Natural rubber prosthesis

I am about to start work on a prosthetic foot made of natural rubber
which will be displayed in a museum environment.  The rubber is
brittle and cracked in a couple of places, and broken in two places.
>From the little amount of literature I was able to find on rubber
conservation, I found that it is best to stay away from water or
solvents as they would tend to accelerate the deterioration process.
I am considering the use of Araldite Precision to do the repair, as
it is solvent free and claims to be suitable for rubber.  I am also
wondering if it might be advisable to coat the rubber surface with a
consolidant to slow down the oxidation process.

I would welcome any recommendations from conservators who have
experience working with this material.


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 26:20
                  Distributed: Sunday, October 7, 2012
                       Message Id: cdl-26-20-017
                                  ***