Oil painting on plywood

Lalit Kumar <renukalk [at] wilnetonline__net> writes

>An oil painting on ply wood has developed large fissures in the top
>layer. The fissures are running vertically and horizontally at three
>places. ...

Plywood is not so stable.  Cracks and splits parallel to the grain
(knife checking) eventually occur even with Baltic birch plywood due
to manufacturing stress caused by the cutting knife when the veneer
is "unrolled".  Other contributors to instability are the wood's
memory of its original curled form and adhesive failure.  Can a more
stable support be found?

Hugh Glover
Williamstown MA


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 18:56
                  Distributed: Saturday, June 4, 2005
                       Message Id: cdl-18-56-009
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