Masonite support

I'm a conservation-minded artist who likes to paint with acrylic and
oil paints on gessoed masonite board.  (I cannot use canvas because
the paintings I do are irregularly shaped, so I must use a board of
some kind.)  I wonder if I could get any thoughts from anyone in the
Art Conservation community about the pros and cons of using masonite
as a painting support.

More particularly I'm curious to know how masonite compares with the
formaldehyde-free MDFs out there like Medex or Medite II.  What
brand of masonite is formaldehyde free?  Which is better: tempered
or untempered masonite?  What kind of primer should I use on a
masonite board (or any board) before gessoing it?  (I would like a
barrier between the painting and the board it is painted on to
prevent damage from outgassing.)  From the conservator's point of
view, is there an alternative to masonite (other than metal; I only
have tools for shaping wood supports) that I can use as a support
for acrylics and oil paints that's better?   I'm certainly open to
other alternatives.

Generally, I'd like to know what ideal conditions an art conservator
would like to be faced with where a painting that's been painted on
Masonite or some other board is concerned.

I'd be grateful for any advice anyone can give me.  Pretend that any
good advice I receive would be a real service for the art
conservator of the future who might be faced with taking care of one
of my art works!

Sam Dahl
Independent Artist
103 Nursery Rd
Titusville, NJ 08560
USA
609-737-6993


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 17:53
                Distributed: Wednesday, February 4, 2004
                       Message Id: cdl-17-53-018
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