Wood filling materials

Joanna Zajaczkowska-Kloda <piotr.kloda [at] arkore__pl> writes

>Antonia Iliopoulou <iliotonia [at] hotmail__com> writes
>
>... The Icon has insect damage on the wooden support which
>>has caused some loss of paint and loss of wooden material(holes,
>>tunnels). ...
>>... I would like to know which material is best to
>>use as a filler  for the wood.
>
>On the basis of my experience I can say that as filler for small
>holes in wood the acrylic resin with wood powder is the best
>material. ...

As I understand it, the primary purpose of conservation is to
stabilize an object to prevent further damage. After you have done
this by making sure there are no live insects, for instance, then
the focus is to is to store/exhibit the object in as close to the
condition that it was found in as possible. This would mean that you
would not fill the holes at all. If a large amount of wood has
disintegrated, then you can inject a stabilizing resin to prevent
further disintegration. In any case, the goal is to preserve the
object for the future and not make it look new. When you do that,
you get into restoration.

Mary McFarland
Conservation Technician
Division of Culture and History
1900 Kanawha Blvd. E.
Charleston WV 25305
304-558-0220 Ext: 707
Fax: 304-558-2779


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 15:64
                 Distributed: Thursday, March 21, 2002
                       Message Id: cdl-15-64-008
                                  ***