Epo-Tek 301

I recently decided to order some Epotek 301 for the purpose of
mounting metallographic samples and paint cross-sections,
understanding it to be one of the better optical epoxies.
Conservation Resources sells 8 oz bottles for $75 which I thought
was pretty high, so I did some more searching and found a terrific
supplier in Billerica MA, which sells 8 oz bottles for around $25,
and 1 pound bottles for only $47, I believe.  I wanted to let folks
know, since I know there are a lot of conservators and conservation
scientists who use Epotek routinely, both for sample mounting and
for restoration purposes.  I don't have anything against
conservation suppliers, I just thing their mark-ups are a little
crazy for certain products.  The folks at Epoxy Technologies (the
vendor in Billerica) says the shelf life is about a year, so I'm
ordering the larger quantity to save money.

Also of interest for those who are not aware of the widespread
problem of vendors selling "archival" photographic slide sheets and
coin storage flips:  many of these vendors are selling PVC products
with an unstable phthalate plasticizer.  PVC itself is very
non-reactive, which is why it's commonly used for plumbing pipes
underground. When burned, it will release dioxin and chlorine gas
which are obviously very harmful, but at normal temperature PVC
itself is safe, and doesn't out-gas corrosive chemicals. However,
many of the plastic PVC storage slips contain the corrosive
phthalate plasticizer which will rapidly corrode copper-based
alloys. I was able to find, with the help of a wonderful conservator
from Toronto, who replied to my query on the DistList, that a
company called Atlantic Protective Pouches (you can find them and
Epoxy Technologies with Google online), makes wonderful mylar
(polyester) coin flips and storage film which are very stable
chemically and suitable for metal storage as well as for paper
encapsulation.


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 24:1
                  Distributed: Thursday, May 20, 2010
                        Message Id: cdl-24-1-003
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