Adhesive for bone

Alan J. Hawk <alan.hawk [at] afip__osd__mil> writes

>We have a skeleton that was damaged recently and we need to reattach
>one part of the leg.  The bone is very porous.  I was thinking of a
>couple of possibilities for the adhesive ...

I was a member of the Blue Whale Conservation Team at Canterbury
Museum (Christchurch, New Zealand) in 2004, charged with the repair
and conservation of a 28 metre long whale skeleton that had been on
display for 80 years. The head conservator, Sasha Stollman,
determined that Paraloid B-72 in acetone was the most suitable
polymer to use for both consolidation and adhesion.

We used a 10% solution (w/v) for consolidating, applied with a
syringe to the porous, or cancellous, areas prior to reattaching
broken pieces. We then used either a 40% or 60% (w/v) solution for
adhering pieces of bone together, depending on what was required. In
many cases we found it necessary to also insert carbon fibre rods
internally to support the joint because of the weight of the bone.
Additionally, you should be aware of the low glass transition level
of Paraloid B-72. This could potentially create an unstable or weak
join at temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius. All this information
is contained in the paper 'The Conservation Treatment of Canterbury
Museum's Blue Whale Skeleton' published in Records of the Canterbury
Museum, 2005, Volume 19: pp. 35-60.

Dennis Kelles-Krause
Conservation Intern
Museum of Transport
1 Bunhouse Road
Glasgow  G3 8DP
+44 141 287 2691
Fax: +44 141 287 2726


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 20:13
                 Distributed: Friday, September 8, 2006
                       Message Id: cdl-20-13-002
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