible in case the stamps will be found valuable
in future. There is an additional solution which is to make a
facsimile copy of the document and hiding the stamp during the
developing process. The advantage of this technique is that it is
cheap and does not cause damage to the original but the disadvantage
is that it is only a partial solution since you are not dealing then
with the original document but with a copy.

Michael Maggen
Senior paper conservator
The Israel Museum
Jerusalem, Israel

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 11:20
                 Distributed: Thursday, August 28, 1997
                       Message Id: cdl-11-20-007
                                  ***