Corroded printing plate

We are in possession of considerable collection of cartoon printing
plates from the 1940s to the 1960s, part of a large collection of
such plates received recently as a block gift.  The plates are about
10 inches by 2.25 inches by 1/16th inch thick, and were used in
printing cartoon art in newspapers.  The problematic metals used are
not iron or steel (based upon my test with a magnet), but appear to
be aluminum or other similar metal.

Our plan is to exhibit several of these in a type of collage, and to
keep the remainder for research.  However, several of the plates
exhibit what appears to a type of corrosion or oxidation which is
probably threatening to the plate and certainly to its legibility on
exhibition.  The whitish oxidation on the gray plate is obscuring
the image.

I seek your advice on how best to clean the results of
oxidation/corrosion and in future to protect these metal plates.

Wesley L. Boomgaarden
Preservation Officer
Ohio State University Libraries


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 13:55
                    Distributed: Friday, May 5, 2000
                       Message Id: cdl-13-55-008
                                  ***